Executive Assistant

McKinsey & Company; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

McKinsey & Company in Johannesburg is seeking an experienced Executive Assistant to support senior leaders in a fast-paced, high-performance environment. You will manage complex diaries, coordinate travel, and prepare professional correspondence and presentations.

You will leverage AI tools and Microsoft 365 to enhance productivity, collaborate with Partners and EK teams, and contribute to discreet handling of confidential information in a dynamic, globally connected firm.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience preferred.
• Several years of experience supporting senior executives in a fast-paced environment.
• Proven success managing complex calendars, travel, stakeholder relationships, and executive priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.

Responsibilities

• Manage complex diaries across multiple time zones for senior stakeholders.
• Plan and coordinate travel arrangements and itineraries for demanding schedules.
• Produce and proofread correspondence, documents, presentations, and other materials.
• Coordinate interactions with senior executives, client leaders, and key stakeholders with discretion.
• Leverage AI tools to improve efficiency and support executive decision-making.

Skills

Calendar management

Stakeholder management

Executive priorities

Microsoft 365

AI productivity tools

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience

Tools

Microsoft 365

AI tools

Job description

Who You'll Work With

You are someone who thrives in a high-performance environment, bringing a growth mindset and entrepreneurial spirit to tackle meaningful challenges that have a real impact.

Who You'll Work With

You are someone who thrives in a high-performance environment, bringing a growth mindset and entrepreneurial spirit to tackle meaningful challenges that have a real impact.

In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we’ll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities to help you quickly broaden your expertise, grow into a well-rounded professional, and contribute to work that truly makes a difference.

When you join us, you will have:

• Continuous learning: Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development. The real magic happens when you take the input from others to heart and embrace the fast-paced learning experience, owning your journey.
• A voice that matters: From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You’ll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions, all while upholding our unwavering commitment to ethics and integrity. We not only encourage diverse perspectives, but they are critical in driving us toward the best possible outcomes.
• Global community: With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm’s diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from exceptional colleagues with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• Exceptional benefits: On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package to enable holistic well-being for you and your family.

Your Impact

You will serve as a trusted thought partner to senior leaders, enabling them to operate at their highest level of effectiveness and impact.

You are a strategic enabler, operational leader, and AI-enabled productivity partner who helps senior leaders maximize their impact. By combining exceptional executive support with technology, innovation, and business judgment, you will play a critical role in helping leadership teams and clients succeed in an increasingly dynamic and digital world.

You will work in our Johannesburg office as part of our EEMA EA team, with approximately 1,500 consulting and non-consulting colleagues. You will support firm leadership in our Johannesburg office and report to the Senior Manager of Administration and Executive Assistants for EEMA (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa).

You will work with your assigned Partners to proactively managing priorities, commitments, and competing demands. You will create leverage for leadership by anticipating needs, identifying risks, and ensuring seamless execution of priorities.

You will also need to apply sound judgment to protect executive time and align schedules with strategic objectives, maintain a deep understanding of leadership priorities, stakeholder relationships, client commitments, and business objectives and provide recommendations and solutions that improve executive effectiveness and decision-making.

You will assume responsibility for planning, organizing and executing major projects. You will also be responsible for planning client and internal meetings, conference calls, zoom meetings, conferences/events and lunches/dinners.

Furthermore, you will act as a professional and credible point of contact for clients, senior stakeholders, and internal teams, build trusted relationships across the firm and external networks. You will coordinate interactions with senior executives, client leaders, and key stakeholders with discretion and professionalism and facilitate communication and ensure alignment across multiple teams and initiatives.

Key aspects of your role will include managing complex diaries across multiple time zones for senior-level stakeholders, ensuring alignment with Partner priorities. You will also be responsible for planning and coordinating intricate travel arrangements and itineraries for demanding schedules. Additionally, you will produce and proofread correspondence, documents, presentations, and other materials as needed, often under tight deadlines. Monitoring emails and responding appropriately when required will also be a critical part of your responsibilities.

You will effectively liaise with clients, teams and other contacts and work collaboratively with Executive Assistants in a team environment, providing back up cover for their Partners during holiday or sickness. Some administrative responsibilities will also include filing, maintenance of records, expenses and time sheets, Engage and invoicing, etc.

Moreover, you will leverage AI tools, automation platforms, and digital solutions to improve efficiency and productivity, use technologies such as Microsoft Copilot, generative AI tools, workflow automation, and knowledge management platforms to streamline work. You will identify opportunities to automate repetitive tasks and improve operating processes, continuously explore emerging technologies and share best practices across the Executive Assistant community and drive adoption of new digital tools that enhance executive effectiveness and operational efficiency.

Your Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience preferred
• Several years of experience supporting senior executives in a professional, fast-paced environment
• Proven success managing complex calendars, travel, stakeholder relationships, and executive priorities
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and collaboration platforms
• Demonstrated experience using AI-enabled productivity tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, automation platforms, knowledge management tools) is highly desirable
• Strong written and verbal communication skills