Hybrid Role| Ontario / Eastern Time
About the Role
We are a boutique architecture and interior design firm specializing primarily in custom residential and cottage projects throughout Muskoka and the Greater Toronto Area.
We are looking for a highly organized, proactive individual to help manage the day-to-day operations of our firm and keep the many moving pieces of our projects, team, clients, vendors, and administrative work organized and moving forward.
We are looking for someone who is exceptionally good at organizing, coordinating, communicating, following up, and getting things done.
The ideal person is someone who takes ownership of a task rather than simply completing one step and waiting for further direction. You should be comfortable keeping track of many different priorities, following up with people when needed, identifying items that require attention, and making sure things don't fall through the cracks.
This is a remote position, but we are looking for someone located in Ontario or within the Eastern Time Zone in Canada or the United States who is available during our regular business hours. Someone who is in Muskoka, or within a 2hr driving distance is strongly preferred.
What You'll Do
Your responsibilities will vary from day to day and will include a combination of business operations, project coordination, executive assistance, client administration, and general administrative support.
Email & Communication Management
- Monitor company email inboxes daily and help manage incoming correspondence.
- Respond directly to routine emails where appropriate.
- Identify and flag correspondence requiring the Principal Designer's or another team member's attention.
- Track outstanding emails, requests, decisions, and follow-ups to ensure items are resolved rather than forgotten.
- Draft correspondence and coordinate communication with clients, consultants, trades, suppliers, and other project partners.
Team & Task Coordination
- Help coordinate tasks and priorities amongst our small internal team.
- Communicate assignments and deadlines to team members.
- Check in regularly on outstanding tasks and follow up as required.
- Maintain task lists and help ensure priorities and deadlines are visible to the appropriate people.
- Identify overdue or stalled items and bring them to the Principal Designer's attention.
- Assist with weekly team organization and project status reviews.
Vendor, Trade & Procurement Coordination
- Contact trades, contractors, suppliers, and vendors to request pricing, availability, information, samples, or other project requirements.
- Track requests for quotations and proactively follow up with companies that have not responded.
- Receive, organize, and compare estimates and quotations.
- Maintain organized records of pricing, correspondence, selections, orders, and outstanding items.
- Assist with placing and tracking orders, deliveries, lead times, deposits, and other procurement items.
- Follow up with vendors and trades until assigned items are resolved.
Client Administration
- Set up and maintain client portals and project records.
- Assist with new client onboarding.
- Send questionnaires, documents, invoices, reminders, and other client communications.
- Maintain templates and standardized client communications.
- Track outstanding client information and follow up where appropriate.
- Help ensure our clients receive an organized and professional experience throughout their projects.
Business Operations & Systems
- Assist in developing and maintaining Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
- Help implement and maintain systems for task management, project tracking, client management, file organization, and internal communication.
- Identify opportunities to streamline repetitive administrative processes.
- Assist with setting up templates, workflows, checklists, and automations.
- Help ensure that the systems we implement are actually maintained and used consistently by the team.
Executive & Administrative Support
- Manage the Principal Designer's calendar, appointments, meetings, and scheduling.
- Assist with meeting coordination and reminders.
- Conduct research and gather information as requested.
- Help organize documents, records, contacts, and digital files.
- Assist with occasional personal/executive-assistant tasks.
- Take on miscellaneous administrative and coordination tasks as they arise.
Because we are a small and growing firm, the role will naturally evolve. We are looking for someone who enjoys variety and is comfortable jumping between different types of tasks depending on what needs attention that day.
Who We're Looking For
The most important qualities for this position are organization, initiative, communication, judgment, and follow-through.
You may be a particularly good fit if you:
- Are exceptionally organized and enjoy creating order from lots of moving pieces.
- Are proactive and don't need to be reminded repeatedly about outstanding tasks.
- Take ownership of assignments and follow them through to completion.
- Are comfortable following up with people—sometimes more than once—to get the information or response needed.
- Can distinguish between something you can handle independently and something that needs to be escalated.
- Communicate professionally and confidently by email and phone.
- Are comfortable communicating directly with clients, contractors, consultants, suppliers, and other professionals.
- Can manage multiple projects, requests, and deadlines simultaneously.
- Are comfortable learning new software and figuring out better ways of doing things.
- Have excellent written English and strong attention to detail.
- Are dependable, resourceful, and comfortable working independently in a remote environment.
- Enjoy being the person who keeps everyone organized and makes sure things actually get done.
Experience
Previous experience in architecture, interior design, construction, real estate development, engineering, or another project-based professional services environment is a strong asset, but is not mandatory.
Previous experience as an office manager, executive assistant, or other administrative role is recommended
We would particularly welcome applicants with previous experience as an:
- Project Manager
- Operations Coordinator
- Project Coordinator
- Design Studio Coordinator
- Construction Coordinator
- Procurement Coordinator
- Office Manager
- Executive Assistant
- Administrative/Operations Manager
You do not need to be an architect or interior designer, and experience with AutoCAD or Revit is not required.
Some familiarity with the architecture, design, or construction industry would be beneficial because you will regularly communicate with trades, suppliers, consultants, and clients and will become familiar with the terminology and processes involved in our projects.
Technology
You should be highly comfortable working with technology and learning new systems.
Our firm currently works within a combination of Microsoft 365/Outlook, Microsoft Teams/ Planner, Assembly, Dropbox, Excel, and various design/project/client management platforms. Experience with these specific programs is helpful but not required.
More importantly, we are looking for someone who can quickly learn new software and help us use our systems more effectively.
Position Details
Location: Hybrid/Remote – Ontario or Eastern Time Zone is required; Muskoka & surrounding areas is preferred
Hours: 30-40 hrs per week
Compensation: $25–$35 CAD per hour, depending on experience
Terms: On contract to start with the potential to move to full-time employment following a trial period
If you are someone who genuinely enjoys organizing people, projects, information, and processes—and gets satisfaction from turning a busy environment into an organized one—we would love to hear from you.
Pay: $25.00-$35.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Flexible schedule
Application question(s):
- Please briefly describe your experience in an operations, project coordination, executive assistant, office management, or similar role. What were you personally responsible for managing?
- Do you have experience working in architecture, interior design, construction, engineering, real estate development, or another project-based industry? If yes, please describe your role and experience.
- Are you available to work consistently during regular Eastern Time business hours, Monday through Friday?
- Are you located in Muskoka or within approximately a 2-hour drive of Muskoka, Ontario?
- Are you looking for a long-term position with the opportunity to take on greater responsibility as the company grows?
- Are you comfortable working on contract, with the potential to transition into a permanent position
Education:
- AEC / DEP or Skilled Trade Certificate (required)
Language:
Licence/Certification:
- Ontario Drivers License (preferred)
Location:
- Muskoka Lakes, ON (preferred)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Muskoka Lakes, ON
