Job Summary: The Executive Assistant, Executive Office is the dedicated Executive Assistant and primary day-to-day administrative partner to the President & CEO of Sakata Seed America (SAH). The role is accountable for five areas: executive calendar and time management, executive communications and information flow, meeting and travel support, executive commitment tracking, and executive support continuity.
The role sits in the Executive Administration Department (EAD) and reports directly to the Associate Director, Corporate Administration, with a dotted-line functional relationship to the President & CEO. The role may extend to support additional senior executives as the Executive Office evolves.
The role enables the President & CEO to focus on the company's highest priorities. It requires sound judgment, discretion, cultural awareness, and the ability to anticipate needs.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities*:
Executive Calendar and Time Management
Accountable for: a well-managed and well-prepared executive calendar.
- Manage the President & CEO's calendar within established scheduling protocols. Resolve conflicts and protect focus time.
- Sequence commitments across time zones, including headquarters in Yokohama.
- Ensure each engagement is prepared for in advance and followed up.
- Manage access to the President & CEO according to established protocols. Seek direction on sensitive, urgent, or ambiguous requests.
Executive Communications and Information Flow
Accountable for: timely, accurate, and confidential handling of executive communications.
- Serve as the primary administrative point of contact for the President & CEO.
- Triage requests, draft and route correspondence, and surface time-sensitive issues.
- Escalate governance-related, corporate-level, or sensitive matters to the Associate Director.
- Handle confidential business, personnel, and strategic information with the utmost discretion.
Meeting, Briefing, and Travel Support
Accountable for: well-prepared meetings and seamless executive travel.
- Prepare agendas, briefing materials, presentations, and meeting notes for internal and external engagements. The Associate Director reviews leadership-, governance-, and Board-level materials before distribution.
- Manage domestic and international travel, including itineraries, accommodations, transportation, visas, and contingency planning.
- Coordinate executive logistics for Board, headquarters, and customer visits with the Corporate Administration Project Manager.
- Manage the President & CEO's expense reporting and reconciliation.
Executive Commitment Tracking
Accountable for: visibility and follow-through on the President & CEO's priorities, commitments, and deadlines.
- Track the President & CEO's personal priorities, commitments, and deadlines. Coordinate follow-up with owners and escalate risks or delays.
- Maintain executive files, contacts, and reference materials in line with records-management and retention standards.
- Anticipate needs and resolve routine matters within delegated authority.
Executive Support Continuity
Accountable for: consistent and continuous executive support.
- Coordinate with EAD colleagues to maintain coverage during travel, absences, and periods of peak demand.
- Apply the EAD standards, procedures, and service expectations set by the Associate Director.
- Identify and recommend improvements to tools and workflows, and implement approved changes.
- Adopt and apply company-approved AI tools to improve the speed and quality of administrative work, and share effective practices with the EAD. Use of these tools follows company data-handling rules; confidential, personal, and Board material is used only in tools cleared for it.
- Perform other duties as assigned by the Associate Director.
Organizational Relationships and Decision Rights:
The Executive Assistant reports directly to the Associate Director, Corporate Administration, who leads personnel management, development, staffing, and departmental standards.
The Executive Assistant has a dotted-line functional relationship with the President & CEO, who directs day-to-day work and sets support priorities. When the role extends to additional executives, the President & CEO takes precedence where demands compete, and the Associate Director resolves conflicts.
The role works with the Corporate Administration Project Manager on Board, governance, and headquarters logistics, and with EAD colleagues on coverage and continuity.
Decision rights
- Decides: routine scheduling, logistics, and correspondence within established protocols and delegated authority.
- Recommends, for Associate Director approval: changes to scheduling protocols and support practices.
- Escalation: sensitive, governance-related, or ambiguous requests go to the Associate Director.
- Outside the role: executive decisions, commitments on the President & CEO's behalf beyond delegated authority, and governance matters.
Key Performance Expectations:
Performance in this role is evaluated on:
- Executive support effectiveness: quality, responsiveness, reliability, and continuity of support.
- Preparation: readiness of the President & CEO for meetings, travel, and engagements.
- Follow-through: timely tracking and closure of executive commitments and action items.
- Judgment and discretion: handling of confidential matters and appropriate escalation.
- Executive satisfaction: President & CEO satisfaction with support, as reviewed with the Associate Director.
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Highest level of discretion with sensitive executive, business, governance, and personnel information.
- Sound judgment, diplomacy, and situational awareness, including recognizing when a matter requires escalation.
- Clear, professional written and verbal communication, with a strong command of business English.
- Ability to manage multiple complex priorities with accuracy, follow-through, and strong time management.
- Composure and a solutions-oriented approach amid shifting priorities, tight deadlines, and irregular hours.
- Ability to anticipate needs and work independently within established direction.
- Emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, and the ability to build effective relationships across levels, functions, and cultures.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365, collaboration and document-management tools, and company-approved AI tools.
- Bilingual proficiency in English/Japanese or English/Spanish preferred but not required.
Educational Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in a related discipline strongly preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and directly related professional experience.
Experience and Background:
- Minimum five years of progressively responsible executive-level administrative support required.
- Experience supporting a President & CEO or comparable C-suite executive strongly preferred.
- Experience supporting more than one senior executive preferred.
- Experience working across countries and cultures, including with Japanese business counterparts, highly desirable.
- Experience in the seed, ornamentals, or produce sector highly desirable.
Working Conditions/Physical Demands:
- Primarily office-based position requiring extended periods of sitting and computer work.
- Must be able to travel periodically throughout the year.
- Must be able to work long and/or irregular hours, including early mornings and evenings, to align with the leaders supported and with headquarters in Yokohama.
BENEFITS:
Health & Wellness
Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance
Monthly Wellness Stipend
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Employee Philanthropic Giving Program
Disability Insurance (plans vary by location)
Financial Benefits
401(k) Program + Company Match
Profit Sharing Program (via 401(k)
Holiday Bonus
Performance Incentive Bonus Program
Tuition Reimbursement
529 College‑Savings Plan
Company-Paid Basic Life & AD&D Insurance
Time Off & Flexibility
Paid Vacation
Paid Sick Leave
15 Paid Company Holidays
2 Floating Holidays
Birthday Off
*To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty (as described above) satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.
Skills Required
- Minimum five years of progressively responsible executive-level administrative support experience
- Highest level of discretion with sensitive executive, business, governance, and personnel information
- Sound judgment, diplomacy, situational awareness, and appropriate escalation of sensitive matters
- Clear professional written and verbal communication with strong business English
- Ability to manage multiple complex priorities with accuracy, follow-through, and strong time management
- Ability to work independently, anticipate needs, and handle shifting priorities and tight deadlines
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365, collaboration tools, document-management tools, and company-approved AI tools
- Bachelor's degree in a related discipline or equivalent combination of education and directly related professional experience
- Experience supporting a President and CEO or comparable C-suite executive
- Experience supporting more than one senior executive
- Experience working across countries and cultures, including with Japanese business counterparts
- Experience in the seed, ornamentals, or produce sector
- Bilingual proficiency in English and Japanese or English and Spanish
- Ability to travel periodically throughout the year
- Ability to work long or irregular hours, including early mornings and evenings
What We Do
Sakata Seed America, Inc. is the research, production and sales division of Sakata Seed Corporation. It serves agriculture and horticulture with quality seed intended to deliver strong performance and excellent yields, while also addressing retail and consumer demand for fruit and vegetables. The company focuses on innovation, quality, reliability and service; its growers use seeds to produce vegetables and flowers.
