Executive Assistant / OBM / Operations Manager

About the Role
Our client is a compliance consulting and internal audit firm. They implement international management system standards and run internal audits for companies in electronics recycling, IT asset disposition, and manufacturing across North America. Their clients use that work to prepare for and hold third-party certifications. The team is small and senior, and they hold their own operations to the same standard they hold their clients to: documented, repeatable, and not dependent on one person's memory.

Right now a large volume of daily operational work sits on the founder's desk. Around 45 recurring administrative and IT tasks are documented, along with a long tail of requests that have never been written down at all. This role takes them over.

The business is also part way through replacing a stack of spreadsheets, email threads, and automations with custom software, with the first phase going live shortly. A lot of what you learn manually in your first months will be automated in your later ones. They need someone who understands why the current process works the way it does, so that when the new system takes over, someone there can still tell when it is producing the wrong answer.

Some context on what it is like to work here. The team is small and growing, and there is no department to hand something to. If you spot a problem, you either own it or you flag it, and both are fine. Priorities move, several things run at once, and you will report directly to the Managing Director with no layer in between. As the company grows this role will change shape more than once. That suits some people and frustrates others, and it is worth knowing which one you are before you apply.

This is not a role where you wait to be told the same thing twice. You learn a process, run it correctly, write down what the instructions were missing, and then help make it faster.

What You'll Own

Workflow, Automation and Documentation (about 40%)

Learn each recurring process by running it manually and correctly before proposing to change it
Write and update standard operating procedures as you go, flagging what is missing, outdated, or wrong
Build automations and AI-assisted workflows for repetitive work, stored in portable form the company owns rather than locked inside one platform
Maintain existing automations across the connected tools: diagnose failures, find where a handoff broke, fix or escalate
Review automated output on a defined cycle rather than assuming it stays correct. An automation that quietly produces the wrong result is worse than a manual step, and catching that is part of this role.
Support the rollout of the new operating platform: test workflows, migrate and clean data, own the approval steps the system routes to a person, and report what is not working
Complete the outstanding data migration work, including backfilling historical engagement records that were never entered into the system of record
Maintain the SOP library and the automation library side by side, with consistent naming and version control
Keep a running log of every task you are asked to do and every question you had to ask to complete it
Report monthly on which tasks were automated and how many hours of manual work that removed. This is the primary measure of the role.

Operations Execution (about 40%)

Run the new-engagement launch sequence, two to three times a week, across four connected systems
Act as the operational glue: keep projects moving, chase what is stuck, and handle the daily requests that keep the firm running
Take on work delegated directly by the Managing Director, ranging from research and follow-up to standing responsibilities that move off her desk permanently as you demonstrate you can hold them
Quality check the output of the processes you run and the automations you build: verify results against the source, catch errors before they reach a client or a report, and correct the process rather than only the instance
Support the quality review process: upload and format audit reports, run and check an AI-assisted first-pass review, track what is waiting on whom, and keep reports from stalling between reviewer and auditor. (You will not perform the review or make audit judgments — you keep the queue moving.)
Handle certificate of insurance requests, vendor onboarding packets, and W-9 issuance
Maintain the vendor and subcontractor register and the supporting documentation set
Calendar and inbox support for leadership, including meeting notes, action item tracking, and follow-through to completion

Systems Administration and Records (about 20%)

Provision accounts and access for new team members across Google Workspace and eight other platforms, and support onboarding and offboarding
Maintain the Google Drive structure, permissions, naming conventions, and file cleanup
Maintain the software subscription register: what renews when, what nobody uses, what should be cancelled
Maintain email marketing list hygiene: before every send, confirm no unsubscribed contacts remain on the active mailing list
Support hiring logistics, credential tracking, and HR administration

Bookkeeping and finance are a separate role. You will work alongside the bookkeeper, and there are handoff points between you, but you do not own the finance cycle.

What You Bring

Six or more years in an operations, executive assistant, business management, or process coordination role supporting leadership directly
Experience in a company where processes were not fully documented, and you were part of fixing that
Demonstrated experience building or maintaining workflows and automations, in any tool
Excellent written English. You will draft internal and occasional external communications.
Proven ability to follow a written procedure exactly, and to notice and report when the procedure is wrong
Real working use of AI tools. You should be able to tell us about a specific repetitive task you handed to an AI tool, which tool you used, how you set it up, and how you check that its output is correct.
Ability to record your screen and narrate what you are doing clearly
Comfort with systems administration: user provisioning, permissions, and file structure
Reliable internet, a working computer, and a quiet space for video calls
Ability to commit to heavy US Central overlap during onboarding, and four to six hours daily thereafter

Strong advantages

Experience designing or building a CRM, database, or internal system, not only using one
Hands-on experience with workflow automation platforms, database automations, or building custom AI skills and agents
Experience building or maintaining a knowledge base, wiki, SOP library, or internal training system
Experience in an ISO-certified environment: document control, internal audits, management systems, quality or environmental standards
Exposure to electronics manufacturing, recycling, IT asset disposition, or data destruction compliance
Experience with relational database tools, time tracking systems, project management platforms, or Google Workspace administration
Experience being part of a software implementation or system migration

Who This Is Not For

This is not a data entry role and not a general virtual assistant role. If you need a stable queue of identical tasks, a defined lane, or a manager who assigns your day, this will frustrate you. If your plan is to run everything through an AI tool and send the first thing it produces, you will not pass our assessment. We care as much about how you check work as how you produce it.

How Success Is Measured

A written procedure exists for every recurring task in the role, and each one is reviewed and updated on a defined cycle rather than written once and left
Procedures updated promptly as processes change, including the full rewrite required when the new platform replaces a manual workflow
Errors found by quality checks before they reach a client, a report, or leadership
Documented reduction in manual hours through automation, reported monthly
Engagement launches completed within the defined window, with no missed setup steps
Audit reports moved through the review queue without stalling
Access provisioning and deprovisioning completed within the defined period, with no orphaned accounts
The task and question log maintained continuously and reviewed on cycle
Zero sends to a mailing list containing unsubscribed contacts

How to Apply
Complete our application form here: ----------

It takes about ten minutes. To confirm you have read this posting in full, include the code OPS-2026-READ where the application asks for it. We will respond to every applicant who completes the form.