Executive Assistant & Legal Secretary

Executive Assistant & Legal Secretary

Position Summary

The Executive Assistant & Legal Secretary serves as a strategic partner to the Chief Operating Officer, Ashford and General Counsel & Secretary, Ashford Inc., providing high-level executive support, legal administrative support, initiative coordination, and operational assistance.

This role is responsible for managing executive priorities, coordinating key initiatives, tracking deliverables and deadlines, facilitating communication across stakeholders, supporting legal and corporate governance activities, and ensuring strategic priorities remain on track.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, proactive, and technology-forward, with the ability to support multiple executives while coordinating a variety of cross-functional initiatives. This individual excels at managing competing priorities, anticipating needs, driving follow-through, and creating executive-ready deliverables.

Essential Functions

• Provide executive support to the Chief Operating Officer, Ashford and General Counsel & Secretary, Ashford Inc., including calendar management, meeting coordination, travel arrangements, executive communications, and expense report preparation and submission.
• Support executive-led projects and initiatives by tracking deliverables, monitoring milestones, maintaining status updates, and following up with stakeholders to ensure deadlines and commitments are met. Focuses on coordinating progress and driving follow-through rather than developing project plans, defining project scope, or managing formal project methodologies.
• Serve as a coordination resource for executive-led initiatives, helping maintain visibility into progress, outstanding items, and upcoming deadlines.
• Provide status updates, meeting notes, action-item tracking, and executive reporting to support informed decision-making.
• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives involving Operations, Legal, and other corporate departments.
• Assist with executive presentations, reports, dashboards, meeting materials, and communications.
• Organize leadership meetings, off-site events, training initiatives, department programs, and corporate office activities.
• Utilize AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, and related technologies to improve efficiency and create executive-ready deliverables.
• Maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive employee, business, financial, executive, legal, and corporate information.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, increase efficiency, and enhance coordination across supported departments.
• Prepare, review, edit, format, and distribute legal correspondence, contracts, agreements, corporate governance documents, policies, board materials, and other confidential business documents.
• Coordinate document execution processes, including signature collection, routing, tracking approvals, maintaining version control, and ensuring proper document retention.
• Serve as a liaison between executive leadership and internal or external legal counsel, facilitating communication, gathering information, and tracking requests, deadlines, and follow-up items.
• Maintain organized and confidential legal, corporate, licensing, governance, and compliance-related records and files.
• Monitor legal, regulatory, licensing, contract, insurance, and governance-related deadlines and ensure timely completion of required actions.
• Assist with board meetings, committee meetings, governance activities, agendas, meeting materials, resolutions, minutes, and supporting documentation.
• Support contract administration activities, including maintaining contract files, tracking renewals, amendments, expirations, and key obligations.
• Conduct legal and business research and prepare summaries, reports, presentations, and executive briefing materials.
• Handle highly sensitive legal, executive, financial, employee, and business information with the highest degree of confidentiality and professionalism.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Legal Studies, Paralegal Studies, or a related field preferred.
• In lieu of a degree, three (3) or more years of progressive experience as an Executive Assistant, Legal Secretary, Executive Legal Assistant, Office Manager, Corporate Coordinator, Paralegal, or in a related role supporting executive leadership, legal administration, hospitality operations, project coordination, contract administration, board governance activities, or corporate records management will be considered.
• Experience preparing, proofreading, formatting, maintaining, and distributing legal correspondence, contracts, agreements, board materials, resolutions, meeting minutes, and other confidential business documents.
• Experience coordinating document execution processes, including obtaining signatures, routing documents for review and approval, maintaining version control, and supporting document retention practices.
• Experience maintaining confidential legal, corporate, governance, regulatory, licensing, and compliance-related records and documentation.
• Experience supporting board of directors meetings, committee meetings, governance activities, legal filings, and other executive-level administrative functions.
• Experience monitoring legal, contractual, licensing, insurance, and corporate governance deadlines and ensuring timely follow-up on required actions.
• Experience supporting executive calendar management, travel coordination, meeting logistics, expense reporting, and executive communications in a fast-paced corporate environment.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and AI, including ChatGPT, Claude, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and Word.
• Strong organizational, planning, prioritization, document management, and records management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, maintain strict confidentiality, exercise sound judgment, and effectively support executive leadership and legal functions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting C-suite or senior executive leadership teams.
• Experience supporting a Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, or other executive leaders.
• Experience as a Legal Secretary, Executive Legal Assistant, Corporate Paralegal, or related legal support role preferred.
• Experience supporting board governance activities, legal document management, and contract administration.
• Hospitality industry experience preferred.

