Senior Executive Assistant to the CEO & Business Partner
1 day ago
Nashville
Our client, a premier consulting firm specializing in government relations, public affairs, and corporate intelligence in Nashville, TN (WeHo area), has engaged us to place a high-functioning, professional, polished, proactive, & solutions oriented individual in the role of Senior Executive Assistant (EA) to the CEO/Founder (approx. 75%) & his Business Partner (BP) (approx. 25%). The EA is the CEO's most trusted operational partner, and the person who makes it possible for the executives to operate at the level this firm requires of them. This isn't a traditional support role, it’s a high-trust, high-autonomy position for someone who understands how to work alongside a founder-operator: staying out of the way when things are moving, stepping in decisively when they aren't, and never making either executive feel managed. The CEO’s energy belongs on strategy, clients, & growth, and the BP’s energy belongs on strategy, project oversight, & developing work product. Everything else, the calendar, follow-through, systems, & operational details, belongs to this role. The EA will maintain a calm, steady presence in high-pressure moments, be invisible when things go well, and indispensable when they don’t. The right person for this role understands, at an instinctive level, how to work with a founder who values autonomy, dislikes being managed, and has built something significant without much operational structure. They won’t try to change how anyone operates, they'll build around it. This role is not for someone who needs direction, affirmation, or structured oversight to thrive, it's for someone who reads a room before speaking, earns trust quietly, and solves problems before they reach the executive's desk. If your instinct when something is broken is to schedule a check-in about it, this isn't the right role. If your instinct is to inform the executives with the problem/solution, fix it & then let them know it's handled, please read on. Hours: M-F: 8am-5pm w/flexibility when needed + ability to support monthly evening events (approx. 1-3 mainly hosting clients @ stadium suite) - Additional flexibility needed to receive communications outside of normal business hours, responding to urgent needs immediately, and prioritizing others accordingly Travel for EA (mostly to D.C): Approx. 1x/month with CEO (potential for more) - approx. 1/2 day trips & 1/2 overnight Core Responsibilities: Calendar, Time, & Energy Management: • Own the executives’ calendars end-to-end, actively protecting time for the work that matters & problem-solving their communication styles & independent decision-making, • Anticipate scheduling needs before they think to ask; reduce the number of decisions they have to make about their own time, • Ruthlessly guard against low-value commitments; propose alternatives rather than just declining, • Solve for open blocks on calendars so they have built-in flexibility & autonomy to utilize, preventing the need to constantly re-shuffle a full deck, • Prepare both for every meeting, delivered the way each prefers to receive information, • Coordinate travel, logistics, and engagements end-to-end, • Draft high-quality correspondence & briefing materials, and external communications on their behalf, • Serve as a communications bridge with senior clients, partners, government contacts, etc.; represent each professionally and with appropriate authority, • Screen & triage incoming communications; surface what needs attention & handle what doesn't, • Know when to act & when to ask — they should never feel like they’ve been committed to something without their knowledge, • Maintain organized systems for contracts, governance documents, regulatory filings, and key records, • Ensure audit readiness, confidentiality standards, and records management without making it a production (based on checklist of required documents), • Convert their priorities into clear operational plans, • Track progress across initiatives and surface blockers before they become problems either has to solve themselves, • Produce concise, data-informed status updates that gives each clarity without demanding their time, • Close the loop on action items that come out of their meetings & conversations, • Identify when a decision is stalling & create the conditions for it to move forward, • Design & maintain the operational cadence the firm needs, • Support the Salesforce CRM relationship alongside the Director of Ops: ensure client & relationship data is current, accurate, and useful to him, and act as the primary person to ensure 100% of staff are providing updated, accurate information that he can rely on & utilize, • Coordinate across the internal team to ensure nothing falls between functions, • Build systems that reduce their cognitive load, not add to it; every process you introduce should make their lives easier, not more structured, • Proactively identify operational gaps, risks, or inefficiencies, and bring solutions, not problems, to their attention, • Assemble the information each needs to make decisions clearly & completely, • Offer options w/ tradeoffs, not recommendations disguised as facts; they'll form their own views, • Create lightweight accountability mechanisms that keep projects & people on track without creating a management layer the CEO has to oversee, • Flag performance or delivery issues early, with context and a suggested path forward, • Coordinate across team members on cross-functional work; resolve dependencies & blockers at the staff level before they require the CEO's involvement You’ll thrive here if you: • Are energized by making someone else more effective rather than being recognized yourself, • Read people and rooms quickly, and adjust your approach without being told to, • Default to action over process — you figure out what needs to happen and do it, • Know how to introduce structure quietly: systems that work without being called systems, • Can sit with ambiguity & incomplete information w/out becoming anxious or unproductive, • Earn trust slowly & protect it fiercely; you understand that discretion is the baseline, not the bar, • Have a high tolerance for a principal who processes internally, communicates concisely, and doesn't offer much unsolicited feedback, • Need regular check-ins, affirmation, or structured feedback to feel effective, • Manage up by making the executive aware of how hard you're working, • Default to scheduling a meeting when something is unclear instead of resolving it, • Are uncomfortable operating in a high-trust, low-oversight environment, • Take it personally when the CEO processes quietly or doesn't volunteer information, • Confuse loyalty w/ agreement — you can push back, but you do it once, privately, and then you execute Qualifications: Required • 5+ years supporting a C-suite executive, founder, or senior principal in a fast-moving, high-stakes environment, • Demonstrated experience building & owning operational systems, not just maintaining them, • Exceptional written communication: able to produce correspondence, briefings, and materials in someone else's voice, • High emotional intelligence: able to read communication style & adapt without being coached to do so, • Proficiency w/ Salesforce or comparable CRM OR comfort learning new systems quickly, • Proficiency w/ project management tools (Asana, Monday.com, or similar) & Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace & comfortable using AI (executive preference is Claude), • Proven ability to handle confidential & politically sensitive information in a government-adjacent environment, • Prior EA experience supporting a founder or high-profile principal, • Familiarity w/ government relations, public affairs, or political environments, • Experience supporting a firm through growth, acquisition preparation, or organizational scaling, • Background in project management, operations, or strategic planning, • College degree Compensation/Benefits: • Base Salary: $120,000-$150,000 + performance based bonuses (5% July / 10% Dec.), • Vacation (15 days) + Paid Holidays (13), • 401(k) w/ 3% employer match, • M/D/V (100% coverage for employee), • Maternity/Paternity leave Note: We appreciate your interest in this opportunity & review all submissions. Candidates of interest will be contacted via email with a questionnaire to further assess potential fit & next steps. Those not selected will have their resume kept on file for consideration of other opportunities. TMH, LLC provides equal opportunity employment, and doesn’t discriminate with recruitment of candidates or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status, disability, military status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by law.