Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Universal Assistant

🎯 Role Definition

The Universal Assistant is a versatile, proactive professional who provides high-impact administrative and operational support across teams. This role blends executive assistance, project coordination, calendar and travel management, stakeholder communication, basic data analysis, and tool administration. Candidates should be comfortable with Google Workspace and Microsoft Office suites, familiar with common collaboration tools (Slack, Asana, Notion, Trello), and able to use AI-assisted workflows (ChatGPT, Zapier integrations) to increase productivity. The Universal Assistant acts as a hub between leadership, product, sales, marketing, and external partners — consistently prioritizing confidentiality, timeliness, and clarity.

Key keywords: executive assistant, virtual assistant, administrative support, calendar management, travel coordination, stakeholder communication, project coordination, Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, CRM, AI tools.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Administrative Assistant or Office Coordinator
Customer Support Representative or Client Success Specialist
Junior Project Coordinator or Operations Associate

Advancement To:

Senior Executive Assistant or Executive Operations Manager
Operations Manager or Program Manager
Chief of Staff or Director of Operations
Product Operations or People Operations Lead

Lateral Moves:

Project Coordinator or Project Manager
Customer Success Manager
Office Manager or Workplace Experience Lead
Talent Operations or HR Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Manage complex executive calendars across multiple time zones, coordinate recurring and ad hoc meetings, prepare agendas and briefing notes, and proactively resolve scheduling conflicts to ensure leaders’ time is optimized.
Own end-to-end travel planning and logistics for executives and teams, including multi-leg international itineraries, visa and compliance guidance, expense pre-clearance, booking, and post-trip reconciliation.
Serve as the primary point of contact for internal and external stakeholders; screen and triage communications, prioritize inbound requests, and escalate issues with clear context and recommended next steps.
Draft, proofread, and edit high-impact written communications such as executive emails, board meeting materials, investor updates, and cross-functional announcements with impeccable grammar and tone alignment.
Prepare and maintain recurring status reports, dashboards, and executive summaries by aggregating data from CRM, project management tools, and spreadsheets for leadership reviews and investor or board presentations.
Coordinate cross-functional projects and programs: set timelines, track milestones in Asana/Trello/Notion, facilitate stand-ups, document decisions, and follow up on action items to drive measurable outcomes.
Implement and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for office workflows, onboarding, vendor management, and executive support to increase operational consistency and scale.
Manage sensitive and confidential information with the highest degree of discretion, including contracts, compensation documents, M&A materials, legal correspondence, and personal executive matters.
Support recruiting and onboarding processes by scheduling interviews, coordinating candidate communications, preparing offer packets, setting up equipment and accounts, and running orientation checklists.
Run email triage and inbox management for leaders or teams: label, filter, prioritize, draft responses, and maintain searchable archives that reduce response latency and increase clarity.
Maintain and administer internal collaboration tools and user accounts (Slack, Google Workspace, Office 365, Notion), including permissions management, channel organization, and best-practice governance.
Reconcile, code, and submit expense reports and POs according to company policy; coordinate with finance to resolve discrepancies and provide receipts, itineraries, and approvals as required.
Coordinate vendor and contractor relationships: negotiate terms, maintain SOWs, schedule deliverables, and ensure invoices and deliverables align with contractual obligations and budgets.
Lead meeting logistics and facilitation for large or high-stakes sessions: book rooms or virtual conferencing, manage A/V setup, collect materials, capture minutes, and distribute clear action items with owners and deadlines.
Conduct basic research and competitive landscape analysis to support leadership decisions, summarize findings in concise briefs, and recommend next steps or potential resources.
Use automation and productivity tools (Zapier, Make, Notion Automations, Google Apps Script) to remove repetitive tasks, streamline handoffs, and improve team efficiency.
Coordinate internal events, town halls, and offsites from planning through execution, including vendor sourcing, attendee communications, agendas, travel, catering, and post-event feedback analysis.
Support product launches and marketing campaigns with coordination tasks: align timelines across teams, prepare distribution lists, monitor launch checklists, and capture launch metrics for retrospectives.
Facilitate cross-departmental communication by preparing meeting briefs, circulating pre-reads, gathering inputs, and ensuring follow-up items are completed on time.
Monitor and support basic data collection and light analysis (Google Sheets, Excel pivot tables) to produce weekly status reports, sales or user metrics, and operational performance summaries.
Maintain and update contact lists, CRM records, and stakeholder databases to ensure accurate records for outreach, contract renewals, and reporting purposes.
Provide ad-hoc executive support including personal assistance tasks when required, always maintaining professional boundaries and confidentiality.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to help teams quickly validate assumptions or answer operational questions.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by documenting recurring reports, recommending tools, and identifying gaps in data workflows.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering or analytics requirements, preparing clear acceptance criteria and prioritized request lists.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering or operations teams to represent administrative and operational priorities.
Train new hires and staff on administrative tools, calendar etiquette, expense policies, and company systems; create onboarding documentation and quick-start guides.
Assist with basic HR administration tasks such as tracking PTO, flagging benefits enrollment deadlines, and maintaining personnel records under HR supervision.
Help evaluate and pilot new productivity tools, conduct vendor demos, and provide feedback on product fit and rollout readiness.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced calendar management and scheduling proficiency across Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, including shared calendars and resource booking.
Expert-level Microsoft Office (Word, Excel pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, PowerPoint) and Google Workspace (Sheets, Docs, Slides) for reporting and presentations.
Experience with CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive) for contact management, pipeline tracking, and cadence management.
Familiarity with project and task management platforms such as Asana, Trello, Monday.com, ClickUp, or Notion for cross-functional coordination.
Proficiency with collaboration and communication platforms: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, RingCentral, and Google Meet.
Basic data literacy: create and maintain dashboards, build queries or filters, and manipulate datasets in Google Sheets/Excel; comfort with basic SQL or reporting tools is a plus.
Experience with expense management and procurement tools like Concur, Expensify, Ramp, or Brex for reconciliation and vendor payments.
Practical knowledge of automation and workflow tools (Zapier, Make, IFTTT, Google Apps Script) to automate repetitive administrative tasks.
Familiarity with virtual assistant technologies and AI productivity tools (ChatGPT, Bard, Notion AI) for drafting, summarization, and workflow augmentation.
Strong documentation skills: writing SOPs, onboarding checklists, playbooks, and concise executive briefs using Notion, Confluence, or shared drives.
Vendor and vendor contract management experience, including SOW creation, invoice verification, and calendar-driven deliverable tracking.
Basic event and vendor coordination skills — RFPs, vendor selection, logistics, and post-event analytics.

