Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer

ABOUT THE JOB

This is a role built around one skill: thinking two questions ahead. At Korpack, we're looking for an Executive Assistant who operates like a chief of staff — someone who hears the question being asked and is already procuring the answer to the next one. Korpack is doubling: a 200,000 sq ft expansion to 350,000 sq ft total, two food-grade facilities, and a leadership team being built in real time. The CEO runs vision, key customers, and technology. Your mission: keep his time pointed at the things only that seat can do — the customers, the vision, the big decisions — and make him faster by being ahead of him.

This is a dedicated, one-principal seat: you work for the CEO, and your success is measured by his velocity. The people who thrive in this craft don't wait for direction — they study how their executive thinks, predict what he'll need, and show up with the data, the options, and a recommendation before the request exists. Some of the best anticipators were managers first: people who ran a team, a department, or a business of their own, and now want the leverage of the right-hand seat. You don't need to have been an EA your whole career — you need to know what it means to be a great number two.

THE JOURNEY

Anticipate

• Learn the vision well enough to predict the CEO's next two questions — and procure the answers before they're asked.

• Bring decisions as packages: the data, the options considered, and your recommendation. He decides in minutes because you prepared for hours.

Own the Time

• Run the CEO's calendar and priorities with real authority to decline, defer, and rearrange. You decide what earns his time.

• Qualify meeting requests, propose alternatives, and protect the deep-work blocks the company's biggest decisions depend on.

Decide Within Delegated Authority

• Handle the layer that doesn't need him: scheduling, routine approvals, vendor logistics, correspondence drafted in his voice.

Execute the Vision

• Meeting prep, pre-reads, and EOS cadence support (scorecards, Rocks, to-dos in Strety).

• Track commitments made in his meetings until they're closed; own discrete projects end to end.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• He stops asking his second question — because the answer arrived with the first

• The CEO's calendar reflects his priorities, not other people's urgencies

• Decisions come to him framed and ready; most days, several never need to reach him at all

• Within six months, leadership plans around you: 'loop in his EA — she'll have it handled before he's back'

THE REQUIREMENTS

Required

• 5+ years in a right-hand seat — Executive Assistant, Chief of Staff, or a business/operations role where you served as a principal's number two

• Demonstrated business judgment — you can name decisions you made FOR your executive, and questions you answered before they were asked

• Sharp written communication; able to draft in someone else's voice

• High proficiency with Microsoft 365 and modern tools — we use AI daily and expect you to

Preferred

• Prior business management experience — you've owned a team, a budget, or an operation, and you understand what your executive is carrying because you've carried it

• EOS familiarity; experience in manufacturing or founder-led companies

This role is based in Bloomingdale, IL, with regular travel to our St. Charles facility and occasional off-site tasks — you move with the CEO's week, and mileage is reimbursed. Expect a strong on-site presence, especially early: anticipation is learned at close range. As trust and rhythm build, so does flexibility — presence is driven by the work, not a badge policy. A valid driver's license and reliable transportation are required.

THE CHALLENGES

• Protecting the CEO's time means sometimes disappointing people — you'll be backed, but you have to be comfortable in the moment

• A founder-led pace: priorities move fast, and anticipation only works if you move faster

• Earning delegated authority quickly, then carrying it without hand-holding

THE REWARD

$80,000–$110,000 depending on experience. Comprehensive health, dental, vision, life, and LTD benefits; 401(k) with company match; generous PTO. Daily access to the CEO with real influence over where the CEO's time and attention go — which means real influence on what gets built.

OUR CORE VALUES

We're looking for someone who lives these every day: D – Determined · I – Innovative · S – Smile · R – Responsive · U – Understanding · P – Proactive · T – Teamwork. DISRUPT isn't a poster in our lobby — it's the bar.

FOR THOSE WHO WANT MORE THAN JUST A JOB

Korpack is on a mission to become North America's premier packaging solutions provider. The person in this seat makes the CEO twice as effective during the company's defining chapter. If you take pride in being two questions ahead — we want to hear from you.