Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of embattled blood-testing company Theranos, needs a lot of help right now. And that apparently includes a new executive assistant.
The company today began advertising for the job via LinkedIn, at around the same time that word came down about how it reportedly voided the past two years of blood test results from its proprietary Edison machines, plus provided corrected records for thousands of tests run on other machines. All of this comes just one week after Theranos president and COO Sunny Balwani “retired” at the age of 50, and the company announced plans to add a new COO, head of research and new chief medical officer. None of those positions has been publicly posted, although Theranos does have dozens of other public job listings.
But back to the job working alongside Holmes, who has gone from Silicon Valley nobody to Silicon Valley hero to Silicon Valley pariah in an 18-month span. Here is the description:
Effectively manage CEO’s calendar, travel schedule, and internal and external communication related to meetings, conference calls, invitations, event planning, board meetings, and interviews. Create, route & process written and verbal correspondence while exercising a high degree of discretion and confidentiality. Ensure urgent and priority correspondence and matters are communicated in a timely and effective manner to the CEO. Promote corporate image by professionally representing the CEO and Theranos internally & externally. Implement systems to file, organize, and archive information. Potential travel with the CEO to assist and coordinate meeting preparations, logistics and changing plans. General administrative duties (e.g., taking detailed notes, preparing meeting materials) and special projects with constantly moving priorities. 6-8+ years of EA experience, preferably in a professional services, consulting environment or high-tech environment. Exceptional professionalism, communication and interpersonal skills. Acute attention to accuracy and detail in all aspects of responsibilities. Strong working knowledge of the Microsoft suite of programs and the ability to handle complex and extensive scheduling is a must. Ability to work well with all parties in the executive office.
Sounds like a good gig. But not necessarily one with the best job security. Maybe that’s why, as of this writing, LinkedIn shows that there haven’t been any applicants…