Turn chaos into structure. This is a high-ownership Executive Assistant role focused on taking operational and administrative work off a founder’s plate, from calendar and inbox management to travel, follow-ups, hiring coordination, and business projects.

The work is fast-paced and autonomous: turn quick briefs into clear actions, take ownership, follow through, and keep things moving without needing to be chased.

WHO THEY ARE

An arts and crafts ecommerce group founded in 2016, now serving over 5 million customers across 20+ countries and adding 150,000 new ones every month. They launch hundreds of products a month with working artists and run local platforms in each market. Revenue is up around 400% year on year on a team of 35, which tells you most of what you need to know about the pace.

Ownership beats titles. An entire Black Friday campaign once went to an intern because he was the best person for it.
Data settles arguments, not seniority.
Bias to action. Decide, act, learn, move again.
Responsibility scales with output, not tenure.
High trust, high bar, adults talking to adults.

This is a fully remote, full-time role. Netherlands-based candidates can be hired as employees; everyone else is brought on as a contractor.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU

A direct line to the founder. No layers, same-day feedback.
A clear route to chief of staff as the business scales.
First EA in the company. You build the function, not inherit it.
Real authority from week one on scheduling, travel, vendors, and process.
Scope grows with proven judgment.

WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO

Take over the calendar and inbox. Not shared access, not draft-and-wait. You triage, you decide, you reply.
Kick off each day with him on whatever's sitting on his plate. Whatever lands with you gets handled from there, without a second conversation.
Chase the outside world. Suppliers, accountants, agencies. The ones who go quiet hear from you, not from him.
Run hiring logistics. Candidate scheduling, agency follow-ups, interview loops that keep moving while five calendars fight each other.
Organise offsites and team trips end to end. Venue, travel, accommodation, schedule. Twenty-five people in one place with nothing left to improvise.
Clear the personal admin off his plate. Finance appointments, insurance, subscriptions. The unglamorous stuff that quietly eats a founder's evenings.
Prep decisions properly. Do the research, cut it down to a real recommendation, hand over something he can act on in two minutes.
Write down what keeps repeating. Every recurring workflow is documented once, so it stops living in someone's head.

WHO YOU ARE

Proven Scale-Up Experience: You've directly supported a Founder, CEO, or senior Exec through a rapid scaling phase in a high-growth environment (eCommerce, DTC, or high-velocity tech/startup). You know what lands on a scaling CEO's plate before it even gets there.
Proven Track Record: You've owned a calendar, an inbox, travel, and external comms end-to-end, not just assisted with them.
Hyper-organised and calm under load, with an relentless bias toward action.
Spot work that shouldn't be on the founder's plate and take it off before being asked.
Flawless detail execution: Correct dates, zero dropped follow-ups, zero repeated mistakes.
AI & Tech Native: You use AI tools daily as part of your standard workflow and are fluent in Google Workspace, Slack, and spreadsheets.

Bonus if you've:

Built processes and workflows from scratch rather than inheriting them
Hands-on experience in DTC / eCommerce
Used Notion, Asana, or modern project management platforms

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Day 15: You are operational. Calendar and inbox triaging sit with you, basic travel/scheduling requests no longer reach him, and you've already relieved immediate administrative bottlenecks.
Day 30: You are fully operational and fully effective. External correspondence, hiring coordination, decision prep, and personal admin sit entirely with you. Recurring workflows are documented, nothing needs chasing twice, and zero time is wasted on extended onboarding.