Executive Assistant to the CEO

Location: Groningen – Peizerweg

SoundImports is growing fast, and our team is growing with us! Over the past few years, we have developed from a small webshop into the highest-rated webshop for DIY audio in Europe. In the coming years, we will be strongly focused on further professionalisation, optimising our processes and continuing our growth across Europe.

Are you an organisational talent who gets energy from coordinating, thinking ahead and truly getting things done? And would you enjoy working closely with SoundImports’ CEO, Martijn Ouwerkerk? All of this within a fast-growing e-commerce organisation with a strong entrepreneurial culture.

For SoundImports, we are looking for an Executive Assistant to the CEO. In this role, you will create overview, structure and calm around the CEO and the Senior Management Team. You are not a traditional secretary who only manages calendars, but a smart generalist, fixer and connecting link who helps keep priorities sharp, follows up on actions and, within clear boundaries, takes over tasks and decisions from the CEO.

You are someone who quickly understands what is needed, maintains high standards and gets energy from a dynamic environment. You filter information, monitor follow-up, liaise with internal and external stakeholders and ensure that important matters do not remain unresolved. You know when to act independently, when to advise and when something needs to be referred back to the CEO.

What will you do?

As Executive Assistant, you will support our CEO Martijn in the broadest sense of the word. You actively take work off his hands by independently preparing, coordinating and following up on matters, and where possible, making decisions on behalf of the CEO within agreed frameworks. You proactively manage complex calendars, mailboxes and priorities, prepare meetings and ensure that actions and decisions are followed up.

You keep track of what is going on, identify important topics and ensure that our CEO remains briefly and clearly up to date, without unnecessary noise. In addition, you support the Senior Management Team with efficient preparation, coordination and follow-up of meetings and decision-making.

You will also take on broader organisational matters, such as coordinating management travel, presentations, internal communication and events. You work discreetly, carefully and with a strong sense of relationships and context.

In short: you create overview, safeguard progress and fix what needs to be arranged.

The most common responsibilities are:

• Proactively managing the CEO’s calendars, mailboxes and priorities;

• Identifying, filtering and summarising important information, actions and decision points;

• Independently taking over delegated tasks and decisions within pre-agreed frameworks;

• Preparing decisions by gathering information, outlining options and providing concrete advice;

• Following up on agreements, decisions and actions on behalf of the CEO with internal and external stakeholders;

• Assessing when you can act independently and when alignment with the CEO is required;

• Organising, coordinating and taking minutes for management team and senior management meetings;

• Supporting the Senior Management Team in the preparation, coordination and follow-up of decision-making;

• Monitoring action points from conversations, meetings and emails;

• Preparing meetings, briefings, presentations and follow-up;

• Independently handling practical, organisational and operational matters;

• Preparing and coordinating management presentations for internal and external stakeholders;

• Coordinating with internal and external stakeholders on behalf of or at the request of the CEO;

• Acting as a trusted point of contact and connecting link between the CEO, Senior Management and the organisation;

• Ensuring that matters are not only discussed, but actually completed.

Who are we?

SoundImports is a fast-growing e-commerce company specialising in loudspeaker components and DIY audio. You will join an organisation of 35+ colleagues. Our culture is informal, entrepreneurial and results-oriented. Together, we work every day to improve both the customer journey and our organisation. Our ambition is clear: we want to become the number one player in Europe for loudspeaker components.

In this role, you will receive a great deal of trust and responsibility. You will work closely with our CEO and the Senior Management Team and make a direct contribution to the further professionalisation and growth of SoundImports.

What we consider important:

• You have a higher professional education level of working and thinking, gained through education or relevant experience;

• Preferably, you have completed a degree in Office Management, Business Administration, Hospitality, International Business, Communication or a similar field;

• You have at least 4 years of experience as an Executive Assistant, PA, Office Manager, Management Assistant, Project Coordinator or in a broad operational or management role;

• You have excellent command of both Dutch and English, spoken and written;

• You can quickly understand, summarise and translate English-language emails, documents, presentations and conversations into concrete actions;

• You are strong in calendar, mailbox and stakeholder management;

• You have experience organising and taking minutes for management meetings;

• You can accurately assess which matters you can handle independently and which decisions require alignment;

• You are able to act on behalf of the CEO within clear frameworks;

• You communicate clearly, professionally and discreetly;

• You are used to working independently and taking responsibility;

• You think in solutions and enjoy creating structure;

• You continue working until the job is done;

• You are available for at least 32 hours per week;

• You live in Groningen or within 45 minutes’ travel time of our location.

Which competencies are we looking for?

In this role, we are looking for someone who gets energy from relieving others of work, organising and improving. You maintain overview when many things are happening at once and you know how to distinguish between main issues and secondary matters.

You help the CEO and the organisation succeed by:

• Creating structure and calm;

• Keeping priorities sharp;

• Quickly filtering and summarising information;

• Following up properly on actions and decisions;

• Thinking proactively and looking ahead;

• Independently picking up and completing matters;

• Carefully taking over delegated tasks and decisions;

• Switching quickly between different topics;

• Handling confidential information discreetly and reliably;

• Communicating pleasantly, professionally and decisively;

• Playing a connecting role between the CEO, Senior Management and the organisation.

What do we offer you?

• A challenging role with room to grow and make real impact;

• A great deal of responsibility and space within the organisation;

• A one-year contract with good employment conditions, holiday allowance and pension accrual;

• A suitable salary that matches your experience, seniority and the responsibility of this role;

• 25 vacation days per year based on a 38-hour working week;

• Travel allowance if you live outside the city of Groningen;

• A free unlimited gym membership, regular padel sessions and other sporty outings;

• Time to work on yourself through courses or study;

• Attractive discounts on everything we sell.

Are you the Executive Assistant we are looking for?

Are you a driven generalist with high standards, strong execution power and excellent command of Dutch and English? Do you get energy from a role in which you are close to the business, receive a lot of responsibility and can make a real impact?

Do you recognise yourself in this profile? Then we would love to hear more about you through a detailed motivation letter. We would also like to receive your CV with references.

Send your application, CV and motivation letter to [email protected].

Do you have any questions about this vacancy? Feel free to contact Lennart Dekker via 085 - 071 1860.

Employment type: Full-time, part-time
Work location: Hybrid working in Groningen