Corporate Research and Investigations Limited
Executive Assistant to the Group CEO
Dubai, Dubai•Full-time
About the Job
1. Position Purpose
The Executive Assistant provides high-trust, disciplined and confidential executive support to the Group CEO. The position strengthens the effectiveness of the Office of the Group CEO by protecting executive time, coordinating priorities, maintaining accurate decision and action records, and ensuring timely follow-through across CRI Group™ and ABAC Group entities.
The role is an executive-office function. It facilitates communication and execution but does not assume the decision-making authority of the Group CEO, Group Directors, functional leaders or entity management unless a specific authority is formally delegated in writing.
2. Organizational Context and Role Boundary
This position is distinct from the Office Manager role. The Executive Assistant supports the Group CEO's agenda, priorities, correspondence, travel, meetings and executive follow-through. The Office Manager retains responsibility for Dubai office administration, facilities, office records, supplier portals, reception and administrative staff, and office logistics.
- The appointment does not replace, reduce or absorb the approved Office Manager position.
- The Executive Assistant will not direct functional employees unless acting on a clearly recorded instruction of the Group CEO.
- Administrative requests should be routed to the Office Manager when they fall within that role's approved remit.
- Any overlap or uncertainty will be referred to HR and the relevant functional leader for clarification.
3. Key Responsibilities
3.1 Executive Calendar and Priority Management
- Maintain a structured and conflict-free calendar aligned with the Group CEO's strategic, operational and personal-business priorities.
- Assess meeting requests, obtain the purpose and required decision, and recommend prioritization or delegation.
- Provide daily and weekly forward views of commitments, deadlines, travel and decision requirements.
- Protect focused working time and prevent avoidable scheduling, access and preparation failures.
3.2 Meetings, Decisions and Follow-through
- Prepare agendas, background material, attendee briefs and decision papers sufficiently in advance of meetings.
- Record decisions, assigned owners, due dates and dependencies in the executive action tracker.
- Issue agreed follow-ups, monitor outstanding actions and escalate overdue or blocked matters factually and without altering the instruction.
- Maintain an accessible and confidential record of executive decisions and approvals.
3.3 Executive Correspondence and Briefing
- Triage incoming correspondence and distinguish urgent, decision-required, information-only and delegable matters.
- Draft and format professional correspondence, briefing notes, acknowledgements and internal directives for the Group CEO's review.
- Maintain consistency of tone, corporate identity, facts, attachments, recipients and approval status.
- Ensure that confidential or sensitive correspondence is shared strictly on a need-to-know basis.
3.4 Travel and Executive Logistics
- Coordinate itineraries, flights, accommodation, visas, ground transport, meeting schedules and supporting documents for approved business travel.
- Provide a consolidated travel pack covering confirmations, contacts, agenda, local requirements and contingency arrangements.
- Coordinate with the Office Manager, Finance, HR, local offices and external providers without duplicating their responsibilities.
- Maintain accurate travel records and submit supporting documentation in accordance with company policy.
3.5 Group-wide Coordination
- Coordinate information and follow-up across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Türkiye and other operating locations.
- Support the Group CEO's engagement with Group Directors, regional management, functional leaders and external stakeholders.
- Track cross-entity commitments while respecting entity governance, reporting lines and delegated authorities.
- Identify conflicting deadlines, missing ownership and decision bottlenecks for executive attention.
3.6 Records, Confidentiality and Information Control
- Maintain controlled executive files, meeting records, approvals, confidential personnel material and strategic documents in authorized systems.
- Apply document naming, version control, retention, access and secure-transmission requirements.
- Observe applicable privacy, confidentiality, information-security and records-management requirements, including CRI Group™ policies and ISO/IEC 27001 controls.
- Immediately report any suspected loss, misdirection, unauthorized disclosure or compromise of information.
3.7 Stakeholder and Protocol Support
- Coordinate professional engagement with clients, government bodies, regulators, partners, suppliers and senior external stakeholders.
- Confirm meeting protocols, attendee details, venue arrangements and briefing requirements.
- Represent the Office of the Group CEO with discretion, neutrality, cultural awareness and appropriate professional boundaries.
- Avoid making commitments, commercial representations or policy statements without authorized approval.
4. Decision Rights and Limitations
Authority Category
Position
May act independently
Calendar administration; approved logistics; meeting preparation; action tracking; routine acknowledgements; records administration.
Requires prior approval
Commitments of expenditure; external representations; changes to executive decisions; disclosure of confidential information; commitments affecting employees, clients or Group entities.
No inherent authority
Hiring, discipline, appraisal, remuneration, contractual approval, pricing, legal commitment, bank instruction, certification decision or operational direction outside the role.
Delegated authority
Any temporary authority must be specific, documented, time-bound and exercised only within the stated limit.
5. Key Working Relationships
- Internal: Group CEO; Group Directors; Regional and Country Management; HR; Legal and Compliance; Finance; Quality and Administration; IT and Cybersecurity; Sales; Operations; Investigations & 3PRM™; Certification and Training; Office Manager.
- External: Clients, government and regulatory contacts, professional advisers, auditors, travel providers, partners, suppliers and other authorized stakeholders.
6. Qualifications and Experience
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional qualification in business administration, management, communications or a related discipline.
- Normally seven or more years of progressively responsible executive-assistance experience, including direct support to a CEO, board member, owner or comparable senior executive.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating complex international calendars, travel, meetings, correspondence and confidential records.
- Excellent written and spoken English; Arabic or another language relevant to CRI Group™ operations is an advantage.
- Strong capability with Microsoft 365 and contemporary collaboration, document-management, CRM and task-tracking platforms.
- Experience in a regulated, compliance, professional-services, investigations, certification or multi-jurisdictional environment is desirable.
7. Core Competencies
- Absolute discretion, integrity and sound judgement.
- Executive presence combined with humility and service orientation.
- Exceptional organization, prioritization and attention to detail.
- Clear, concise and diplomatic communication.
- Professional boundaries, neutrality and respect for reporting lines.
- Anticipation of risks, dependencies and information requirements.
- Composure under pressure and across changing priorities.
- Cultural sensitivity and confidence working across countries and time zones.
- Ownership of follow-through without exceeding delegated authority.
8. Key Performance Indicators
Performance Area
Calendar quality
At least 98% scheduling accuracy; no avoidable double-bookings; priority conflicts raised promptly.
Meeting readiness
Standard meeting packs completed at least 24 hours before the meeting, unless the meeting is arranged urgently.
Decision and action records
Agreed decisions and actions recorded within one business day, with owner and due date.
Follow-through
At least 90% of tracked actions completed by due date or escalated before becoming overdue.
Travel readiness
Complete itinerary and supporting pack issued at least three business days before planned departure where bookings permit.
Correspondence control
Priority correspondence acknowledged, routed or presented for decision within one business day.
Record integrity
100% of sampled executive records correctly filed, access-controlled and retrievable during periodic review.
Confidentiality
Zero substantiated confidentiality, privacy or information-security breaches attributable to failure to follow required controls.
Stakeholder service
Professional, timely and accurate coordination, assessed through structured quarterly feedback from the Group CEO and key internal stakeholders.
Role-boundary compliance
No unauthorized commitments or interference with functional, Office Manager or entity-management responsibilities.
9. Working Conditions
- The role may require flexibility outside normal working hours to support legitimate business priorities across time zones. Such availability will be managed reasonably and in accordance with the employment terms and applicable company policies.
- Regional or international business travel may be required when formally approved and operationally necessary.
- The position handles highly confidential commercial, strategic, legal and personnel information and is therefore subject to enhanced confidentiality, access-control and information-security expectation