Vice President, Corporate Services Manager - Administration

Position Overview

The Vice President, Corporate Services & Administration Manager (Americas) is a senior operational leader responsible for delivering best-in-class administrative services and corporate support functions across the Americas for a financial services firm of approximately 1,200 employees. The role requires a leader who can drive change, influence without authority, and build trusted relationships with senior executives while introducing clarity, discipline, and sustainable ways of working. This is not an execution‑heavy administrative role. It is a design, leadership, and change role, intended to professionalize Corporate Services delivery at scale.

The role directly oversees a team of ~35 Executive Assistants (EAs) and is accountable for building structure, alignment, and consistency across Corporate Services functions in a growing, geographically distributed organization. This position carries a defined 12–18 month build‑and‑align mandate, focused on establishing operating models, governance, and clear service boundaries where formal frameworks are still evolving.

In addition, this role will partner with the Global Head of Corporate Real Estate and Administration in the design, launch, and ongoing governance of the firm’s corporate travel program. The incumbent will build the program from the ground up—establishing policies, selecting vendors and tools, implementing controls, and ensuring a seamless executive and employee travel experience aligned with cost, risk, and regulatory expectations.

Essential Job Functions:
Administrative Services Strategy & Leadership (Americas) Key Objectives (First 12-18 months)

• Establish consistent regional operating models for Corporate Services functions
• Define clear roles, responsibilities, and decision rights to eliminate ambiguity for Executive Assistants, Office Managers, and Corporate Services leadership
• Introduce governance, escalation paths, and service boundaries to prevent role creep
• Align stake holders to common standards while balancing local business needs
• Create durable structures that reduce reliance on informal or ad-hoc arrangements
• Provide strategic and day-to-day leadership to the Americas EA organization (35 EA's), ensuring consistent standards, coverage, and service levels across offices and business lines
• Ensure a consistent, high-quality EA experience across offices, while adapting to local business needs and leadership preferences 
• Support organizational changes including leadership transitions, growth, restructures, and office initiatives
• Build and maintain a high-performing EA operating model, including:
• Executive coverage and allocation strategy (banding, ratios, and workload balancing)
• Service standards and "ways of working" (calendar management, travel, expenses, meeting logistics, communications)
• Own EA talent lifecycle:
  • Hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance management, and succession planning
  • Skills development programs (executive presence, business acumen, system/tools, event/meeting excellence)
  • Drive engagement, retention, and culture within EA community through mentorship, recognition, and career pathways

Corporate Services & Administration Operations

• Oversee core corporate administration services and programs in partnership with internal teams and vendors, which may include:
• Office services and front-of-house coordination
• Business meeting and event logistics
• Travel, expense, and purchasing support processes
• Executive office operations and special projects
• Ensure services are delivered with a strong client-service mindset while maintaining cost discipline and control standards

Conference Services & Reception Oversight

• Oversee the conference services and reception/front-of-house teams across Americas locations.
• Ensure a consistently high-quality experience for internal and external visitors, meetings, and firm-hosted events.
• Define service standards, staffing models, and escalation protocols for conference rooms, executive meeting support, and reception coverage.
• Partner with Facilities, and IT to ensure meeting spaces, technology, and access protocols meet business and compliance requirements.

Corporate Travel Program  

• Assist in the design and launch the firm’s first enterprise-wide corporate travel program, including:
• Travel policy development (air, hotel, ground, upgrades, exceptions, approvals).
• Executive travel standards and white-glove support expectations.
• Key stakeholder in selection and onboarding of travel vendors and tools (TMC, booking platforms, travel risk providers).
• Partner with Finance, Risk, Compliance, HR, and IT to ensure:
• Cost management and reporting transparency.
• Duty-of-care, traveler tracking, and emergency protocols.
• Alignment with financial services regulatory expectations.
• Integrate travel support into the EA service model, clarifying roles between EAs, travelers, and vendors.
• Establish ongoing governance, metrics, and continuous improvement for the travel program.

Governance, Controls & Process Excellence

• Develop and maintain SOPs across administrative support, travel coordination, meetings, expenses, and executive support.
• Ensure strong controls related to confidentiality, approvals, spend, and records management.
• Identify inefficiencies and implement scalable, standardized processes across the region

Executive & Stakeholder Partnership

• Act as a senior operational partner to executive leadership, business heads, and regional management.
• Manage escalations for sensitive executive support and travel matters.
• Partner closely with:
• HR (talent, policy, career paths)
• Finance (budgets, T&E spend, reporting)
• IT (tools and platforms)
• Facilities/Workplace and Risk & Compliance

Budgeting, Vendor & Tool Oversight

• Manage budgets related to administrative services and corporate travel.
• Oversee vendor relationships (travel management, staffing agencies, event providers).
• Track vendor performance against SLAs, cost containment, service quality, and user satisfaction.

Metrics, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Establish KPIs for EA services and the travel program (service quality, coverage, spend, compliance, satisfaction).
• Deliver periodic reporting to senior management with actionable insights.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on data and stakeholder feedback.

Education and/or Work Requirements:

• 10+ years of experience in corporate administration, executive services, corporate operations, or similar roles.
• 5+ years leading multi-site teams at scale within a complex organization.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing enterprise programs (e.g., travel, shared services, operational frameworks).
• Strong understanding of executive-level support in a professional services or financial services environment.
• Proven ability to operate with discretion, sound judgment, and executive-level presence.
• Strong process orientation with experience building governance, controls, and metrics from the ground up.
• Financial services or other regulated industry experience.
• Prior ownership or transformation of a corporate travel and expense program.
• Experience supporting senior front-office or C-suite leaders.

Required Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities:

• Strategic Operations Leadership
• Talent Development & Team Building
• Executive Stakeholder Management
• Change & Program Implementation
• Risk Awareness & Confidentiality
• Operational Rigor & Continuous Improvement
• Ability to multi-task with minimal supervision

Salary Range: $150,000 - $185,000

The salary range is an estimate of pay for this position.  Actual pay may vary depending on job-related factors that can include location, education, skill, and experience.  The salary range does not include any benefits or other forms of possible compensation that may be available to employees.

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