Reviewed by Stan, Head of Hiring Department, TLNT.aeA founder of a company with 10 to 150 people in Dubai usually hires an assistant too late: after the trade licence renewal was noticed by the bank, after an investor update went out three weeks behind, after a week of meetings booked back to back across two emirates. This guide is for the founder or CEO who still runs the company hands-on: what a week without an assistant looks like, what an executive assistant takes over in business, personal and household tasks, whether you need an EA or a chief of staff, what it costs, how to check candidates and where the boundaries are.
Talk to usYou are the bottleneck and everyone knows it. Not because you are slow, but because every small decision and every booking waits for the same person.
An executive assistant works on your behalf inside limits you set. Decisions stay with you. Split the tasks into business, personal and household and write them down in the first month.
The common confusion is EA versus chief of staff. An executive assistant runs your time, communication and logistics. A chief of staff runs projects and meetings on your behalf, prepares decisions and sometimes manages people; they do not book flights. Up to about 50 people one strong EA is enough. During fundraising, a merger or fast growth beyond that, founders often add a chief of staff and keep the EA. Market estimate, AED per month, total package (basic salary plus allowances); the employer also pays visa, health insurance and a gratuity provision.
| Type | When it fits | AED per month |
|---|---|---|
| Executive assistant | founder or director of a company up to about 50 people | 12,000 - 20,000 |
| EA to C-level | a group, several companies or a very public founder; confidentiality and travel | 20,000 - 30,000 |
| Chief of staff | owns projects and follow-through, represents you internally; orientation, depends on the business | 25,000 - 40,000 |
| Hybrid multi-assistant | business plus personal plus household in one person, smaller company | 10,000 - 18,000, senior 18,000 - 25,000 |
| Virtual assistant | inbox and bookings only, no presence in the office or at meetings | 3,500 - 8,000 part-time or remote |
The best EAs come from other founders and executives, from hotel and airline operations where people are used to pressure and precision, and from office managers who have outgrown the office. Interview on tasks, not on charm.
Your EA will know your cap table, your bank balance, your lawyer and your family's schedule. Design the access before day one.
TLNT is a hiring consultancy. For a founder or CEO we help decide between an executive assistant, a hybrid assistant and a chief of staff, write the scope and the limits, set the salary range as a market estimate, find and assess candidates with a practical skills assessment on real tasks such as an inbox triage, a cross-emirate calendar and a board action list, and prepare the offer. You make the hiring decision and agree the terms with the candidate yourself; the person is employed directly by your company, the employer sponsors the visa and we give you a step-by-step checklist. See also our executive assistant, office manager and PRO officer pages.
Our fee is fixed for each role and agreed before the search starts. A 10% prepayment of the fee starts the search, the rest is due once the person has started work. If it does not work out, we find a replacement free of charge; the period is set in the contract. Consulting and CRM projects are priced after a free review.
If you run a company with more than about ten people, travel, report to investors or a board and still handle your own inbox, calendar and licence renewals, yes. The usual signs: emails from banks and authorities answered late, action items lost between meetings, an investor update always behind, personal paperwork done from the car.
Market estimate: an executive assistant 12,000 - 20,000 AED per month, 20,000 - 30,000 for a C-level or group role; a chief of staff, which is a different job, 25,000 - 40,000 as an orientation; a hybrid assistant for business, personal and household 10,000 - 18,000, senior 18,000 - 25,000. Total package; the employer also pays visa, health insurance and a gratuity provision.
Our fee is fixed for each role and agreed before the search starts. A 10% prepayment of the fee starts the search, the rest is due once the person has started work. If it does not work out, we find a replacement free of charge; the period is set in the contract.
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Message on WhatsAppReviewed by Stan, Head of Hiring Department, TLNT.aeCite as: TLNT.ae, "Assistant for a founder or CEO in Dubai inbox, board, investors, PRO and the EA versus chief of staff question", 2026, https://tlnt.ae/en/guides/assistant-for-a-founder-ceo-dubai/. Prepared by TLNT.ae, a hiring consultancy working in the UAE since 2022.