Virtual executive assistant · hire a virtual executive assistant, in London or remote

Virtual executive assistant: what one does

A virtual executive assistant does an executive assistant’s job from outside the leader’s office. The National Careers Service describes the EA’s work as organising complex diaries and prioritising, managing projects with other teams, researching and summarising for senior management, co-ordinating board meetings, events and travel, and handling sensitive information. Almost all of that can be done remotely.

What changes is access. A virtual EA works through delegated access to the leader’s email and calendar, shared documents, the travel and expense systems and, sometimes, the board portal. The leader has to decide what the EA can see and do without asking, and the organisation has to secure it.

What a virtual EA is not

A virtual EA is different from a virtual assistant working through a list of tasks. An executive assistant uses judgement on the leader’s behalf: what reaches them, in what order, and what can be handled without them. Ask candidates about the leaders they have supported and what they were trusted to decide, not about the label. Our guide to what an executive assistant does covers the role in full.

How the arrangement works: contractor, agency or employee

The label on the contract does not settle it. GOV.UK explains that a person’s employment status decides their rights and your responsibilities, and that they may have a different status in tax law. Courts and tribunals make the final decision.

Employee. A remote employee has an employee’s rights, is paid through PAYE, and you must check their right to work before they start. Self-employed contractor. GOV.UK says a self-employed person runs their business for themselves, is not paid through PAYE and does not have an employee’s rights; signs include giving quotes, not being directly supervised and sending invoices.

Through their own company. The off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. Status is decided by how the engagement runs in practice; a medium or large client makes the determination, while a small client outside the public sector leaves it to the worker’s own company. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests. Through an agency. GOV.UK guidance on the Conduct Regulations separates an employment agency, which introduces people you then employ, from an employment business, which supplies temporary workers to you.

Virtual executive assistant in London: remote most days, in the room when it counts

Many leaders searching for a virtual executive assistant London based want a mix: remote support most of the week, and someone who can be at the office, a board meeting or an event in person when needed. Put the in-person days in the brief, because they narrow the candidate pool to people within reach of London.

A London-based virtual EA also knows the practical side of the city: venues, travel, couriers and the offices of the people the leader meets. For a fully remote arrangement, location matters less than time zone and availability.

For live EA roles, see fractional EA jobs; for a permanent or part-time EA in the city, see executive assistant recruitment in London.