Executive assistant to Founder

Medellín, Colombia

Part time, approximately 20 to 25 hours per week

Collective Bikes is a UK based bicycle and street culture brand with operations across the UK, Colombia and international markets.

We are looking for an exceptional person to work directly with our Founder and CEO.

The role is based in Medellín, but the majority of the work will support the UK business. This person will also act as an important operational point on the ground for Collective in Colombia.

This is not a conventional Executive Assistant role. We are not looking for someone who waits for instructions, manages a calendar and sends reminders. We need someone who takes ownership.

The right person will be extremely organised, commercially aware, numerate, fast, persistent and very difficult to knock off course. They will notice when something does not look right, investigate it properly and resolve it without needing to be managed through every step.

A normal day might involve reviewing DHL invoices against shipment data and contracted rates, challenging incorrect charges, checking supplier invoices and purchase orders, reconciling Shopify settlements, following up an outstanding payment, chasing a factory in China, comparing freight quotations, checking stock arriving into the UK, dealing with a customer or warranty escalation, coordinating a Colombian dealer, organising travel and making sure several people deliver something they committed to doing.

There will be significant responsibility around suppliers, manufacturing and logistics. Collective works internationally with factories, freight companies, couriers and distributors. You may be following production timelines, checking quotations and pro forma invoices, confirming quantities, tracking shipments, identifying discrepancies, obtaining credits and making sure issues are resolved rather than simply reported.

You will also help maintain control of the commercial detail behind the business. This can include checking invoices line by line,



maintaining financial and operational trackers, reviewing charges, monitoring settlements and refunds, preparing information for payments, tracking outstanding receivables and making sure the Founder has a clear view of anything requiring a decision.

Our ecommerce operation also creates a constant flow of small issues that need ownership. Shopify settlements, chargebacks, inventory alerts, preorder communication, customer escalations, CRM issues and other operational problems all need someone capable of getting into the detail and closing the loop.

There is also a significant people and project coordination element. You may be chasing staff, freelancers, designers, videographers, riders, agencies or commercial partners across different countries and time zones. If someone has committed to a deadline, you should know whether it has happened before the Founder has to ask.

In Colombia, you may support dealers, riders, events, shoots and local operations. This can mean coordinating transport, locations, schedules, equipment, production teams, content delivery and last minute problems on the ground in Medellín. You need to be comfortable moving between a spreadsheet in the morning and solving a real world operational problem in the afternoon.

Inbox and communication management will form part of the role, but the objective is not simply to organise messages. The objective is to reduce the amount of operational noise reaching the Founder. You should be able to understand what requires attention, what can be delegated, what needs chasing, what can be resolved independently and what genuinely requires a decision.

We want someone who closes loops.





If a courier invoice looks wrong, investigate it.

If a supplier has not replied, chase them.

If a quotation does not make sense, question it.

If two sets of numbers do not reconcile, find out why.

If someone misses a deadline, deal with it before it becomes somebody else's problem.

If you can solve something without escalating it, solve it.

The idóneo candidate will have experience supporting a founder, CEO or senior executive, or working in operations where they have been trusted with significant responsibility. Experience in ecommerce, international trade, logistics, finance administration, project management, sourcing or supply chain would be particularly valuable.

Excellent written and spoken English is essential. Spanish must also be fluent.

You must be highly competent with Excel or Google Sheets and comfortable working with numbers. You should be able to understand an invoice, compare commercial quotations, work through a reconciliation and present information clearly.

You must be based in Medellín and available to work in person when required. Much of the UK focused work can be handled remotely, but we specifically want someone on the ground in Medellín who can step into local situations when necessary.

We care less about job titles than ability.

This role will suit someone with unusually high initiative who likes being trusted with difficult things, works quickly, communicates clearly and gets satisfaction from making complicated situations simple.

It will not suit someone who needs detailed instructions for every task or waits to be told what to do next.

Shortlisted candidates will be given a practical exercise based on real situations from the business. We want to see how you think, prioritise, investigate and execute.

- When applying, please send your CV and a short note describing one situation where you identified and solved a problem before your manager or client had to ask you to.

📌 Executive Assistant (Medellín)
🏢 Collective
📍 Medellín