Executive Business Partner

Job description

About the role The EBP is a critical member of the Executive Function, responsible for ensuring the CEO and leadership team operate at maximum effectiveness. This role goes beyond traditional executive support. It combines genuine business acumen with exceptional administrative execution and ownership of executive operating rhythms, meeting cadences, communication flows and strategic priorities — using commercial understanding to shape how leadership time and decisions are organised. Working closely with the CEO and Executive Function, you will coordinate leadership activities, drive follow-through on key actions and provide the structure that enables the executive team to focus on the highest-value opportunities — bringing commercial judgement to what gets escalated, sequenced and decided. It is a unique opportunity to gain exposure to every facet of a rapidly scaling deep technology company at the forefront of defence, aerospace and advanced technology. About you You bring order to complexity — a natural organiser who holds multiple priorities, people and deadlines in view at once, takes real ownership of outcomes rather than tasks, and understands the business well enough to know which decisions matter most and how to organise leadership around them. You combine sharp judgement with discretion: you can be trusted with sensitive, confidential and at times classified information, and you know when to act, when to flag, and when to simply get on with it. You are comfortable in a fast-moving, still-forming environment — unfazed by shifting priorities and confident working directly with senior leaders without needing every step spelled out. Key responsibilities Executive Operations & Leadership Support Manage the CEO's calendar, ensuring time is aligned to strategic priorities and organisational objectives. Act as a central coordination point for executive activities, helping maintain alignment across leadership priorities, commitments and deadlines. Provide proactive support to the CEO by anticipating needs, identifying conflicts and ensuring critical matters receive attention, with key actions, decisions and commitments tracked through to completion. Apply business acumen to executive decision-making — understanding the commercial and operational context, framing the information leaders need, and organising the leadership team around the decisions that move the business. Task, Email & Calendar Management — AI-Enabled Run the CEO's tasks, inbox and calendar as a single, AI-augmented system rather than three separate manual chores — using AI scheduling assistants, smart email triage and automated task capture so nothing is dropped and follow-through is visible at a glance. Use AI tools to triage and summarise incoming correspondence, draft first-pass responses for review, and surface what genuinely needs the CEO's personal attention versus what can be handled or delegated. Use AI-powered scheduling to proactively resolve calendar conflicts, protect focus time, and optimise travel and meeting logistics across time zones. Continuously trial and adopt new AI tools and automations that reduce administrative overhead — bringing suggestions to the CEO and Executive Function proactively, rather than waiting to be asked. Executive Operating Rhythms & Meeting Cadence Own the coordination and execution of recurring executive meetings, including leadership meetings, business reviews, planning sessions and other governance forums. Prepare agendas, briefing materials and supporting documentation so meetings are productive and outcomes-focused, and track decisions and actions to drive accountability across the leadership team. Continuously improve executive operating rhythms, meeting effectiveness and communication processes. Project Coordination & Special Initiatives Support the delivery of strategic projects and business initiatives by coordinating stakeholders, managing timelines and ensuring key milestones are achieved. Own discrete projects and workstreams end to end, and identify process improvements that increase efficiency and reduce administrative burden on leadership. Travel, Events & External Engagement Coordinate domestic and international travel, ensuring seamless logistics and preparation. Support executive participation in customer meetings, demonstrations, conferences and corporate events, ensuring professional representation of the organisation at all times. Communication & Executive Correspondence Draft and coordinate internal and external communications on behalf of the CEO. Monitor and manage executive communications, ensuring timely responses and appropriate prioritisation. Prepare presentations, reports, briefing packs and supporting materials for internal and external audiences. Administrative & Business Support Manage executive administration, approvals, expenses and documentation, including budget tracking and reconciliation for the Executive Function. Support compliance and governance processes, and contribute to a highly organised, professional and effective Executive Function. What success looks like In your first 90 days: You have taken full ownership of the CEO's calendar and are proactively resolving conflicts before they arise. You have mapped the current executive meeting cadence and proposed improvements to structure, agendas and follow-through. You have built trusted relationships across the Executive Function and stood up a simple, reliable system for tracking decisions and actions from leadership meetings. In your first year: The Executive Function runs on a clear, well-understood operating rhythm that keeps leadership aligned and moving. The CEO's time is consistently protected for the highest-value priorities. You have taken ownership of at least one significant project or initiative from start to finish. You are recognised across the business as the person who keeps the Executive Function organised, professional and effective. Your experience and skills Executive Support Experience: proven experience supporting a CEO or senior executive, ideally within a fast-growing or complex organisation. Business Acumen: a working understanding of how a company makes money and makes decisions, used to prioritise, brief and organise leadership around what matters commercially. Operating Rhythm & Governance: experience coordinating leadership meetings, business reviews or governance forums, including agenda-setting and action tracking. Project Coordination: a track record of managing timelines, stakeholders and milestones across cross-functional initiatives. Written Communication: excellent writing skills, able to draft correspondence, briefing materials and presentations on behalf of a CEO. Discretion & Judgement: comfortable handling confidential and sensitive information, with sound judgement on what to escalate and what to resolve independently. Organisation & Follow-Through: exceptional attention to detail, and a genuine drive to see things through to completion. AI-Enabled Productivity: hands-on experience using AI tools for email triage/drafting, scheduling and task management, and a genuine enthusiasm for adopting new tools that remove manual admin work. Comfort with Ambiguity: energised by a fast-moving environment where the playbook is still being written. Why join Arkeus You will sit at the centre of a rapidly scaling deep-tech company at the forefront of defence, aerospace and advanced technology — with exposure to every facet of the business, from the boardroom to the shop floor. You will collaborate with exceptional leaders who have decades of combined experience in AI, optics and defence — learning from, and contributing to, the best in the field. You will join a close-knit, ego-free team where ideas compete on merit, not seniority. Low politics, high trust. You will work hard, and in return you will grow faster than you ever would at a large organisation. You will work on technology that is already deployed in real environments — protecting lives and strengthening security across defence and national security applications. You will receive a competitive, market-benchmarked salary, structured career pathways built to grow with you, and the opportunity to participate in our Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP). You will have the opportunity to mentor bright emerging talent through our highly sought-after intern program and strong connections with leading universities. Who we are Arkeus builds AI-powered sensing systems that help autonomous platforms see, understand and act in the most complex and contested environments. Our technology is deployed across defence and national security applications — already protecting lives and strengthening security across the U.S. and allied markets. Backed by QIC, Main Sequence, R+VC, Salus Ventures, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures and Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Arkeus is entering a major growth phase. We are a small, fast-moving company with the energy and ambition of a start-up and the technical credibility of a world-class defence technology provider. We work at the intersection of optics, autonomy, robotics and real-time AI — and we deploy what we build. If you want to ship technology that matters, this is where you belong.