Executive assistant job description template: who you support, delegated authority and screening questions
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An executive assistant job is defined by one person: the executive. A posting that lists calendar management, travel booking and meeting minutes describes every assistant role and tells a candidate nothing about whether they will thrive. What experienced executive assistants look for is the executive's role and pace, how much authority the assistant has to act, the hours and travel, and whether the job includes personal tasks. Below is a copy-ready executive assistant job description template, the classification, pay and EEO lines with sources, how each must-have becomes a screening question and scorecard row, and the mistakes that make strong candidates pass. For team or office support roles, the administrative assistant job description template is the better fit.
Define the support model first
BLS describes executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants as providing high-level support for an office and for top executives, often handling more complex work such as reviewing incoming documents, conducting research and preparing reports (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified August 27, 2026). In practice the jobs fall into a few shapes:
| Support model | What fills the week | Must-have that separates it |
|---|---|---|
| One C-level executive | Dense calendar, board and investor logistics, gatekeeping, confidential material | Has supported a senior executive and decided who gets their time |
| Several executives | Competing calendars, shared priorities, team events | Has balanced conflicting requests from several leaders |
| Founder or owner, including personal | Business plus household, family travel, personal vendors | Comfortable with personal tasks and blurred hours |
| EA with project or chief-of-staff work | Meeting preparation, follow-up tracking, small projects, reports | Has run a project or recurring process for the executive, not just scheduled it |
Ask the executive, not only HR, three things: what the assistant can decide without asking, what a great week looks like, and what made the last assistant succeed or leave. Those answers become the summary and the must-haves.
The executive assistant job description template
Executive Assistant to the [title: CEO / CFO / Founder / SVP of X]
[Company], [city] — [On-site / Hybrid: days / Remote within: states
or time zones]
Pay: $[min]–$[max] per [year / hour], plus [bonus, if any].
[Benefits summary, if required.]
SUMMARY
You will support [the CEO / two senior vice presidents] of a
[company size and type]. [He / She / They] [travel N% of the time,
meet with investors and customers, run a leadership team of N]. You
will manage [their] time, act on [their] behalf with [internal
leaders, board members, customers], and keep [leadership meetings /
board preparation / key projects] on track. You will report to [the
executive / chief of staff].
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Manage [the executive's] calendar and decide what gets time, using
the priorities you agree each week.
- Plan domestic and international travel, and fix plans when they
change.
- Prepare [the executive] for meetings: agendas, briefing notes,
materials and follow-ups.
- Coordinate [leadership team meetings / board meetings / offsites].
- Handle confidential correspondence and information with discretion.
- [Track action items across the leadership team.]
- [Personal: household scheduling, family travel, personal vendors.]
YOU MUST HAVE
- Supported a [director-level or above / C-level] executive for at
least [N] months, including full calendar ownership.
- Made decisions on an executive's behalf, such as declining or
moving meetings, and kept them informed.
- Planned complex travel [international, multi-city] and handled
changes while the executive was on the road.
- [Board support: prepared or distributed board materials.]
NICE TO HAVE
- Experience with [email and calendar suite], [expense tool], [board
portal].
- [Language, if the executive works in it.]
If you meet the must-haves and none of these, please apply.
FIXED CONDITIONS
- Hours: [core hours], with [occasional / regular] early, late or
weekend availability when [the executive] travels.
- Travel: [none / N trips a year with the executive].
- Confidentiality agreement required.
[EEO STATEMENT]
If you need an adjustment to apply or interview, email [address].Classification, pay and EEO lines
Not legal advice. Classification and EEO points were checked against BLS, the Department of Labor regulations and the EEOC as of October 2026. States can set higher salary thresholds and different duties tests.
Exempt or non-exempt. Executive assistants are one of the few roles the overtime regulation addresses by name: an executive or administrative assistant to a business owner or senior executive of a large business generally meets the administrative exemption duties test if, without specific instructions or prescribed procedures, they have been delegated authority on matters of significance (29 CFR 541.203(d)). The same rules say clerical, secretarial or other routine work is not the discretion and independent judgment the exemption requires (29 CFR 541.202(e)). So the delegated authority you write into the posting should match the job. The salary must also meet the standard level, which the Department of Labor lists as $684 per week as of October 2026 (DOL).
