Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff / Executive Assistant – Finance & Operations

Location: Budapest

Work setup: Hybrid (roughly 1–2 office days per week, flexible and agreed in advance)

About the company

Our partner is a niche vehicle design and build company operating between Europe and the United States. They transform distinctive, often vintage base vehicles (e.g. classic vans, small commercial vehicles) into food trucks, mobile shops and work vehicles, turning client ideas into road-ready, revenue-generating assets in a short time. They support clients from concept through to road registration, combining European manufacturing with a finishing workshop aligned to US standards. The Budapest base houses a new workshop and office that enables hybrid collaboration, with Western European ownership in the background.

About the role

In this Chief of Staff / Executive Assistant position you will be the backbone of financial administration and day-to-day operations: you will keep cash flow transparent, organise documentation, coordinate vendors and remove administrative load from the CEO. The role can be structured as full-time or part-time depending on whether you focus only on core financial admin, or also take on logistics and vendor coordination. For non-client-facing tasks there are no fixed working hours, what matters is that everything is done accurately and on time.

Key responsibilities

• Financial administration and control: collecting, scanning, organising and assigning invoices and documents to projects
• Tracking supplier invoices, deliveries and missing invoices, consistently following up with vendors
• Preparing draft outgoing invoices and bank payment batches for approval
• Handling day-to-day online banking operations and supporting approval workflows
• Liaising with external accounting and payroll, ensuring timely delivery of all required documents
• Contract administration: generating simple vendor/subcontractor contracts from templates or with AI support, coordinating legal review, organising signed copies
• Supplier communication: managing quotations, delivery notes, disputed invoices, partial credits and negotiated solutions
• Scheduling expenditures in line with project timelines, always keeping cash flow in mind
• Keeping internal records, HR files, vendor lists and project admin documentation up to date
• Optional: coordinating paperwork for vehicle and parts shipments between the EU and US, supporting ad hoc projects and data checks

Requirements

• Fluent English, spoken and written
• Proven experience in financial administration, operations coordination or executive assistant roles
• Advantage: experience in project-based or custom/one-off manufacturing environments
• High level of accuracy in document handling and cost tracking
• Confident use of MS Office and online banking platforms
• Calm, structured working style with strong prioritisation skills under workload
• Assertive yet solution-oriented communication style with vendors, especially around disputed invoices
• Advantage: familiarity with shipping documentation and international logistics coordination

What you can expect

• Hybrid work with a high degree of time flexibility (no fixed hours for non-client-facing periods)
• Occasional but focused onsite presence (approx. one day per week or every second week) in a new workshop and office
• Option for part-time or full-time employment, depending on the scope you take on
• Direct impact on cash flow, project execution and the CEO's daily workload
• Pragmatic, low-ego, output-driven environment with light hierarchy
• Close involvement in the day-to-day life of a company that builds tangible physical products for international clients