Chief Administrative Officer
Runs the executive office: the CEO’s calendar, the board pack, the correspondence, the travel, and the dozen things a week that would otherwise interrupt the person they are protecting.
CAO is also used for Chief Analytics Officer and Chief Accounting Officer. Administrative carries the most weight in common usage, which is a reason to spell the other two out.
Who to hire
The shape of person who does this job well — and whether you should be hiring it at all yet.
The most under-rated seat on this list. A senior executive assistant operating as chief of the administrative function buys back more executive time than any software purchase, and in a larger company carries facilities, records and the board secretariat as well. Hire for judgment and discretion; the calendar is the easy part.
Education
No requirement. Longevity with one or two executives and an unbroken record of discretion is the qualification.
Experience
7+ years supporting at executive level, including board material. Ask how they decide what reaches the principal and what does not — that judgment is the entire role.
Vertical / domain experience
Industry matters little. What matters is pace and sensitivity: a regulated or listed company’s board cycle is a different job from a startup’s.
What it pays, roughly
$119,995 median, Canada — for Administrative services managers, the closest occupation Statistics Canada actually measures, measured from $104,000 to $123,718 over 192,795 people. That occupation is broader than this role, so read it as an anchor, not a salary band — and note that a startup usually pays below it in cash and above it in equity.
Credentials and certifications
What exists, who issues it, and whether it means anything for this seat. A credential is evidence of a floor, never of judgment — and in a few of these roles it is a legal requirement rather than a nice-to-have.
| Credential | Issued by | When it matters |
|---|---|---|
| CAP — Certified Administrative Professional | International Association of Administrative Professionals | The recognised credential for the profession. |
| Governance and board-secretariat training | Institute of Corporate Directors | Relevant once the role carries the board pack and the minute book. |
What this role does at each stage
The same title means three different jobs depending on how much money is in the bank. Read the stage you are at, then read the next one — that is what you are hiring toward.
The founder, badly, at 11pm.
A part-time executive assistant. This is frequently the highest-return hire a founder makes and is almost always made too late.
A chief of staff or administrative chief carrying the executive office, facilities and the board cycle.
Who it sits beside
A specialist seat is defined as much by the seats around it as by its own work — which hat it reports through, which one asks the adjacent question, and which one it must stay independent of.
Serves the CEO directly and overlaps the chief of staff role, which leans toward programmes and decisions while this one leans toward the office and the calendar. In many companies they are the same person.
Can one person hold this and something else?
The whole point of the many-hats problem: which of these jobs merge safely into one person, and which merges quietly cost you money or control.
Merges well with
- Chief Executive Officer
- Program Manager (Operations)
Merges with chief of staff, and with office or facilities management in a company with premises.
Keep separate from
No conflict, but the person who controls the principal’s access should not also control the information reaching them unchallenged.
Reading a candidate
What good looks like in an hour, and what should stop the process.
Good signals
- Protects the calendar without being obstructive
- Anticipates rather than reacts
- Has kept a confidence under pressure
Red flags
- Treats the role as clerical
- Cannot prioritise without being told
- Indiscreet about the last employer
What this role runs on
The software categories this seat lives in, each linked to the screen of who sells it — the incumbent, the challengers and what the lock-in is.