Planning Engineer
Construction Company United Arab Emirates
Unlock employer United Arab Emirates Direct to Company 2 hours ago · 13 Oct 2026
About the Role
We’re looking for an exceptional Founder & Executive Coordinator to work directly with the Chairman / CEO and Portfolio COO across a portfolio of businesses, brands, investments and strategic projects. This is not a conventional Executive Assistant role. It combines high-level executive support with portfolio coordination and project oversight, giving you a broad view of what is happening across the organization and a meaningful role in keeping senior priorities moving.
You’ll act as a central coordination point between the Founder, COO and key stakeholders — helping ensure priorities remain visible, decisions turn into action, communication flows effectively, and important initiatives continue progressing across multiple businesses.
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Unlock employer & apply directlyAlongside managing the operational rhythm of both executives, including inboxes, calendars, meetings, and follow-ups, you’ll maintain oversight of key projects, decisions, dependencies, and deadlines. A particularly important part of the role is keeping the Founder and COO aligned: understanding what is moving, what is blocked, what requires a decision, and what can be resolved by someone else.
The question you’ll continually be asking is:
Key Responsibilities
Executive Support & Coordination
Portfolio Visibility & Project Coordination
Risk, Ownership & Follow-Through
The Operating Style: Know Where the Weeds Are Without Living in Them
This role is deliberately positioned above the day-to-day detail. You are not expected to become embedded in the delivery of every project, department or business. However, you must know where the weeds are.
You need sufficient visibility across the portfolio to understand where things stand, where momentum is being lost, what is at risk and where the Founder or COO may need to intervene.
That means being able to move quickly between the wider picture and the detail. At times, you may need to get close to a project to understand what has gone wrong, what is missing or why progress has stalled. Once the situation is clear and ownership has been established, you must be able to step back rather than becoming responsible for the execution yourself.
You are not expected to solve every problem personally. Your responsibility is to spot issues early, understand the context, establish clear ownership and keep track until there is a defined outcome.
Your value comes from maintaining visibility across the whole board while ensuring that important commitments, risks and decisions do not quietly fall through the cracks.
Working Hours & Flexibility
This is not a conventional 9–5 coordination role.
The Founder and COO operate across multiple businesses, stakeholders, and time zones, so the working rhythm will reflect changing business priorities. We need someone who can work across Dubai and UK hours, with flexibility when important meetings, launches, travel, commercial opportunities, or genuinely urgent decisions require it.
That may occasionally mean early starts, later meetings or adjusting your schedule to accommodate a time-sensitive priority. It does not mean constant availability or unnecessary presenteeism.
We’re looking for someone who can manage their workload intelligently and sustainably, with the judgement to distinguish genuine urgency from routine activity.
In practice, this requires:
Flexibility works both ways. What matters is that both executives are properly supported, priorities remain under control and outcomes are delivered - not that someone is sitting at a desk for prescribed hours simply for the sake of it.
Skills & Experience
We’re looking for someone highly organised, proactive and commercially aware, who can combine excellent executive support with the judgement and confidence to coordinate across a wider business portfolio.
You may already be an experienced Executive Assistant supporting a Founder, CEO or senior leadership team and be ready to take on a broader coordination role. We’re particularly open to candidates based in the Philippines who have the experience, communication skills and flexibility to support executives working across Dubai and UK hours.
You’ll ideally bring:
Experience in a multi-business, entrepreneurial or fast-moving environment would be particularly valuable. We are more interested in your ability to think ahead, create clarity and keep things moving than in a particular job title.
The Ideal Candidate
The ideal person is more than someone who keeps a calendar organised or makes sure meetings happen. You are a trusted, forward-thinking coordinator who helps senior leaders operate more effectively.
You naturally look around corners. You notice when something has been promised but not followed up, when two priorities are competing, when a decision is holding up progress or when a conversation needs to happen between the right people.
You are comfortable asking questions, following up with senior stakeholders and respectfully challenging a lack of clarity. You know when to escalate an issue, when to resolve it yourself and when to make sure the appropriate owner takes responsibility.
You can zoom out to understand the portfolio-wide picture, then zoom in when necessary to work out what is actually happening. Crucially, you know when to step back once the issue is understood and ownership is clear.
You bring calm, structure and momentum to a complex environment - without creating unnecessary process or becoming another bottleneck.
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role means the Founder and COO can maintain focus on the decisions and priorities that genuinely require their attention, with confidence that the wider picture is being coordinated effectively.
You’ll know you’re succeeding when:
The objective is simple: create clarity, maintain momentum and help the Founder and COO focus their attention where it has the greatest impact.
Why Join Us?
This is an opportunity to work closely with senior leadership across a portfolio of businesses, brands, investments and strategic initiatives - with visibility and influence that extend well beyond a traditional Executive Assistant position.
You’ll have direct access to the Chairman / CEO and Portfolio COO, a meaningful role in how they operate and the opportunity to help shape the coordination and accountability that supports the wider portfolio.
For someone who enjoys anticipating needs, solving coordination challenges and bringing structure to a fast-moving environment, this role offers the chance to make a tangible difference to how the business operates.
You’ll have room to use your judgement, take ownership and work flexibly, with success measured by the quality of support, clarity created and progress enabled.
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