VA | Operations & Business Support Specialist

About Culture One

Culture One is a Diversity, Inclusion, Neurodiversity and Wellbeing consultancy, working with organisations to create more inclusive, human-centred workplace cultures through training, consulting and partnership programmes.

The business is founder-led and moving from its early solo-founder stage into active growth across client delivery, partnerships, learning and advisory services.

This role is being created to strengthen the operational backbone of the business and reduce the amount of day-to-day coordination and administration sitting with the founder.


The Role at a Glance
This is not an entry-level VA position.
We need an experienced and proactive operations and founder-support professional who is highly reliable, organised, and who takes ownership of the day-to-day running of their role end to end. Someone who improves how things get done, not just someone who executes a task list.

The role combines hands-on operational support with improving how recurring work is organised.


Why This Role Exists

Culture One is run by a single founder who is now splitting her time between delivery, sales, and a growing partnership pipeline. Admin and operations currently sit with her, and that no longer scales. We need someone trustworthy enough to take real ownership of that side of the business, so the founder's time goes back into value driven work.


Hours & Working Structure

• Commitment: 20 hours per week, ongoing, part-time.
• Schedule: Ideally split across the working week (around 4 hours/day) rather than compressed into one or two full days – several responsibilities need same-day attention.
• Time zone: Fully remote. The role is largely asynchronous, but the person should be comfortable with some regular overlap with Irish working hours (typically 08:00–16:00 Irish time) for check-ins and time-sensitive items. Please tell us in your application what shift pattern you would propose.


Core Responsibilities

Inbox, Calendar and follow-up management
• Triage and organise the Culture One inbox.
• Identify priorities and required actions.
• Draft or progress routine correspondence within agreed parameters.
• Maintain follow-ups so emails and commitments are not lost.
• Manage calendar and scheduling administration.
• Surface founder decisions clearly when input is required.

Operational coordination and process improvement
• Maintain a reliable operating view of open, completed, blocked and upcoming work.
• Own recurring administrative processes without needing to be reminded each cycle.
• Create and maintain practical SOPs and checklists.
• Notice gaps, duplication or inefficient processes and recommend improvements.
• Anticipate recurring work and upcoming deadlines.
• Maintain the industry events and speaking-opportunity tracker, proactively researching and adding relevant items.
• Take on research and other defined operational projects as needed.

Digital organisation and Microsoft 365
• Keep SharePoint, Teams and business files structured, current and easy to navigate.
• Maintain consistent naming, filing and version-control practices.
• Help Culture One make better use of its Microsoft 365 environment.
• Maintain professional consistency across documents and presentations using Culture One templates.

Invoicing, bookkeeping and accounts administration
• Prepare and issue invoices, maintain accurate bookkeeping records, and follow up on overdue payments.
• Keep accounts records accurate and up to date.

CRM and opportunity administration
• Keep CRM records accurate and current.
• Maintain next actions and follow-up dates for prospects, clients and partners.
• Identify overdue follow-ups and prepare the next step.
• Support light business-development and partnership administration, without responsibility for sales closing.

Content administration
• Maintain the content calendar and publishing workflow.
• Coordinate assets, scheduling and publishing.
• Keep content files and supporting materials organised.
• Make basic updates to the Culture One’s Squarespace website as needed.
• Manage uploads and basic admin on the video/LMS platform (e.g. subtitles, organisation).
• Flag missing information or assets before they create delays.


What We Are Looking For

Essential
• At least three years' relevant experience in operations, executive support or senior virtual support.
• Experience working directly with a founder, small-business owner or senior leader.
• Evidence of independently managing work rather than relying on daily task assignment.
• Exceptional organisation, reliability and follow-through.
• Strong attention to detail and quality control.
• Experience building or maintaining operating processes, trackers or SOPs.
• Confident use of Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Strong written and spoken English.
• Experience coordinating content or social-media administration.
• Comfortable working in a small, growing business where not every process is already built.

Strong advantage
• SharePoint organisation or administration.
• CRM management.
• Professional-services or consultancy experience.
• Experience using AI tools effectively within business workflows.


Tools & Systems

ALREADY COMFORTABLE WITH:
• Microsoft 365: Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and SharePoint, used at a genuinely strong level. Someone who can organise and improve how we use the Microsoft 365 environment is a real plus.
• Canva: For design and content assets.
• Calendly: Managing discovery call bookings from the website.
• Squarespace: Our website platform – enough familiarity to make edits/updates and continue to upskill to maximise our website and hosting platform.

HAPPY TO TRAIN ON:
• Xero or Quickbooks: Our accounts platform, this is being newly set up. General bookkeeping/accounts software experience is a plus but not required.
• Video / LMS platform: We're moving off Vimeo onto a new video hosting or LMS-style platform for training content. This means learning to upload content, add subtitles, and handle basic admin.


We value people who:
• Value different working styles – we don't all work the same in the same way.
• Close loops – follow work through to completion and confirm when it is done.
• Notice when something has been missed.
• Bring a recommendation where possible, rather than simply presenting a problem.
• Ask good questions when judgement is genuinely required.
• Challenge inefficient ways of working constructively.
• Take responsibility for the quality of their work.
• Communicate early when something is blocked.
This is a strengths-based role. We value curiosity, problem-solving and a learning mindset, and we will support you to build new skills while making the most of the strengths you already bring.


Skills Profile
We're looking for genuine strength across most of the areas above, backed by real examples – not a generalist who is only lightly familiar with each. That said, if you are strong across the majority of this brief but have a gap in one or two specific areas, say so honestly in your application. We would rather hire a strong, self-aware operator and support their development in an area than hire someone who is learning across the board.

What Success Looks Like
• First 30 days: Core systems and workflows are understood; inbox, invoicing, scheduling and routine admin are being run independently and reliably.
• First 60 days: Recurring work no longer needs to be assigned manually – open actions are visible, issues are flagged early, and practical process improvements are being proposed.
• First 90 days: Follow-ups are controlled, recurring processes run consistently, and the role is actively reducing operational dependency on the founder with minimal oversight needed on the basics.

Application & Selection Process
• 1. Application: CV/profile plus a short note on your operations and administration experience, and what shift pattern you could offer.
• 2. Interview: A competency-based interview about your experience and working style.
• 3. Reference checks: We contact at least two previous clients or employers directly, with a focus on reliability and follow-through.
• 4. Offer: Start with a defined 30/60/90-day check-in plan (see 'What Success Looks Like' above).