Pay range. Post the approved range from the requisition and check pay transparency laws by state. If the role is non-exempt and early or late hours are routine, the overtime will be a real part of pay; say how it works. For an outside reference, BLS publishes wages for Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants (SOC 43-6011) through its OEWS program; this page does not quote figures.
EEO statement. The EEOC says job ads may not show a preference based on protected characteristics such as sex or age (40 or older). Assistant postings sometimes slip into gendered pronouns or "young, energetic" wording; keep the language neutral and close with your standard EEO statement.
From must-haves to screening questions and scorecard rows
| Must-have | Screening question | Scorecard competency | Evidence of a strong answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior executive support | "Who do you support now, and what does a typical week of their calendar look like?" | Scope of support | Executive level, meeting volume and what the candidate owns |
| Decisions on the executive's behalf | "Tell me about a meeting request you declined or moved without asking. How did you decide?" | Judgment and delegated authority | Used agreed priorities, informed the executive, handled the requester well |
| Travel under pressure | "Your executive's connecting flight is cancelled at 10 p.m. What do you do, in order?" | Problem solving | Rebooks, adjusts the next day's meetings, tells affected people |
| Confidentiality | "Without details, tell me about sensitive information you handled and how you kept it secure." | Discretion | Concrete practices (access, storage, who was told) without disclosing anything |
| Fit with the executive's style | "How do you prefer to get priorities from an executive, and what happens when they are not clear?" | Working relationship | Has a routine (weekly sync, notes) and asks rather than guesses |
The full screen, with knockouts and follow-ups, is in executive assistant screening questions. For the final rounds, the interview guide for executive roles helps the executive prepare to interview for their own support, and the 30-60-90 day plan for executive assistants sets out the first quarter.
Common mistakes in executive assistant job descriptions
The executive is invisible
A posting about tasks with no word on the executive's role, pace or travel misses what candidates care about most. Describe the executive's work even if you leave out the name.
Hidden personal tasks
If the job includes household or family tasks, say so. Some excellent assistants want that work and others will leave over it; both should know before applying.
"Available 24/7"
This drives away experienced candidates and tells them nothing. Write the core hours and how often after-hours work happens.
Software as the must-have
Calendar and expense tools are learned in a week. Judgment about the executive's time is not. Put tools in the nice-to-haves.
Authority that does not match the job
Promising that the assistant will "act as the executive's proxy" when every decision goes back to the executive misleads candidates and may misclassify the role. Write the real level of authority.
Before you publish
- The executive's title, work and pace, and the support model, are in the summary.
- What the assistant decides alone is stated, and exempt status matches it.
- Hours, travel and any personal tasks are explicit.
- An approved pay range, the EEO statement and an accommodation contact close the posting.
If you paste the posting into Interview Signal, it builds the screen from these must-haves, and the scorecard quotes the decisions the candidate made on an executive's behalf so the executive can judge fit from their own words.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between an executive assistant and an administrative assistant posting?
An executive assistant supports one or a few senior leaders and usually acts for them: managing the calendar, deciding what reaches them, and handling matters in their name. An administrative assistant usually supports a team or office with scheduling, records and logistics. Title the job by who it supports and how much authority it carries.
Is an executive assistant exempt from overtime?
Sometimes. The federal regulation says an executive or administrative assistant to a business owner or senior executive of a large business generally meets the administrative exemption duties test if they have been delegated authority on matters of significance without specific instructions. An assistant doing mostly clerical or scheduling work under direction may be non-exempt. The salary test and any state rules also apply.
Should an executive assistant posting name the executive?
Usually it names the title, not the person, for privacy and security, and shares the name later in the process. Do say what the executive does, how they like to work and how many people the assistant supports, because fit with the executive matters more than any single skill.
What is the best screening question for an executive assistant?
Ask for a specific week when the executive's plans fell apart, such as a cancelled flight or a crisis, and what the candidate decided on their own. Strong assistants describe decisions they made and how they told the executive; weaker ones describe tasks they carried out on instruction.