Executive Assistant & Client Liaison - Science & Natural History

THE ROLE

We are looking for a highly motivated, proactive and productive Executive Assistant & Client Liaison with impeccable organizational skills to provide mature, discrete, professional assistance. As the Executive Assistant & Client Liaison, you will be responsible for providing full business and administrative support, and assistance managing an important client list in a one-to-one working relationship.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Management of executive’s to-do list 
• Answering calls and dealing with incoming enquiries from staff and clients; resolving or raising to the executive.
• Assisting executive in supporting VIP clients with their transactions across all categories of the business (e.g. Fine Art, Natural History, Design, Jewelry, and more) including; scheduling viewings, registering bids, assisting with online accounts and bidding, mailing catalogues, obtaining condition reports/ hi-res images/ selling points, tracking sales results/ensuring all export licenses and other documents are obtained/overseeing crating and shipping of purchases
• Responsible for coordinating certain meetings; planning the agenda with input, arranging speakers, organizing materials, tracking attendance, following up on actions.
• Assisting with diverse projects, initiatives and roll outs, carrying out research, gathering, analyzing and presenting data.
• Helping to manage and follow through on various projects, including private sales, major consignments, and pitches
• Ensuring the executive is prepared for all meetings/ pitches/ sales/ client interactions with materials and reports.
• Drafting emails, typing correspondence, preparing reports and presentations and proofreading. 
• Having diary ownership of busy schedule, anticipating needs around business getting and sales; scheduling meetings/ events/ travel/dinners appropriately, reminding the executive of upcoming meetings and events, ensuring they remain on time, monitoring and resolving any conflicts pro-actively.
• Acting as the “eyes and ears” for the executive and ensuring they are informed of key events including art, science, and book fairs, conferences, internal events and dinners, updates and initiatives, upcoming sales and sale results.
• Booking travel, being aware of any challenges or conflicts and preparing all necessary documentation and liaising with international offices.
• Completion of all expenses and ensure timely payment.
• Managing invoices; checking costs and accuracy, setting up new vendors, processing, and monitoring timely payment.
• Organize and maintain files 
• Other tasks as assigned

IDEAL EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES

• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• 2+ years of professional experience in an Executive Assistant role, or role with similar responsibilities. Previous experience as a pre-sale, post-sale, or shipping coordinator helpful
• Strong multi-tasking and prioritization skills; ability to pivot when priorities shift
• A fastidious attention to detail, accuracy and organization.
• Adept at handling sensitive and confidential information in a professional manner, maintaining discretion at all times.
• Able to maintain composure under pressure.
• Skillful ability to interact in a professional, mature and collaborative style with key constituents across multiple departments and locations (US, UK, Europe, Middle East, Hong Kong)
• Ability to show good judgment and represent the Sotheby’s brand and core competencies.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and an enthusiastic client service attitude.
• Excellent written communication and analytical skills with experience in drafting reports and presentations and responding to correspondence in a timely fashion.
• Strong experience in Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Flexibility to work some evenings and weekends when necessary.