The Opportunity
A Senior Private PA is needed for a UHNW Principal in West London to run the personal and household administration of a busy private life with international reach. This is a permanent, full-time, live-out role, on site five days a week from 10am to 6pm, with flexibility around the Principal's travel and projects. Start is as soon as possible: this is an urgent hire.
About the Principal and the household
The Principal is a UHNW individual with international business interests, a private foundation, and active involvement in film and broader philanthropic projects. Personal life is structured around West London, with regular short trips and the occasional longer period of travel for specific projects.
The household is established. A House Manager runs the residence day to day, supported by a security team. Children are part of the household and have their own logistics in the diary. The Principal is preparing to appoint a Chief of Staff in due course; the Senior Private PA will work closely with that role once it is in place, and in the interim is the senior point of coordination for the Principal's personal life.
The household operates with discretion. Staff are trusted, hold their own remits, and communicate cleanly with each other. The right Private PA is calm, organised, fully present, and able to hold the diary, the inbox, and the moving pieces of a busy private life without needing to be chased.
Why this role
This is a senior right-hand seat, not a junior PA step-up. The Principal is hiring for confirmed experience: someone who has already run the personal and household administration for a UHNW Principal or family, knows how a private office works, and can take ownership from day one.
The role is varied. The Principal's life spans business meetings, foundation work, film projects, philanthropic engagements, family logistics, and travel. The Senior Private PA holds the connective tissue across all of it. Once the Chief of Staff is in place, the role evolves with the structure around it; for the right person, that is part of the appeal.
Key Responsibilities
Diary, inbox, and Principal support
- Own the Principal's diary end to end. Schedule, prioritise, protect, and rework as the day shifts. Maintain a clean weekly view and a clear week-ahead briefing.
- Manage the Principal's personal inbox. Triage, draft, send, and follow up. Hold a clear sense of which conversations need the Principal's eyes and which sit with the PA.
- Prepare briefing notes, agendas, and read-ahead packs for meetings, projects, and travel. Capture actions and own the follow-through.
- Coordinate communication across the Principal's network: business contacts, foundation contacts, film and project collaborators, philanthropic partners, family, and staff.
Travel, projects, and household coordination
- Plan and book travel: flights, ground, accommodation, restaurants, security liaison, document readiness. Build itineraries the Principal can read on a phone. Travel patterns range from two to three days a month to occasional longer periods abroad for specific projects.
- Coordinate with the House Manager on the rhythm of the residence: meals, deliveries, guests, contractors, and household logistics that touch the Principal's day.
- Support foundation, film, and philanthropic projects with diary, correspondence, contract trafficking to advisors, expense reconciliation, and event logistics. The PA does not run these projects; the PA makes them run smoothly around the Principal.
- Coordinate the children's logistics where it intersects with the Principal's diary: school dates, activities, family travel, and the moving pieces that need a single point of order.
Finance, records, and discretion
- Manage personal expenses, receipts, reconciliations, and reimbursements. Liaise with the family's accountants and advisors on routine items.
- Maintain personal files, contacts, contracts, subscriptions, memberships, and renewals.
- Handle confidential information with judgement and zero noise. The household is private; the Principal is private; the work stays inside the household.
Requirements
Must-haves
- Five plus years in a Private PA, EA to a UHNW Principal, or equivalent senior household / private-office role. This is not a step-up role from a corporate EA seat without private-side experience; the Principal is hiring for confirmed Private PA experience.
- Excellent spoken and written English. Polished, clear, and discreet in all communication.
- Right to work in the United Kingdom.
- Senior-level diary and inbox management for a busy Principal. Comfortable holding a complex calendar across business, foundation, family, and project work.
- International travel planning to UHNW standard. Comfortable with private aviation, household-led logistics, and last-minute changes.
- Strong written communication. Able to draft correspondence on the Principal's behalf in tone.
- Sound financial discipline: expenses, reconciliations, and clean records.
- Calm under pressure. Discreet by default. Resourceful when plans change. Able to hold standards without needing to be told what those standards are.
- Comfortable operating with autonomy and accountability inside an established household team alongside a House Manager and security.
Strong advantage
- Prior experience in a household that includes a House Manager, security, and other dedicated staff.
- Exposure to foundation, philanthropic, or film/creative project administration alongside personal PA work.
- Experience supporting a Principal through a Chief of Staff transition, or working alongside a Chief of Staff once appointed.
- Additional languages welcome.
Working in this household
The on-site rhythm is 10am to 6pm, five days a week in West London. The household runs cleanly during those hours; the PA holds the centre of it. Outside of those hours, the PA stays reachable when the Principal is travelling or when something genuinely needs an answer; this is a senior role and the judgement to know when to engage is part of the brief.
The household is established and discreet. Staff are trusted, hold their own remits, and the Principal does not micromanage. The Senior Private PA is expected to bring order, anticipate, communicate cleanly, and protect the Principal's time without becoming a gate. The work is varied and the days are full; the right person finds the variety energising rather than scattering.
Practical Information
- Contract: Full-time, permanent.
- Start: As soon as possible. This is an urgent hire.
- Reporting to: The Principal; coordinating with the House Manager day to day; working alongside the incoming Chief of Staff once appointed.
- Hours: 10am to 6pm on site, five days a week, with flexibility around the Principal's travel and project schedule.
- Location: West London. Live-out only.
- Travel: Occasional, with the Principal or on the Principal's behalf. Typical pattern of two to three days a month, with occasional short-notice trips and very rare longer periods abroad for specific projects.
- Salary: £80,000 to £90,000 gross per annum, dependent on experience.
- Right to work in the UK required.
- Standard NDA required.
Application Process
Please note: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are only able to contact candidates who are successfully shortlisted. If you have not heard from us within 14 days of submitting your application, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.