EA Recruitment | Hire an Exceptional Executive Assistant

An Executive Assistant recruitment agency you can trust

Because we are specialists dedicated to the roles and expertise we cover, we offer more than placing candidates in companies.

Founded in 2016, our team is highly experienced in recruiting Executive Assistants. We work diligently to ensure that the recruitment process runs efficiently and smoothly for our clients. Whether you're looking to recruit a temporary Executive Assistant, or a contract or a permanent position, we've got you covered.

As boutique executive assistant recruitment specialists, we are experts at understanding what makes the perfect 'fit' for a business, which enables us to work across multiple sectors, including property; financial services; insurance; legal; advertising, marketing and public relations; start-ups; telecommunications; and private individuals and family offices.

We recruit the best Executive Assistants in London, Manchester, across the UK and internationally.

It was clear that time was taken to fully understand the brief and the culture of the business. This meant that the shortlisted candidates were not only of quality but all suitable for the role and the environment.

Founder, Technology

★★★★★

Lily Shippen are a phenomenal asset for any business to tap into. Professional, committed and willing to go the extra mile to ensure your business requirements are met.

CEO, E-commerce brand

★★★★★

The service provided by Lily and the team was fantastic, being both personable and professional throughout the whole process.

Financial Planning Manager, IFA Firm

★★★★★

How to hire an Executive Assistant

Once you've come to the decision that you are going to hire an EA, we will work with you to understand you and your unique requirements. This will ideally involve a video call or face-to-face meeting between you and one of our experienced consultants, where we will ask you questions to understand the working culture, required duties, salary and ideal experience for the role.

We can assist with writing an Executive Assistant job description for you and, once this is approved, we will go out to our extensive database and network to shortlist high-calibre candidates, presenting them to you with speed and accuracy.

Throughout the interview process, we will provide detailed feedback to all parties and will always be on hand to answer any questions that you may have during the EA recruitment process.

Once you've hired your EA, we will continue to maintain contact with you and the successful candidate, to ensure that the placement is as smooth and successful as possible. We can even help connect you to the best EA trainers in the industry.

Permanent Executive Assistant recruitment

Our permanent EA recruitment team is well-versed in working with clients across all industries and levels of seniority. Each of our experienced permanent recruitment consultants brings an excellent understanding of the calibre of employees required and the specialisms of the EA roles that we recruit.

We work diligently to ensure that the entire recruitment process runs efficiently and smoothly for our clients, filling 92% of the client briefings we receive, with an average hiring time of three weeks for permanent placements.

With teams based in Manchester and London, we recruit permanent positions across the UK, as well as remotely and internationally.

Temporary Executive Assistant Recruitment

The best way to get in touch with our temporary EA recruitment team is to call us, but you’re welcome to email us, too, and someone will get back to you within an hour.

The temporary recruitment process is as flexible as you need it to be. If you’re recruiting for a short-term, temporary cover, you may not want to see CVs, and if it’s a longer-term temporary assignment, you may wish to organise interviews, which we'd be happy to schedule. We will work to your requirements and we take pride in ensuring that the process of hiring a temporary Executive Assistant is as smooth and stress-free as possible.

FAQs

What is an Executive Assistant?

Oxford Languages defines an "Executive Assistant" as “a person employed to assist a high-level manager or professional with correspondence, appointments and administrative tasks”. The role has often been misrepresented, as it has here, as a purely administrative or secretarial support function, covering tasks such as diary and expense management and the typing of correspondence. In reality, however, for those businesses that truly recognise the value of their Executive Assistants, the role is much more comprehensive and is pivotal to the success of, not only the executive team but the business as a whole.
How do you hire an Executive Assistant?

There are several steps to go through when recruiting an Executive Assistant. You should start by considering what Executive Assistants are looking for in an ideal role, then writing an Executive Assistant job description. It's worth spending time thinking about a seamless interview process and working with an Executive Assistant recruitment agency to secure the best EA talent for your business.
How much does it cost to recruit an Executive Assistant?

Executive Assistant salaries can range depending on location, responsibilities and the level of experience that you are looking for. In London, EA salaries range from £45,000 - £60,000 for permanent roles, with contract rates of £22 - £30 per hour. Whereas, in Manchester, permanent EA roles typically attract salaries of circa £32,000 - £45,000, with temporary rates coming in at £16 - £22 per hour.
What are the benefits of hiring an Executive Assistant?

EAs (Executive Assistants) hold a unique and privileged position within any organisation, whereby the nature of their role means that they have detailed knowledge of, and productive working relationships within, all areas of the business. As such, Executive Assistants are some of the most versatile and adaptable people within any business. The most indispensable EAs not only act as communications hub across all levels of an organisation, but are those that fully understand the strategic objectives of their business, and proactively identify business needs and opportunities to ensure that those objectives are achieved.

There are a multitude of benefits of hiring an Executive Assistant. Typically, the role is not viewed as a revenue-generating position, however, executives should consider how much time a good Executive Assistant can give back to them. Executives spend, on average, 58% of their time on emails. A simple email triage system implemented by even the most junior of EAs can reduce the time spent on emails to circa 12%, giving executives 46% of their time back to focus on what's really important: their business.
How do you find the best Executive Assistant recruitment agency?

When looking for an Executive Assistant recruitment agency, it’s important to find a recruitment agency that specialises in this type of recruitment. This will mean that you will be speaking to a recruitment consultant who is used to regularly recruiting EA positions, and will be able to provide you with accurate advice and market intelligence. A good Executive Assistant recruitment agency can be the difference between a stressful EA search and a smooth, enjoyable one. If you find the best EA recruitment agency, you may only need to work with one.

When looking for an Executive Assistant recruitment agency, look out for Google or Feefo reviews, as these can give you a good indication of the candidate and client experience that they offer.

An Executive Assistant recruitment agency will also be able to give you accurate salary information, and they will typically produce an annual salary survey.

Our multi-award winning team are experts in connecting exceptional executive and business support professionals with the best companies across the UK and internationally. We have been recognised as one of the best recruitment agencies to work with, with a five-star rating on Feefo. We recruit across the UK including Manchester, and London, as well as internationally and virtually.

We will work with you, throughout the Executive Assistant hiring process, to find the best EA for your business. We believe that our position in the recruitment process is to act as an extension of you and your business. We pride ourselves on our ability to fully understand your unique needs, which is why we meet with every Executive Assistant that we work with.

Whether you’re looking to recruit a virtual, temporary, full-time, part-time or permanent Executive Assistant, we’ve got you covered.