Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer

About the role

We’re a fast-growing hardware startup in Palo Alto building physical systems that have to actually work which means the parts have to show up, on spec and on schedule. We’re hiring an Executive Assistant to support our CEO and to own the day-to-day experience of our office.

This is two jobs in one, and both matter. The first is making the CEO’s time count by managing calendar, travel, inbox, prep, follow-through. The second is making the office run: the space, the vendors, the meals, the visitors, the moments that make people glad they came in. At our stage these sit with the same person, and that person has a real effect on how fast the whole company moves.

You’ll have visibility into nearly everything — board material, hiring decisions, customer conversations, the occasional crisis. Discretion isn’t a nice-to-have here; it’s the job.

What you’ll do

Support the CEO

• Own a complex, constantly shifting calendar, and make the judgment calls about what earns time and what doesn’t.
• Book and manage domestic and international travel, and rebuild the itinerary calmly when a flight drops.
• Prepare the CEO for what’s next: agendas, briefing notes, context on who’s in the room, materials in hand before they’re asked for.
• Track commitments and close loops. The follow-ups that would otherwise quietly die after a meeting.
• Coordinate board meetings and investor touchpoints: scheduling, logistics, materials, and deadlines that don’t move.
• Handle expenses, reporting, and the administrative tail that comes with the role.
• Act as a thoughtful filter for inbound requests, so the CEO sees what matters and not much else.

Run the office

• Own the Palo Alto office day to day: supplies, snacks, meals, equipment, and keeping the space one people want to be in.
• Manage vendors and building relationships, and handle the facilities issues that come up.
• Host visitors, candidates, customers, and investors so their first impression of us is a good one.
• Support onboarding logistics for new hires: desk, equipment, badge, first-day experience.
• Plan team events, offsites, and the small recurring things that hold a culture together.
• Partner with our team on the practical side of running a growing company, and pick up projects as they appear.

What we’re looking for

• 3+ years as an Executive Assistant, ideally supporting a founder, C-level executive, or senior leader.
• Exceptional organization and follow-through. You keep track of everything, and nothing needs to be asked for twice.
• Sound judgment under ambiguity. You’ll frequently have to decide something without being able to ask first.
• Genuine discretion with confidential information.
• Clear, warm, professional written communication which you’ll write on behalf of the CEO.
• Fluency with Google Workspace, Slack, and the usual scheduling and travel tools; quick to learn whatever else we use.
• A service mindset without being a pushover. The best EAs push back when pushing back is right.
• Comfortable in a startup: the priorities shift, the plans change, and the answer is rarely in a handbook.
• Willing and able to work onsite in Palo Alto, five days a week. The office is the point of this role.

Nice to have

• Experience at an early-stage or high-growth startup, especially in tech or another operationally complex business.
• Prior office management or workplace experience, including vendor and facilities ownership.
• Experience supporting board meetings, fundraises, or investor relations.
• Event planning at any scale, from a team dinner to a company offsite.
• Experience supporting recruiting logistics or candidate scheduling at volume.

Compensation and benefits

Base salary range of $100,000 – $140,000 , plus equity. Where an offer lands in that range depends on experience, leadership scope, depth in relevant categories, and interview performance.

We also offer:

• Employer funded medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Flexible PTO
• Daily meals and a fully stocked office

We’re an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We also consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records consistent with applicable law.