For founders and directors who refuse to let scale steal their edge. Boardroom discipline, invisible execution and the senior composure that makes leadership look effortless.
Previously supporting programmes at
"The operational backbone behind founders and directors who refuse to slow down."
I am Joanne — chief of staff to the leaders I support. Certified through the Association for Project Management, PRINCE2 and P3O, with over a decade spent inside the Programme Management Offices of National Grid, National Highways, UK Power Networks, Sky and Telefónica. My role, day in and day out, was to make complex programmes look effortless to the people running them.
Now I bring that same boardroom discipline to a small number of chief executives, founders and senior leaders. Calendars that protect your deep work. Inboxes that never become a backlog. Reporting packs that make decisions easier, not harder. Travel that simply happens. Research that arrives already distilled.
I work quietly, discreetly and to deadline. You get your week back; your team gets a steady, senior operator behind the scenes; your business gets the kind of governance that scales.
My years leading Programme Management Offices for enterprise clients have given me deep, transferable experience across every one of these roles — the same governance, stakeholder management, prioritisation and delivery rhythm that powers a PMO is exactly what executives, founders and growing businesses need from a senior operator behind the scenes.
Operations-focused executive assistant. Strategic operational partner.
I partner with a small number of clients at a time — typically founders, executives and purpose-led teams who need more than admin help.
Scaling without losing the plot — or their evenings.
Behind-the-scenes operations so client delivery stays sharp.
Structure, governance and reporting before you appoint a Chief Operating Officer.
A senior right hand for high-stakes weeks and quarters.
PMO-grade governance, RAID and reporting for energy, utilities, infrastructure and technology programmes.
Systems, standard operating procedures and project rhythm that make growth feel measured.
Calm, adaptable operational support built around how you actually work.
I create operational structure that gives leaders back time, reduces overwhelm, and keeps projects moving.
Hand off the operational weight so you focus on growth, not administration.
Reporting and risk discipline so nothing slips between meetings.
Standard operating procedures, workflows and tooling that grow with the business.
Structure and rhythm that lower the temperature in week-to-week operations.
Cut preparation time, meeting bloat and rework with boardroom-grade process.
A senior operator behind the scenes so leadership stays strategic.
An operations-focused executive assistant — your strategic operational partner across every moving part.
Calendar control, inbox gatekeeping, steering committee preparation, board packs and minutes — the same governance rigour I brought to programme boards at National Grid and UK Power Networks, scaled to your week.
Performance dashboards, Smartsheet and Power BI reporting, risk and decision logs, and clean spreadsheets. Built on a decade of running portfolio reporting for board-level stakeholders in regulated industries.
Multi-city itineraries, ground transfers, lounges, dietary preferences and contingency plans — coordinated end-to-end so you only ever see the polished version.
Market research, competitor analysis, buyer personas and executive briefing notes. Trained as an Association for Project Management, PRINCE2 and P3O practitioner — I translate noisy information into clear, decision-ready insight.
From offsites and team launches to onboarding new hires — I project-manage the moving parts so your team experiences a seamless run, not the scramble behind it.
The discreet personal layer that lets executives stop carrying administration home — household, family logistics, gifting and the small details that quietly eat the diary.
Operations-focused executive assistant. Strategic operational partner. Quiet authority behind every decision.
Unlike traditional virtual assistants, I bring boardroom-grade governance, strategic thinking and executive-level communication — calm, proactive support in high-pressure environments.
A decade running governance and reporting for enterprise-scale programmes.
I see the system, not just the inbox — and fix the upstream cause.
Board-ready writing, stakeholder management and gatekeeping with poise.
Risk, action, issue and decision logs that make audits, reviews and handovers effortless.
Confidentiality agreements in place, fully insured, and trusted with the most sensitive material.
Chief of Staff composure when the week starts running you.
Whatever your stack, I'll slot in seamlessly.
01Built a structured competitor and market insight pack for a founder weighing a new product line — five competitors, pricing, positioning and a one-page recommendation drawn from a programme-grade research framework.
Founder reached a decision in one board meeting.
02Coordinated a nine-day London → Dubai → Singapore trip for a senior leader and team. Flights, drivers, lounges, hotels and a private dinner — managed to the minute, with a backup plan for every leg.
Zero delays, zero re-bookings, two new client contracts signed on the trip.
03Redesigned a leadership team's weekly meeting cycle and reporting pack — cut executive meeting preparation by 50%, shortened governance meetings from four hours to 90 minutes, and lifted delivery efficiency by 20–30% through tighter accountability frameworks.
50% less prep, 4-hour meetings cut to 90 minutes, 20–30% delivery efficiency uplift.
04Took a founder from over 4,000 unread emails to a daily zero-inbox rhythm. Built rules, folders and triage procedures, drafted replies on their behalf and flagged only what genuinely needed their attention.
Inbox cleared in ten days, eight or more hours a week handed back.
05Owned the diary for a multi-stakeholder Chief Executive across three time zones — protected deep-work blocks, coordinated leadership team meetings, and ran a weekly look-ahead so nothing was ever a surprise.
Zero double-bookings, six protected focus hours every week.
06Implemented Adobe Sign for executive approvals and embedded Smartsheet dashboards across a regulated programme — collapsing approval cycles and giving leadership real-time visibility of risks, decisions and progress.
Approvals cut from one day to two hours; reporting accuracy and stakeholder engagement materially improved.
07Led successful annual Ofgem-regulated reporting submissions inside a UK energy and utilities programme — coordinating C-suite contributors, Programme Directors and cross-functional teams to deadline with zero regulatory findings.
On-time, audit-ready submission within a highly regulated environment.
No off-the-shelf packages required. Whether it's a single project, a fixed-term sprint or an ongoing partnership, we agree the scope together and price it transparently.
A free 30-minute call to understand your role, your scope and the outcomes you're after. Bring as much or as little detail as you have.
I shape your brief into a clear scope of work — one-off project, fixed sprint or ongoing retainer — with transparent pricing tailored to what you actually need.
Work starts on an agreed timeline with regular check-ins, clean handovers and reporting. You stay in control; I handle the run.
We review what's working, adjust scope up or down, and evolve the engagement as your priorities shift. No rigid contracts.
For a Trial Sprint, typically within 5 business days of our discovery call. Full retainers usually start the following Monday after onboarding paperwork is signed.
I am happy to sign your standard non-disclosure agreement before any sensitive material is shared, and I carry professional indemnity insurance. Everything from board papers to personal travel is treated with absolute discretion.
Worldwide support is available. I'm UK-based but work flexibly across time zones to cover UK, US, EU and Middle East clients, and coordinate handover with a trusted backup for round-the-clock travel cover.
Yes — the Trial Sprint is a two-week paid engagement designed exactly for this. It includes full onboarding, so if we continue into a retainer there's no lost time.
Additional hours are billed at the package's hourly rate, agreed in advance. If you consistently need more, we upgrade your retainer at the next monthly cycle.
Directly with me. I keep my client list deliberately small — typically no more than four active retainers at a time — so you get a senior operator, not a junior handing off your work.
Your operations-focused executive assistant and strategic operational partner — one conversation away.
Tell me a little about your role and what's on your plate. I'll come back within one business day with next steps.