Executive Assistant and Operations Coordinator

Executive Assistant & Operations Coordinator - Head Office, Whitstable (Full Time)

Hat Hats is a speciality coffee company with ten sites across Kent, an events trailer, a coffee van, a growing e-commerce business, and a fleet of Hat Hats To Go vending machines. Our sites run from Reculver and Faversham to Folkestone, Herne Bay, Canterbury and Discovery Park, with a presence at Hangloose Bluewater too. We are a small team doing work that a much larger business would need twice the headcount to deliver, and we are proud of that.

Our people are curious, commercially minded, and genuinely invested in what we are building.

We have recently completed a significant piece of internal work called Project Mirror, a full review of how we are structured, who owns what, and where we are headed. One of the clearest things to come out of that work was a new role: the person who will sit at the heart of how this business runs day to day. That is the role we are now hiring for.

This is a PA role at the start. Within 12 to 18 months, it is designed to become a Chief of Staff function. Whether that happens depends on the person, and we will be honest with you about that from day one.

Day to day, you will be the person who makes sure nothing falls through the gaps. You will manage the founder's diary and protect his time for the things that actually need him. You will make sure every instruction that leaves the leadership team has a named owner, a deadline, and a follow-up. You will chase actions, coordinate across departments, and be the calm person at the centre of a fast-moving business.

You will also own some things outright from day one: all business insurance across every Hat Hats entity, booking and administration for our Events Division and Barista 999, oversight of our Hat Hats Hub support tickets, and day-to-day coordination of our IT and maintenance teams. You will support the build and tracking of our health and safety framework, help with new site projects, and very occasionally be available at weekends when the business needs you.

Thereisvariety,genuineresponsibility,andrealroomtogrow.

Thereisalsoalottogetyourheadaround,andwewouldratherbeupfrontaboutthatthanundersellit.

• Managing the founder's diary and ensuring his time is protected for strategic priorities
• Making sure every instruction from the leadership team has a named owner, a deadline, and a route for follow-up
• Chasingandloggingactionsfromleadershipmeetingsandbriefings
• Researchandbuildofaheadofficehealthandsafetyframeworkwithinyourfirst
  90days
• Supporting Project Mirror implementation: tracking progress, chasing outstanding actions
• Supportingnewsiteprojectsandkeyhiresasdirected
• Hat Hats To Go route administration and logistics coordination with Central Operations
• Maintainingtheleadershipactionlogaftereverymeetingandbriefing,trackingwhatisoutstanding,andchasingnamedownersacrossthebusinessbeforethenextmeetingsoactionsarecompletednotjustrecorded
• Booking and scheduling head office fire alarm and security checks, and forwarding related invoices to Finance
• Very occasionally being available at weekends for out-of-hours on-call cover when the business needs it

You do not need a background in coffee or hospitality. You need to be organised in a way that other people notice. You need to be the kind of person who sees something falling through a gap and closes it before being asked. You need to be comfortable talking to a founder one minute and coordinating a maintenance engineer the next.

• Comfortableworkinginafast-moving,multi-sitebusinesswhereprioritiesshift
• Confidentmanagingup:thekindofpersonwhowillnudgeafounderwhensomethingneedschasing
• Genuinelymotivatedbybuildingsomething,notjustmaintainingit
• Comfortablewithveryoccasionallybeingavailableatweekendsforout-of-hourson-callcover

• Arealseatatthetable:youwillknowwhatishappeninginthisbusinessbecauseyouwillbethepersonmakingithappen
• Ateamthatisgenuinelyinvestedingettingthingsright
• Basedatourheadofficein Whitstable,Kent