A personal secretary handles admin for one principal. Calendar, inbox, travel, confidential paperwork.
Most work Monday to Friday from an office, sometimes a home office. Typical employers are founders, CEOs, lawyers, diplomats, family office heads, athletes, and celebrities. Anyone with a heavy admin load and the budget to hire someone full-time to manage it.
What does a personal secretary do?
A personal secretary does the desk work that keeps a principal’s day on track.
Calendar and scheduling. Running the diary for work and personal life. Coordinating across time zones. Briefing the principal at the start of each day.
Correspondence. Email, phone, and post. Drafting replies, filtering what the principal actually needs to see, chasing follow-ups.
Travel coordination. Booking flights, hotels, and ground transport for domestic and international travel. Putting itineraries together that the principal can use on the road.
Documents and records. Briefing notes, short presentations, reports. Filing contracts, NDAs, and private correspondence. Acting as the bridge between the principal and household staff, vendors, lawyers, and accountants.
Expenses and budget. Processing invoices. Tracking spend. Managing small budgets and reconciling accounts.
Anticipating problems. Passport renewals, visa applications, recurring bookings. The best personal secretaries fix things before the principal even hears about them.
What skills and qualifications does a personal secretary need?
Strong organization, clear spoken and written English, and good judgment with private information. On top of that, fluent office software skills and the ability to stay calm when plans fall apart.
Most employers want three to five years of admin experience, usually in a secretarial or executive support role. A degree in business administration or office management helps, but the experience matters more.
You need to be fluent in Microsoft Office and Google Workspace. Knowing Concur or TravelPerk, Expensify or Bill.com, and DocuSign or Adobe Sign helps too, especially when the principal travels a lot or runs international meetings.
Typing speed matters. Many employers expect 60 words per minute with high accuracy, especially when the role is heavy on correspondence and document handling.
A second language helps, especially French, Mandarin, Arabic, or Spanish if the principal travels or runs business across borders. Some employers also ask for the Certified Administrative Professional credential, or Microsoft Office Specialist and Google Workspace certifications.
What is the difference between a personal secretary, a personal assistant, and an executive assistant?
A personal secretary handles desk-based admin for one principal. A personal assistant does a bit more, running the principal’s whole personal and professional life, including evenings and weekends. An executive assistant supports a senior corporate figure and keeps the focus on the business.
The roles can overlap, and at senior level it’s hard to distinguish between them sometimes. The title often matters less than the actual scope of the job and the hours involved.
| Personal secretary | Personal assistant | Executive assistant | |
| Primary focus | Calendar, correspondence, confidential paperwork | The principal’s full personal and professional life | A senior corporate figure’s business agenda |
| Setting | Office or home office | Mix of office, home, travel | Corporate office |
| Hours | Mostly Monday to Friday | Around the clock when needed | Mostly Monday to Friday |
| Personal life of principal | Some, mostly admin | Heavy involvement | Limited |
| Reports to | The principal or a chief of staff | The principal directly | A CEO, partner, or director |
| Common next step | Personal assistant or executive assistant | Chief of staff | Personal assistant at UHNW level |
The promotion path our recruiters see most often goes something like secretary, then executive assistant, then personal assistant, then chief of staff.
The first jump from secretary to EA doesn’t often happen through a formal promotion. It happens when the principal starts handing over more confidential work.
They get more access to the diary. The secretary starts reading the email, then drafting replies in the principal’s voice. By the time the new title comes through, the secretary has been doing the EA’s job for months.
That’s why employers hiring a personal secretary often quietly treat it as a way into the EA role. A candidate who handles confidential work well in the first six months gets more of it. Then they get the title and more pay.
Laurine Mallet, co-founder of Morgan & Mallet, says, “We have a lot of candidates who are executive assistants who would like to become personal assistants, much more than the contrary. It’s better paid, you are closer with your employer, and you manage their private life.”
How much does a personal secretary earn in the US?
A personal secretary working for a private principal in the US earns $70,000 to $140,000 a year. Junior roles in smaller markets are lower. Senior roles in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami, especially for UHNW principals or family offices, reach the top of that range.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median for executive secretaries in corporate roles at around $70,000, with the top 10% over $108,000. Private household pay runs higher because of the confidentiality involved, the multi-property workload, and the language skills employers often want.
A second language like French, Arabic, or Mandarin adds a premium. So does working across several properties or time zones. NDAs typically add 15 to 20% on top of base pay.
Personal secretaries are normally below personal assistants in pay because the work stays more desk-focused and there are fewer out-of-hours demands.
What are the working conditions for a personal secretary?
Most personal secretaries work Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, with some flex around the principal’s travel.
Almost every placement is live-out and office-based. Two days a week from a home office is the norm now for senior admin roles in the US, UK, and France.
Insist on five full days in the office and the candidate pool shrinks.
Morgan Richez, co-founder of Morgan & Mallet, puts it bluntly, “The personal assistant job, you need to offer at least one or two days home office. If you say Monday to Friday in the office, people won’t accept this anymore.”
The same goes for personal secretaries. Hybrid is now standard for executive support roles, as the Society for Human Resource Management has reported.
Overtime is paid out in most European countries. US roles usually bake it into the salary package.
France gives around five weeks of paid holiday. The UK and US stick to statutory minimums, though most principals add a few extra days on top.
Sample personal secretary job description template
The format below mirrors what we use on the Morgan & Mallet job board. Copy and adapt for your own listing.
Job description
We’re looking for an organized, discreet personal secretary for a CEO based in central Manhattan. The role supports a single principal across business and personal admin, with two days a week from a home office and three days at the principal’s office.
The right person is detail-oriented, calm under pressure, and comfortable with confidential paperwork. Strong written English is essential. A second language, French or Mandarin preferred, is a plus. You’ll work alongside an existing executive assistant and a chief of staff.
Responsibilities
- Manage the principal’s calendar across business and personal commitments
- Handle correspondence by email, phone, and physical mail
- Book domestic and international travel: flights, hotels, and ground transport
- Prepare documents, briefing notes, and short presentations
- Track expenses and small budgets using Concur and Bill.com
- Act as the link between the principal and household staff, vendors, and outside contacts
- Keep personal and business records in order across two homes in Manhattan and the Hamptons
Requirements
- Three to five years in a personal secretary, executive assistant, or senior admin role
- Bachelor’s degree in business administration, communications, or office management preferred
- IAAP Certified Administrative Professional credential a plus
- Fluent English, with a second language preferred
- Strong with Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and travel-booking platforms
- Experience handling confidential information and willing to sign an NDA
- Right to work in the US
Working conditions
- Full-time, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm
- Two days a week from a home office, three days in the Manhattan office
- 20 days paid vacation plus federal holidays
- Health insurance and 401(k) contribution
- Occasional travel with the principal to the Hamptons or Europe
Salary
$110,000 to $140,000 a year depending on experience and language skills, plus a discretionary bonus.
Hire a personal secretary through Morgan & Mallet
Morgan & Mallet places vetted personal secretaries across with our specialist recruiters across our global offices. All placements come with a 90-day replacement guarantee.Â
Call +1 (646) 965-2308 or get in contact through our website to start your search.
Apply for a personal secretary role
We have personal secretary positions open across the world. We work with candidates from corporate, hospitality, and household staff backgrounds. If interested, you can apply for available positions through the Morgan & Mallet job board.