Executive assistant recruitment · London
Executive assistant recruitment in London: hire an EA
Executive assistant recruitment in London starts with the leader the EA will support: their diary, their board, and how many days of help they need. We recruit permanent, part-time, temporary and fractional executive assistants for senior leaders in London. Every brief gets a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
London pay is higher than the UK-wide figures: Robert Half’s 2026 guide puts a London executive assistant at £68,250 at the 50th percentile.
How a brief runswhat we undertake
- 01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
- 02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
- 03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
- 04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
- 05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief
Shortlist3–5
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire an executive assistant
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Executive Assistant candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the role and the days a week
- 03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
- 04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
Live roles · last 3 months
Live Executive assistant jobs
No live Executive assistant roles right now.
We only show real, verified vacancies from the last three months — we never pad the board with fabricated listings. New Executive assistant roles appear here as our pipeline finds them.
Live executive assistant and support roles
Fractional Quest is a fractional recruitment agency: send a Executive Assistant brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five vetted candidates.
01/ the role
Executive assistant recruitment in London, what the role covers and what it pays
An executive assistant runs the working life of one senior leader, sometimes two: the diary, the inbox, travel, board papers, and the follow-through after every meeting. At the top end the EA is a gatekeeper and a project lead, trusted with confidential information about people, deals and the board. That is the difference from an office administrator, and it is why the hire is made against the leader, not against a generic job description.
What an executive assistant earns in London
Robert Half’s 2026 salary figures for an executive assistant in London are £52,250 at the 25th percentile, £68,250 at the 50th and £87,750 at the 75th. Across the UK the same publisher gives £38,500, £50,250 and £64,500. Robert Walters’ 2026 survey puts London EA salaries at £40,000 to £75,000, and Morgan McKinley’s 2026 guide gives an average of £50,000 to £60,000 for London. Pay rises with the seniority of the leader supported, the size of the organisation and the sector.
Permanent, part-time, temporary or fractional
A permanent, full-time EA suits a leader whose week is full of meetings, travel and board work. A part-time EA covers a set number of days each week on an employment contract. A temporary EA covers a gap, such as leave or the weeks before a permanent hire starts. A fractional EA supports a leader for part of the week, often remotely and often alongside other clients: to hire a fractional executive assistant on that basis, see our fractional and virtual EA page.
02/ scope
How to hire an executive assistant in London
1. Write the brief around the leader
To hire an executive assistant well, set out who the EA will support, how they work, the hours and days needed, and what stays with the leader. Include the unglamorous parts: board packs, expenses, personal admin. A clear brief is also the best test of whether you need a full-time hire at all.
2. Choose the contract
Decide between permanent, part-time, temporary and fractional before you search, because the candidate pool differs for each. If the gap is running the operation rather than supporting one leader, hire a part-time COO or look at fractional operations manager roles instead.
3. Assess against real work
Give each candidate the same exercise: a messy week of the leader’s diary to rebuild, or a board pack to assemble from notes. Ask how they have handled confidential information and a leader who changes their mind. Take references yourself, ideally from the leaders they supported.
4. Run the checks before the start date
For an employee, you must check their right to work before they start. An EA sees personal data every day, so handle candidates’ information carefully during the search too: the ICO’s recruitment and selection guidance is written for employers and for recruitment agencies and head-hunters.
What we do on an EA brief
We send a shortlist of 3–5 executive assistants, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first. When you hire an EA through us, you see the pay before the first interview.
03/ vetting
How we vet executive assistants
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify Executive Assistant tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING - 02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING - 03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY - 04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5
04/ executive assistant recruitment agencies
Executive assistant recruitment agencies and EA headhunters: what to check
Executive assistant recruitment agencies work in two ways. GOV.UK guidance on the Conduct Regulations separates an employment agency, which finds people permanent roles with the hirer, from an employment business, which employs temporary workers and supplies them to work under the hirer’s direction. Temporary EAs usually come through the second route. The same law covers executive search consultants.
An executive assistant headhunter approaches EAs who are not looking, usually for senior or confidential roles. Whichever you use, agree the terms in writing before any candidate is introduced, and ask how candidates are assessed and referenced. Agencies cannot charge candidates a fee for finding them work (GOV.UK), and any firm holding candidates’ details has data-protection duties under the ICO’s guidance.
For a temporary EA supplied by an agency, the worker gains equal treatment with directly employed staff after a qualifying period, including the same pay as a permanent colleague doing the same job. Plan a long temporary booking with that in mind.
05/ part time executive assistant
Part-time executive assistant: hiring, and part-time EA jobs in London
A part-time executive assistant works fewer hours than a full-time colleague, on an employment contract. The Part-time Workers Regulations 2000 protect part-time workers from less favourable treatment than a comparable full-time worker. GOV.UK lists pay rates, pension, holidays, training and promotion among the areas covered, with some benefits applied pro rata.
Flexibility works in both directions. All employees can request flexible working from their first day in a job, including fewer hours or different days, and the employer must deal with the request reasonably. A part-time EA role can come from a full-time EA who asks to cut their days, so plan for it.
If the EA works through their own company for several clients, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. Status is decided by how the engagement runs in practice; in most cases the client decides, and a small client outside the public sector leaves that to the worker’s own company. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
For candidates: current part-time and fractional executive assistant jobs in London and elsewhere are on the board below and on our fractional EA jobs page, where you can also hire a fractional EA or PA.
06/ questions
Executive assistant recruitment FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in an executive assistant.
Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5
Bring the brief. We architect the team.
A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