Soft Skills

Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with the ability to craft concise, professional messaging for leaders, clients, and executives.
High emotional intelligence and stakeholder management: anticipate needs, read cues, and manage up/down/across with diplomacy.
Strong prioritization and time management — able to balance urgent requests, long-term projects, and routine operational tasks under pressure.
Impeccable attention to detail and a bias for accuracy in documents, calendars, and financial reconciliations.
Problem-solving mindset with the ability to propose practical solutions and follow through until resolution.
Discretion and trustworthiness handling confidential business and personal information.
Adaptability and learning agility: quickly adopt new tools, processes, and changing priorities in fast-paced environments.
Proactive ownership and initiative: identify opportunities to improve processes and lead small projects independently.
Collaborative mindset and team orientation — able to coordinate across multiple departments and contribute to a positive working culture.
Customer service orientation: professional, patient, and solution-focused when working with internal stakeholders and external partners.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High school diploma or equivalent with 2+ years of relevant work experience in administrative or operational roles.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Communications, Management, Information Systems, or related fields.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Communications / Professional Writing
Information Systems or Data Analytics
Project Management
Human Resources or Organizational Psychology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2 to 5 years of progressive experience in executive support, operations, project coordination, or administrative roles.

Preferred:

3+ years supporting C-level or senior executives, or 4+ years in operations/project coordination with demonstrated ownership of cross-functional programs.
Hands-on experience with enterprise tools (Google Workspace / Microsoft Office), CRM systems, and at least one project management platform.
Prior experience working in fast-paced startups, scaling environments, or cross-functional corporate teams is highly desirable.