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Santiago Y.
✨ Newly AddedSenior Executive Assistant / Chief of Staff
Ecuador15+ years experienceAvailable now$7,000/mo
Compare at US rates $21,000/mo?
AI Experience
🤖 ChatGPT - Prompt engineering, executive support, business research, workflow development, candidate sourcing, data enrichment, and general operational problem-solving.
🧠 Claude - AI-assisted research, workflow development, sourcing intelligence, and process automation. He specifically lists Claude as part of his business AI stack.
✨ Notion - Dashboard architecture, structured databases, operational tracking, project information, SOP/process management, and as part of his automated client-satisfaction/project-management workflow.
Notable Highlight
Santiago has a strong track record of improving executive and business operations through AI, automation, and process optimization, including reducing executive workload by up to 45%, managing a $5M corporate budget, cutting manual sourcing time by 35%, and improving candidate profile quality by 40%. He co-founded and scaled a B2B consulting firm from a $15K valuation to $250K within four years while leading cross-functional teams, operational strategy, and business development. Works hands-on with ChatGPT, Claude and Notion - the AI Experience section above has the examples.
Experience Summary
Santiago is a Senior Executive Assistant/Chief of Staff with 6+ years of experience supporting founders, CEOs, and COOs in remote, international environments. He combined executive support with strategic operations, project management, recruiting, and business systems. He operated as an executive proxy, managing communications with clients and stakeholders, coordinating cross-functional initiatives, overseeing high-priority projects, and owning delegated decisions on behalf of senior leaders. His experience encompasses calendar and inbox strategy, strategic planning, KPI/OKR tracking, budget allocation, CRM operations, recruitment, payroll, SOP development, and international team coordination. He brought a strong entrepreneurial and analytical background from 14+ years in scientific research, consulting, and business ownership, where he led multidisciplinary teams, managed budgets and resources, developed operational protocols, secured institutional partnerships, and navigated regulatory and compliance requirements. This combination provided him with a structured, research-driven approach to solving ambiguous business problems and building processes from the ground up.
Key Achievements
- Reduced executive workload and administrative overhead through automated SOPs, AI-driven workflows, proactive calendar and inbox systems, and operational process improvements.
- Managed executive calendars with up to 60 critical meetings per week and developed a triaging system that reduced executive inbox overhead by 40%.
- Directed a $5M corporate budget at a previous company, allocating resources across scaling initiatives, payroll, executive travel, coaching investments, and new hires while considering long-term ROI.
- Built an automated client satisfaction and project-management system using Zapier, Notion, spreadsheets, and Trello, connecting customer feedback with project creation, staffing visibility, deadlines, and notifications; the initiative contributed to a 25% increase in client satisfaction.
- Managed complex cross-functional operations across Argentina, the U.S., and France, including executive support, project tracking, recruitment, onboarding, payroll, CRM management, and international coordination.
- Co-founded BS and helped scale the company from an initial $15K valuation to $250K within four years, ultimately navigating its acquisition while retaining a passive equity stake.
- Authored 36 operational protocol documents and 45 strategic data matrices, establishing standardized processes and data structures for scientific and consulting operations.
- Managed multidisciplinary teams, resource allocation, funding initiatives, and institutional partnerships across academic, corporate, and government environments.
Skills
Chief of StaffExecutive OperationsExecutive SupportStrategic PlanningProject ManagementCross-Functional LeadershipOperational StrategyWorkflow OptimizationSOP DevelopmentKPI & OKR TrackingBudget & Resource AllocationCRM OperationsBusiness DevelopmentTalent OperationsRecruitmentExecutive CommunicationsStakeholder ManagementAI AutomationPrompt EngineeringNotionZapierChatGPTClaudeGeminiPower AutomateTrelloClickUpHubSpotSalesforceEOSAgileScrum
Work Experience
Senior Executive Assistant / Chief of Staff
a previous company · Global · Mar 2020 - Present
- Co-piloted business operations alongside concurrent C-suite leaders and founders, owning executive communications frameworks and daily workflows to scale time management efficiency by 45%.
- Governed calendar strategy for high-volume schedules (up to 60 critical meetings/week) and engineered a proactive triaging system that permanently reduced executive inbox overhead by 40%.
- Led the architecture of internal social media content creation and modern digital communication protocols, boosting overall engagement impact by 40%.
- Orchestrated annual strategic planning processes spanning operations, communications, and corporate budgeting across cross-functional spaces (Operations, HR, Marketing, Tech) to align OKRs with company-wide growth targets cleanly.
- Acted as the primary operational proxy for CEOs and founders in high-stakes stakeholder environments (managing up to 10 enterprise relationships simultaneously), making key decisions within delegated authority boundaries.
- Directed targeted candidate pipelines to deliver highly qualified recruitment shortlists within 3-5 days, compressing overall firm time-to-hire by 45%.
