Executive Assistant (CEO)

If you love beauty, you’re in the right place.

As the ultimate curator of over 100 of the most in-demand, highly innovative and boundary-pushing beauty brands, we are the go-to destination for worldwide beauty discovery.

Together through our neighbourhood stores, online presence and loyalty scheme, Space NK has built a flourishing community in which to discover beauty. The customer is at the heart of everything we do, and we will always endeavour to offer everything they need to help them explore, experiment, and enjoy our brands.

Role Title: Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Location London (Hybrid)

This role will mirror the CEO's working patterns and priorities, typically requiring attendance in the office 3-5 days per week to ensure seamless support. Whilst hybrid working is supported, flexibility is essential to align with business needs and key leadership activities.

The Opportunity

We are seeking a highly organised, proactive and commercially astute Executive Assistant to become a trusted partner to our CEO. This is far more than a traditional diary management role. You will operate one step ahead, anticipating needs, managing competing priorities and creating the conditions for the CEO to focus on leading the business.

You will act as the operational hub around the CEO, ensuring commitments, meetings, travel, communications and relationships are managed seamlessly. You will establish a daily and weekly rhythm with the CEO, providing and receiving briefings on priorities, commitments, logistics and emerging business matters.

Success in this role requires exceptional organisation, strong judgment, discretion and the ability to navigate complexity with confidence. You will enjoy solving the puzzle of multiple demands, competing priorities and changing circumstances while maintaining a calm, professional and solutions-focused approach.

You will work predominantly in a business capacity, whilst occasionally collaborating with the CEO's personal support network and housekeeper to ensure smooth coordination where business and personal commitments intersect.

Key Responsibilities

CEO Partnership & Executive Support

• Develop a highly effective daily and weekly cadence with the CEO to review priorities, commitments, travel, meetings and key outcomes.
• Anticipate requirements and proactively identify actions required before they become urgent.
• Act as a trusted gatekeeper and facilitator, ensuring the CEO's time is directed towards the highest-value activities.
• Manage all aspects of CEO administration with absolute professionalism, confidentiality and discretion.
• Prepare daily briefing materials and ensure the CEO is fully prepared for meetings, events and external engagements.
• Attend selected leadership meetings, forums and business updates, documenting actions and following up where appropriate.
• Monitor key priorities and ensure agreed actions are progressing as expected.

Strategic Diary & Time Management

• Own and optimise the CEO's complex and dynamic diary.
• Balance competing demands while ensuring strategic priorities receive the appropriate level of attention.
• Protect focus time while maintaining accessibility for critical stakeholders.
• Ensure key internal and external relationships receive appropriate engagement and visibility.
• Coordinate schedules across the Executive Team and wider business to maximise effectiveness and minimise inefficiencies.
• Operate with sound judgment in prioritising requests and making recommendations regarding time allocation.

Executive Team Support

• Provide diary, travel and logistical support to the Chief Merchandising Officer and Chief Marketing Officer.
• Work closely across these leadership teams to coordinate meetings, business travel, decision-making forums and planning cycles.
• Support the smooth collaboration between the CEO, CMO and Chief Merchandising Officer where priorities and schedules intersect.
• Act as a go-to contact for members of the Executive and Senior Leadership Teams.

Travel, Events & Hospitality

• Organise complex UK and international travel arrangements where required.
• Coordinate itineraries, accommodation, transport and meeting schedules.
• Maintain awareness of key London venues, restaurants, event spaces and hospitality opportunities suitable for internal and external stakeholder engagement.
• Arrange executive events, leadership meetings, customer engagements and partner visits.
• Ensure every engagement is executed to a high professional standard.

Information & Workflow Management

• Establish and maintain effective systems for managing the high volume of information flowing to and from the CEO.
• Create and manage filing, archiving and retrieval systems using clear prioritisation frameworks and traffic-light methodologies.
• Ensure important communications, decisions and documents are organised and easily accessible.
• Track actions, commitments and deadlines arising from meetings and conversations.
• Manage package deliveries, correspondence and external communications on behalf of the CEO, ensuring timely responses and resolution.

Technology & Continuous Improvement

• Leverage Microsoft 365 tools to maximise productivity, organisation and communication.
• Utilise AI-enabled tools and assistants where appropriate to improve efficiency, information management and workflow automation.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve administrative processes and executive support practices.
• Support the adoption of new technologies that enhance the effectiveness of the CEO Office.

What We're Looking For

Experience

• Significant experience supporting a CEO, Managing Director, Founder or C-suite Executive within a fast-paced brand led organisation.
• Proven experience managing multiple complex executive diaries simultaneously.
• Experience coordinating senior stakeholder relationships and executive communications.
• Demonstrated success managing competing priorities, urgent requests and changing business demands.
• Experience organising travel, events and executive meetings at senior leadership level.

Skills & Capabilities

• Exceptionally organised with meticulous attention to detail.
• Strong prioritisation and time management skills.
• Ability to anticipate needs and think several steps ahead.
• Outstanding communication and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent judgment and decision-making capability.
• High level of discretion and professionalism.
• Strong problem-solving mindset with a practical, solutions-oriented approach.
• Confidence working with senior executives and external partners.
• Advanced Microsoft 365 proficiency, including Outlook, Teams, Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
• Familiarity with AI tools and technologies and an interest in using them to improve productivity and effectiveness.

Personal Attributes

• Calm under pressure and comfortable operating in a constantly evolving environment.
• Naturally proactive and self-starting.
• Highly dependable and accountable.
• Resourceful and resilient.
• Collaborative and approachable.
• Commercially aware and business-minded.
• Polished, professional and relationship-focused.
• Enjoys creating order from complexity.

Please note that only successful candidates will be contacted.

All applicants must have the right to live and work in the UK.

If you want to find out more about us, what it is like to work for us, all about our benefits, and our pledges on Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, please visit our website.

Space NK are an equal opportunities employer.

How We Will Use Your Information

We will use the information you provide to us with your job application to help us process your application for the specific job you have applied for. If you apply speculatively, we will process your application for the job/relevant business area that you detail within your email.

Please note that our current system does not use an automated filtering system.

All applications made via the website, through a third-party website or in-store will be kept on file for a period of 12 months.

This information will be retained and used to assess your suitability to similar positions that may arise in the future, or if the initial vacancy becomes live again during the 12-month period. If you would prefer us to not hold your information on file/ you wish to be ‘forgotten’ if you are not offered a position with Space NK, please email your ‘right to be forgotten’ to our recruitment email address with RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN as the title of the email. We will always inform you when we have deleted your application details, otherwise we will treat your application as consent to us holding this information.