Core Competencies

Executive Support & Relationship Management: Ability to effectively support multiple senior executives by anticipating needs, managing priorities, exercising sound judgment, and maintaining professionalism in all interactions. Builds trusted relationships with leaders and stakeholders while ensuring a high level of responsiveness, discretion, and service.

Organization & Prioritization: Demonstrates exceptional organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously. Effectively coordinates competing deadlines, tracks commitments, and ensures timely completion of critical deliverables.

Project Tracking & Accountability: Supports executive-led projects and initiatives by tracking deliverables, monitoring milestones, maintaining status updates, and following up with stakeholders to ensure deadlines and commitments are met. Focuses on coordinating progress and driving follow-through rather than developing project plans, defining project scope, or managing formal project methodologies.

Executive Administration & Expense Management: Provides comprehensive administrative support, including calendar management, travel coordination, meeting logistics, executive communications, and the preparation and submission of expense reports. Maintains accuracy, organization, and attention to detail while supporting multiple executives.

Legal Coordination & Document Management: Supports legal, corporate governance, contract administration, and executive-led legal activities by preparing, organizing, maintaining, and tracking legal and corporate documentation. Coordinates document execution processes, maintains confidential records, monitors key deadlines, assists with board and governance materials, and serves as a liaison with internal stakeholders and external legal counsel while ensuring accuracy, organization, discretion, and compliance.

Communication & Executive Presence: Communicates clearly, professionally, and confidently with leaders at all levels of the organization. Produces executive-level presentations, reports, correspondence, and meeting materials with a high degree of quality and professionalism.

Technology & AI Proficiency: Demonstrates advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Teams, and AI-powered productivity tools such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and similar technologies. Leverages technology to improve efficiency, organization, data analysis, and decision-making.

Problem Solving & Critical Thinking: Identifies challenges, gathers information, evaluates options, and implements practical solutions with minimal direction. Anticipates potential issues and proactively addresses them before they impact business objectives.

Confidentiality & Professional Judgment: Handles sensitive employee, executive, financial, and business information with the highest level of discretion, professionalism, and integrity. Exercises sound judgment when managing confidential matters and executive communications.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: Builds strong working relationships across Operations, Legal, and other corporate functions. Facilitates communication, encourages alignment, and supports successful execution of shared priorities.

Adaptability & Agility: Thrives in a dynamic environment with changing priorities and competing demands. Maintains flexibility, resilience, and a positive approach while managing multiple responsibilities.

Attention to Detail & Execution: Maintains a high level of accuracy and follow-through while managing executive support responsibilities, communications, reporting, meetings, travel arrangements, expense reporting, and initiative-related activities. Ensures quality and consistency across all deliverables.

Accountability & Sense of Urgency: Takes ownership of assigned responsibilities and follows through on commitments. Proactively monitors deadlines, escalates risks when appropriate, and helps ensure key priorities are completed in a timely manner.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Experienced Executive Assistant and Legal Secretary with the ability to support multiple senior leaders simultaneously.
• Strong coordinator who excels at tracking deliverables, following up on commitments, and ensuring deadlines are met.
• Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail and prioritization skills.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office, Teams, PowerPoint, Excel, and AI-enabled productivity tools.
• Professional, adaptable, collaborative, and service-oriented.
• Strong executive presence and ability to interact confidently with senior leaders, board members, legal counsel, and stakeholders.
• Enjoys creating positive employee experiences and helping bring company culture to life through employee engagement initiatives, social events, and recognition programs.
• Capable of anticipating needs, solving problems proactively, and executing with minimal direction.

Work Environment

• In-Office Presence: This position is based in the Dallas Corporate Office and is expected to work onsite a minimum of three (3) days per week to effectively support executives, coordinate meetings and initiatives, collaborate with stakeholders, and actively participate in employee engagement and culture-building activities.
• This role frequently supports leaders and initiatives that benefit from in-person collaboration, relationship building, planning sessions, executive partnership, employee engagement activities, and corporate office events.