- Formulated complex, multi-city international travel itineraries (flights, hotels, transport, and dining coordinates), ensuring seamless operational execution and zero scheduling friction.
- Managed household staff schedules and payroll, family calendar tracking systems, domestic education and medical networks, and private asset expense reporting while leading deep-dive custom research projects.
Virtual Operations Coordinator
a previous company · Aspen, USA · Apr 2025 - Jul 2025
- Directed a $5M corporate budget, strategically allocating capital reserves across scaling initiatives, executive travel, payroll structures, coaching investments, and new hire onboardings while projecting long-term ROI.
- Re-engineered internal communication frameworks via Trello and Slack integrations, successfully dropping distributed team response latency by 25% and maximizing project transparency.
- Managed executive inbox and priority scheduling for the CEO and COO.
- Managed critical project tracking matrices and daily operational workflows for both the CEO and COO, closely collaborating across Marketing, HR, and Operations to execute company-wide initiatives perfectly on schedule.
- Standardized internal SOPs, complex travel routes, high-level meetings, corporate events, and executive documentation folders to build sustainable infrastructure.
- Organized travel, meetings, events, and documentation for leadership.
- Steered the baseline content strategy, creation, and distribution schedules for corporate newsletters, high-impact community notices, and the founder's public social media channels.
- Retained ownership of lead-tracking databases and CRM health, systematically removing data clutter to sharply boost pipeline visibility and secure prompt business development follow-ups.
Senior Recruiter & Talent Manager
RH · New York, USA · May 2025 - Dec 2025
- Managed 6-10+ high-volume, cross-functional requisitions concurrently within ultra-competitive sectors including Tech, AI, Finance, UI/UX, and Executive Support roles.
- Designed and scaled advanced, AI-powered candidate sourcing models and deep Boolean search strings, elevating data-enrichment precision and talent profile quality by 40% while cutting down manual sourcing time by 35%.
- Developed and maintained live data recruitment dashboards tracking time-to-fill, channel performance metrics, and pipeline volume ratios to provide founders with actionable business intelligence.
- Directed full placement negotiations, candidate offer formatting, and compensation structuring, maintaining flawless communication hygiene to secure a 92% offer acceptance rate.
Virtual Assistant & Project Manager
TVOM · Mendoza, Argentina · Oct 2024 - Feb 2025
- Governed day-to-day corporate administrative operations and managed cross-functional communication loops across three distinct international corporate headquarters (Argentina, USA, and France).
- Conceptualized and deployed a centralized corporate Client Satisfaction Tracking System from scratch, elevating long-term client retention metrics and satisfaction scores by 50%.
- Asserted total calendar and complex international travel ownership for two senior executives, optimizing scheduling densities to secure a 35% boost in weekly time efficiency.
- Implemented structured Trello and EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) frameworks across globally distributed teams, accelerating on-time internal project deliveries by 30%.
- Owned sourcing, full-cycle hiring, operational onboarding, and accurate payroll management for a distributed workforce of 100+ on-site and remote employees.
Senior Executive Assistant to the Vice-President
HS · Tampa, USA · Jan 2024 - Apr 2024
- Provided elite-tier personal and professional support to the Vice President, mastering the synchronization of executive corporate schedules, high-end travel logs, daily business operations, and complex personal agendas.
- Managed household staff schedules, family payroll tracking systems, domestic education tutor networks, and private asset expense reporting while leading deep-dive custom research projects.
- Governed accurate sales reporting sheets, payroll systems, and stock inventory oversight across a diverse footprint of remote and brick-and-mortar teams.
- Designed and executed a comprehensive onboarding program for new staff members, tracking individual productivity metrics and operational success milestones over their first 90 days.
Co-Founder, Senior Research Biologist & Environmental Consultant
SMWBSUOAPUOE · Ecuador · Jan 2010 - Dec 2023
- Co-founded BS alongside two strategic partners, scaling the biological and environmental B2B consulting firm from an initial $15K valuation into a $250K enterprise within 4 years, successfully navigating its acquisition while securing a retained 2% passive equity share.
- Spearheaded high-stakes business development initiatives and client relationships within heavy industrial sectors, providing critical environmental compliance and biological consulting workflows for major mining and oil corporations.
- Transferred rigorous scientific methodology into corporate consulting operations, authoring 36 end-to-end operational protocol documents and 45 strategic data matrices to govern business information flow.
- Commanded multi-disciplinary project teams and field research groups, directly overseeing resource allocations, budget tracking, and inter-institutional collaboration agreements with major academic and corporate entities.
- Managed high-stakes government permitting pipelines and executed rigorous compliance consulting audits tied to international quality standards including ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 14001 (Environmental), and ISO 45001 (Health & Safety).