Executive Assistant

Joining Arup

Arup’s purpose, shared values, and collaborative approach has set us apart for over 80 years, guiding how we shape a better world.

We’re seeking a highly organized, proactive, and experienced Executive Assistant to support a team of our Leaders in our Vancouver office. This role goes beyond traditional administrative duties; it’s a strategic opportunity to partner with senior leadership, drive business success, and grow within a purposeful, people-focused firm.

Success in this position requires a poised, adaptable professional who navigates the organization with ease, handles competing priorities with precision, and communicates effectively at all levels. You will regularly engage with senior leaders, consistently demonstrating professionalism, discretion, and sound judgment. Flexibility in adapting processes while maintaining high-quality work is important.

We’re looking for someone who is not only skilled but genuinely passionate about leadership support, someone who views this as an important, long-term career. If you take pride in enabling leaders to perform at their best, thrive in fast-paced environments, and bring care and attention to every detail, we want to hear from you.

You will make an impact in this role by:

• Serving as a trusted strategic partner to senior leadership, enabling focus on priorities, decision-making, and delivery by anticipating needs
• Orchestrating complex, high-stakes calendars across multiple time zones - applying sound judgment to balance competing demands and proactively resolve conflicts
• Acting as an extension of the leaders, facilitating coordination across departments and translating leadership intent into clear, actionable next steps
• Proactively managing leadership priorities and workflows - maintaining situational awareness of commitments, flagging risks or time-sensitive issues, and ensuring disciplined follow-through
• Preparing leaders for internal and external engagements through concise briefings, agendas, research, presentations, and structured follow-up tracking
• Drafting, proofreading, and refining executive-level correspondence, reports, and presentations that reflect Arup’s brand standards, and level of professionalism
• Planning and coordinating complex domestic and international travel, including flights, accommodations, ground transportation, visas, and detailed itineraries - ensuring travel seamlessly supports the leader’s objectives
• Researching and summarizing information to support leadership decisions, planning, and external engagement
• Building and maintaining strong relationships across the business to understand team dynamics, project milestones, and evolving priorities - allowing you to manage requests with context and confidence
• Representing the leader and the firm in interactions with internal teams, clients, industry partners, and external stakeholders - demonstrating discretion and clarity
• Partnering on business development activities, including CRM data integrity, client research, pipeline reporting, and coordination of proposals and marketing materials
• Overseeing administration such as travel bookings, expenses, invoices, and vendor payments using Concur SAP, ensuring accuracy and timeliness
• Handling confidential and sensitive information with the highest level of discretion, judgment, and emotional intelligence
• Coordinating leadership-led team events, milestone celebrations, and office-wide initiatives that reinforce culture, engagement, and connection
• Supporting compliance with licensing, travel, data privacy, and internal operational policies
• Taking on additional responsibilities as needed in support of the leadership team and broader business priorities

Qualifications

• Vancouver-based, with the ability to work in-office
• Minimum 10 years of experience supporting senior leaders or C-suite executives, ideally within a professional services or consulting environment
• Proven experience operating as a trusted partner to region-level leadership, senior stakeholders, and client-facing teams
• Associate or bachelor’s degree in business administration or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), with the ability to produce leadership-quality materials
• Demonstrated tech agility, including experience with CRM platforms; travel, invoicing, and expense systems (e.g., Concur SAP); collaboration tools (e.g., Teams); and basic IT troubleshooting
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with sound judgment, attention to detail, and a calm, professional tone
• Highly developed organizational skills with the ability to manage complexity, ambiguity, and shifting priorities
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to establish trust and credibility at all levels of the organization
• Comfortable working in an open-door office environment
• Able to work independently with minimal direction while collaborating effectively as part of a leadership support team.

At Arup, you belong to an extraordinary collective – in which we encourage individuality to thrive. Our strength comes from how we respect, share and connect our diverse experiences, perspectives and ideas.

You will have the opportunity to do socially useful work that has meaning – to Arup, to your career, to our members and to the clients and communities we serve.

Please note that all applicants must apply directly via the job portal. If this role is not quite what you are looking for but you are interested in other opportunities for a future with purpose, please sign up to our where you will be kept up to date with roles suitable for you to shape a better world.

What we offer you

At Arup, we care about each member’s success, so we can grow together.

Guided by our values, we provide an attractive total reward package that recognizes the contribution of each of our members to our shared success. As well as competitive, fair and equitable pay, we offer a career in which all of our members can belong, grow and thrive – through benefits that support health and wellbeing, a wide range of learning opportunities and many possibilities to have an impact through the work they do.

We are owned in trust on behalf of our members, giving us the freedom, with personal responsibility, to set our own direction and choose work that aligns with our purpose and adds to Arup’s legacy. Our members collaborate on ambitious projects to deliver remarkable outcomes for our clients and communities. Profit Share is a key part of our reward, enabling members to share in the results of our collective efforts.

Benefits at Work - At Arup, we have a comprehensive and valuable benefits program that works for our employees and their families. These are 100% paid for by Arup except for optional life insurance. These benefits provide health and welfare security for you as well as paid time off for rest and renewal. Our Global Profit Share Plan (paid bi-annually) provides an opportunity for you to share in the success of the Firm. As a valued employee of Arup, you can also choose to participate in our GRRSP 5% company match to help you save for your future.

Flexible Working - We believe that flexible arrangements create a more inclusive way of working that supports our diversity and the wellbeing of our people. Options for alternative schedules and the ability to work outside of the office for a portion of your workweek are available.

Vancouver Hiring Range – The good faith base salary hiring range for this job if performed in Vancouver is $75,000 to $85,000 per year. This range is commensurate with experience, educational background, and skill level. Benefits are not included in the base salary. Please note hiring ranges for candidates performing work outside of Vancouver will differ.