Executive Assistant, R&D

About the role

RDQ427R579 Mission: Databricks Executive Assistants are strategic partners who drive efficiency, foster collaboration, and enable our most senior leaders to scale their impact. We are seeking an Executive Assistant in Belgrade, Serbia to support VPs within our R&D organization. This is a multi-executive role: the EA will serve as the primary partner to an Engineering VP based in Belgrade, while also supporting at least one additional R&D leader. The role requires balancing distinct executive styles, priorities, and cadences, not simply duplicating the same support model across leaders. The ideal candidate is autonomous, direct, and confident in their judgment and thrives in a fast-paced R&D environment where executives value independence over hand-holding. Impact you will have: - Executive Assistants are empowered to focus on strategic priorities, resulting in a more effective and agile organization. - Proactively manage and optimize complex, multi-time zone calendars for R&D Vice Presidents and leaders, ensuring alignment with business priorities and anticipating potential conflicts. - Coordinate scheduling across multiple teams and organizations, ensuring seamless collaboration for leaders who operate cross-functionally. - Support engineering planning cycles, quarterly business reviews, and cross-team syncs during key milestones. - Own end-to-end expense and travel processes, ensuring compliance while identifying patterns and opportunities to streamline recurring workflows. - Proactively identify and communicate preparation requirements for meetings, ensuring leaders arrive well-prepared and informed. - Partner with Belgrade site operations to support office events and team activities through collaborative work with strong local partners. - Build and maintain accurate records of meetings, events, and requests, ensuring timely follow-up and closure. - Prepare and review briefing materials, agendas, and follow-up documentation for executive meetings, including engineering leadership forums, R&D reviews, and cross-functional planning sessions. - Own the operational rhythm for your executives — driving action item tracking, follow-up loops, and meeting cadence management so nothing falls through the cracks. - Provide coverage and support for other assistants as needed, demonstrating flexibility and a team-first mindset. - Handle highly confidential information with the utmost discretion and integrity. - Foster cross-functional collaboration by building strong relationships with other EAs and R&D stakeholders across the organization. What we look for: - Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, HR, Marketing, Education, or a related area is preferred. - 5+ years of executive administrative experience, preferably in a global technology or software organization. - Experience supporting leaders in Engineering, R&D, or Product organizations is a plus. - Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment and make independent decisions in ambiguous situations. - Advanced calendar management skills (Gmail and Google Calendar expertise required), with experience supporting multiple executives across time zones. - Demonstrated ability to prioritize across competing executive demands, communicate trade-offs clearly, and resolve conflicts without escalation when possible. - Ability to communicate with C-level Executive Assistants and external customer stakeholders. - Strong relationship management and communication skills (C1 English proficiency required), with the ability to collaborate at all levels. - Proactive, solution-oriented, and adaptable to changing priorities and environments. - High level of discretion in handling sensitive information and confidential matters. - Experience planning and executing small and large-scale meetings, events, and travel logistics — including budget management, vendor coordination, and high-volume interview scheduling. - Willingness to travel occasionally across EMEA for team offsites and regional EA collaboration. - Demonstrated interest in and aptitude for AI tools and workflow automation. - Experience proactively identifying and driving process improvements. - Expected to demonstrate flexibility and occasionally adjust their schedules to support executives’ needs after regular office hours. This role is based in the Belgrade Databricks office, serving the R&D org which operates on a five-day in-office schedule. The EA is expected to be in-office daily when their primary executive is in Belgrade. The 7–9 hour time difference with US-based stakeholders means the EA must be highly effective during limited overlap windows (typically late afternoon CET) and capable of operating autonomously during hours when executives are offline. Occasional schedule flexibility is required to accommodate critical US-based meetings, typically 1–2 evenings per week. About Databricks Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, Unilever, and 70% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn , X , YouTube , and Instagram . Benefits At Databricks, we strive to provide comprehensive benefits and perks that meet the needs of all of our employees. For specific details on the benefits offered in your region click here . Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion At Databricks, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone can excel. We take great care to ensure that our hiring practices are inclusive and meet equal employment opportunity standards. Individuals looking for employment at Databricks are considered without regard to age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other protected characteristics. Compliance If access to export-controlled technology or source code is required for performance of job duties, it is within Employer's discretion whether to apply for a U.S. government license for such positions, and Employer may decline to proceed with an applicant on this basis alone.