Operations Specialist and Executive Assistant
Reports to: CEO (Travis May)
Location: Ideally Raleigh, North Carolina; Remote
Why this role exists
Shaper is scaling quickly, and our portfolio companies are scaling even faster. This role exists to create leverage for the CEO while helping run the operating and talent infrastructure that supports Shaper’s investments.
You will serve as the Executive Assistant to the CEO, while also owning execution across core portfolio-facing talent and operational workflows —including Builders-in-Residence logistics, hiring operations, onboarding, offers and agreements, events, and operating cadence. The goal is simple: ensure that critical work gets done cleanly, on time, and at a level that matches the caliber of the companies we build. This role blends high-trust executive support with hands-on business operations, portfolio coordination, and internal execution.
This is not a purely administrative role. The work you do directly supports Shaper’s investment activity and portfolio company outcomes.
Core responsibilities
Executive support (CEO-focused)
- Provide day-to-day administrative support to the CEO and other key leaders, including complex calendar management, travel coordination, meeting logistics, meeting prep, and follow-ups.
- Help keep the CEO’s time focused on the highest-leverage priorities by anticipating needs, tracking action items, and closing loops.
- Support preparation for key meetings (board, investors, partners, portfolio CEOs).
- Assist with limited personal logistics that enable executive effectiveness, representing a minority of the role.
Talent & portfolio operations
- Drive Builders-in-Residence operations: own onboarding materials, trainings, cohort logistics, rotation scheduling, and support review cycles.
- Support hiring operations across the portfolio, in partnership with our Talent team, this may including interview coordination, candidate coordination, offer logistics, onboarding and offboarding checklists, and comp materials.
- Draft, manage, and track offers, consulting agreements, NDAs, and related documentation; coordinate closely with legal and finance. Maintain and improve offer and agreement playbooks to support repeatable, high-quality execution.
Programs, cadence, and events
- Own operational execution for portfolio programs and events, including Shaper and portfolio company offsites, thought leadership dinners, and conferences.
- Support OKR rollout, feedback processes, and manager training logistics across Shaper and portfolio companies.
- Support marketing efforts
Skills & experience
- 3–7+ years in operations, executive support, people ops, or program management in high-growth startups, VC, or similar environments.
- Strong organizational judgment and attention to detail; comfortable juggling multiple workstreams. You’ll be working with a team of “Inbox Zero” individuals and you’ll be expected to engage similarly and respond rapidly.
- High level of discretion, reliability, follow-through, and through-put.
- Clear communicator who is calm under pressure and comfortable working with senior leaders,
- Interest in company-building, talent, and supporting fast-scaling teams.
- While high-trust executive support includes occasional personal logistics, the role is primarily business- and investment-facing, with meaningful exposure to portfolio operations and firm strategy.
Why this role is unique
You’ll sit at the center of Shaper’s operating platform—supporting senior leadership while helping scale the talent and systems that underpin our investments. It’s an opportunity to learn how companies are built from the inside, while doing work that directly matters.