Manager, EA/MA , GBS KL Mandarin Speaking

Bain & Company; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Bain & Company is seeking a Manager of Assistants to lead the EA/MA team in their Kuala Lumpur GBS Hub. The role demands strong leadership, interpersonal skills, and a proactive approach to managing service delivery and team performance. The ideal candidate will need over 7 years of experience in a global professional services environment, and 3 years in people management.

Fluent Mandarin is essential. This role involves enhancing team skills, resolving conflicts, and ensuring a collaborative culture, driving the growth and transformation of the GBS operations.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of overall experience in a global professional services environment.
• 3+ years of people management experience, specifically in EA/MA roles.
• Demonstrated experience resolving complex employee relations issues.

Responsibilities

• Manage the team of Assistants, ensuring compliance with service levels.
• Monitor service levels and provide actionable plans.
• Conduct performance reviews and manage training plans.

Skills

Leadership skills

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Conflict resolution

Multitasking

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in a business discipline

Tools

Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Job description

Bain & Company is one of the top management consulting firms in the world. With 65 offices in 40 countries, we make our collective knowledge, experience, and global network available to our clients. We are embarking upon a significant transformation of our centralized non-consulting operations – Global Business Services (GBS) – to ensure they support the significant growth of our organization in the coming decade.

Part of this involves strengthening our support in the increasingly important geographies to our business in China, Southeast Asia and Australia, and in the APAC region more broadly. Following a successful pilot of Manager Assistants (MAs) in the region in early 2021, we now aspire to grow other business functions significantly in the coming years and are building a strong team in our Kuala Lumpur GBS Hub, to drive the transformation.

Position Summary

Based in our Global Business Services (GBS) in Kuala Lumpur, the role is to manage the team of Assistants (Manager Assistants and Executive Assistants) being part of EA/MA team, in compliance with agreed service levels. We are looking for someone with strong leadership skills, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a positive and ‘can do’ attitude and someone who has the ability to forge strong and successful working relationships in both physical and virtual settings.

Core Responsibilities and Duties

Service Delivery

• Monitor service levels and NPS for the team and drive execution of action plans, as required
• Drive a strong service culture within the team and ensure Professional Standards, Operating Principles and MA and EA BDPs (Best Demonstrated Practices) are understood and applied
• Set-up and monitor quality control processes to ensure “zero-defect” attitude for team operations
• Act as EA/MA representative, spokesperson and champion in all areas, unique point of contact to solve client satisfaction issues with each member of the team
• Support the KL GBS leadership team to promote and grow the GBS EA/MA programs
• Build and maintain strong relationships with regional EAMA Managers and senior executives

Resource Planning and Management

• Monitor absence and holidays in accordance with GBS policies
• Manage leaves and backup planning for the team
• Regularly assess workload and run efficiency/productivity improvement initiatives, where necessary
• Work with HR to manage absenteeism issues, monitor attrition and conduct hiring and exit interviews

Recruitment, Selection and Induction

• Coordinate EA/MA recruitment plan and process for the team, by providing input on hiring decisions
• Recommend selection criteria, and review applications, and perform interviews, when needed
• Organize and run induction sessions for all EA/MA hires
• Actively engage in probation reviews of new hires, ensure appropriate documentation, and ensure quality input is received from supported offices

Training and Professional Development

• Manage training plans for the team (content, frequency, channels, trainers)
• Conduct team and individual catch ups with all EA/MA on a regular basis, reviewing skill plans, summary updates and track progression
• Assess the specific training and development needs of the team members
• Collect feedback from EAMAs, stakeholders and senior executives to identify skill gaps and areas for improvement
• Design and deliver tailored training programs to enhance the skills and capabilities of the EAMA team to address the requirements of the EAMA role
• Integrate a variety of training approaches, including interactive workshops, and role‑playing exercises to enhance learning effectiveness and engagement
• Conduct regular team meetings and voice the team’s requirements to the management
• Offer one‑on‑one coaching to EAMAs to guide their career development and address specific challenges, fostering a culture of ongoing enhancement and development.

Performance Review and Evaluation

• Provide input on annual review process for team, and perform performance reviews for direct reports
• Liaise with supported offices to get timely input on performance of team members
• Provide input on promotion of team members, where necessary

Capabilities

• Strong interpersonal skills. Structured, clear, focused communication, tailored to suit the audience
• Ability to manage work allocation and ensuring sustainable work‑life balance for all employees
• Ability to prioritize, engage and develop trusting relationships with stakeholders
• Ability to manage peaks in work activity in a positive, mature and productive manner
• Ability to resolve conflict, while dealing with stakeholders and team members, on sensitive issues
• Ability to make clear, calm, insightful decisions underpinned by logical arguments and team empathy
• Ability to adapt and work across teams, while appropriately combining delegation and direct interaction
• Ability to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing between team members and across teams
• Ability to multi‑task, stay organized and manage time well

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in a business discipline
• 7+ years of overall experience working in a matrixed, global professional services environment
• 3+ years of people management experience, including hands‑on experience of managing EA/MA teams
• Prior experience in an EA/MA/PA role would be an asset
• Demonstrated experience in resolving complex employee relations issues
• High level proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Mandarin language: Native level proficiency is required