About the role
An Executive Secretary job description covers managing executives’ schedules, travel, meetings, correspondence, and records. The role keeps leadership organized and ensures internal and external communication runs smoothly. Hiring managers should assess administrative support, time management, Microsoft Office proficiency, written and verbal communication, and AI fluency.
An executive secretary provides administrative support to senior executives. The work streamlines the day-to-day operations of the leadership team. It involves handling calls, requests, and queries on behalf of executives and keeping databases and filing systems current. Alternative titles are not listed for this role. Core duties include:
Scheduling and travel. Manage and maintain executives’ schedules, appointments, and travel arrangements.
Meetings and minutes. Arrange and coordinate meetings and events, and record, transcribe, and distribute minutes.
Correspondence and documents. Prepare and edit correspondence, communications, presentations, and other documents.
What are the essential executive secretary skills?
The essential executive secretary skills are administrative support and office management, time management and multitasking, Microsoft Office proficiency, written and verbal communication, and AI fluency.
Skill | Why it matters | Bryq assessment and level |
|---|---|---|
Administrative support and office management | Keeps schedules, travel, and records running smoothly | |
Time management and multitasking | Balances many executive requests at once | Time Management (intermediate) |
Microsoft Office proficiency | Supports documents, presentations, and daily tasks | Microsoft Office (intermediate) |
Written and verbal communication | Shapes calls, correspondence, and minutes | Strategic Communication (intermediate) |
AI Fluency | Helps draft, summarize, and schedule with accurate results | AI Fluency Assessment (functional) |
The core of the job is scheduling, travel coordination, meeting logistics, and document preparation. Handling calls, correspondence, and minutes calls for clear written and verbal communication, and AI tools now support much of this daily work.
Levels are a starting point. Bryq lets you set the level each role needs.
Which nice-to-have skills help an executive secretary stand out?
Calendar and email management, presentation preparation, CRM and back-office software, and basic accounting procedures add value but are not needed on day one.
Calendar and email management. Speeds up daily coordination for executives.
Presentation preparation. Produces polished materials for leadership.
CRM and back-office software. Supports databases and internal requests.
Basic accounting procedures. Helps with routine office finance tasks.
Use these skills as tie-breakers between candidates who are equally strong on the essentials. Never screen out candidates who can learn them on the job.
Which competencies predict success as an executive secretary?
The essential competencies are Communication and Learning Agility.
Communication. Drives correspondence, minutes, calls, and liaison with departments.
Learning Agility. Helps adapt to changing priorities, tools, and executive needs.
The optional competencies are Empathy, which supports interactions with executives and colleagues, and Leadership Potential, which adds growth potential.
What AI skills does an executive secretary need?
An executive secretary should use AI for scheduling, meeting notes, and document drafting, because these tools change much of the daily administrative workload.
AI matters in this role because it drafts emails, summarizes meetings, and manages calendars. Secretaries need to prompt well and verify outputs before they reach executives, while protecting confidential executive information. Using AI output without checking it risks errors in front of leadership.
Meeting minutes. Use an AI assistant to transcribe meetings and draft structured minutes, then check them for accuracy before distribution.
Correspondence and presentations. Draft and edit executive correspondence and presentation outlines with AI, adjusting tone and verifying facts.
Scheduling. Use AI-enabled scheduling tools to propose meeting times and itineraries across time zones, then confirm conflicts and preferences manually.
How do you assess executive secretary candidates with Bryq?
Bryq measures all the essential skills and traits for an Executive Secretary in one integrated candidate profile: cognitive ability, personality traits, soft and hard skills, including AI fluency. Bryq builds an ideal profile for the role and matches candidates against it.
Profile Fit. Profile Fit measures cognitive ability and personality, matched against the ideal profile for the role.
Administrative Support. Administrative Support tests office management and administrative skills.
Time Management. Time Management tests time management and multitasking.
Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office tests Microsoft Office proficiency.
Strategic Communication. Strategic Communication tests written and verbal communication.
AI Fluency Assessment. AI Fluency Assessment tests how well candidates use and verify AI tools.
Optional add-ons. Add Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Customer Relationship Management to test nice-to-have skills.
Competency profile. Essential competencies are Communication and Learning Agility. Empathy and Leadership Potential can be added as optional competencies.
All Bryq assessments are validated by I/O psychologists. Profile Fit is independently bias-audited under New York City Local Law 144 (code4thought, April 2026). The AI Fluency Assessment is built on peer-reviewed and subject-matter expert research. A person makes every hiring decision.
Executive Secretary job description template
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Executive Secretary |
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About [Company name][Add a short description of your company.] About the roleWe are looking for an organized and proficient Executive Secretary to provide high-level administrative support to our top-level executives. You will streamline day-to-day operations for our leadership team. You will manage schedules, coordinate meetings, and keep internal and external communication running smoothly. Responsibilities
Qualifications
Skills and competencies we look for
Working with AI
What we offer
Equal opportunity[Add your equal opportunity statement.] |
Frequently asked questions
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Author
The Bryq I/O Team
Bryq’s I/O Psychology Team is a group of industrial-organizational psychologists who design and validate the science behind our assessments. They write about what research says on hiring, skills, personality, and performance, and how HR leaders can apply it to make fairer, evidence-based decisions.
