Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Corporate Administrator

🎯 Role Definition

As a Corporate Administrator you will provide end-to-end administrative and company secretarial support to ensure robust corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and efficient day-to-day operations. You will be the central coordinator for board and committee activity, statutory filings, corporate recordkeeping, contract administration, and cross-functional administrative services that support executives, legal, finance and external advisors.

Primary focus areas include:

Company secretarial and statutory compliance (filings, registers, minutes).
Board and executive meeting administration (agendas, packs, minutes, follow-ups).
Corporate record keeping, cap table administration and share registry liaison.
Operational support including contracts, vendor coordination, budgets and office administration.
Supporting audits, due diligence requests and regulatory inspections.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Administrative Assistant supporting legal, finance or executive teams
Office Manager with exposure to corporate governance tasks
Legal Assistant or Paralegal working on company law and filings

Advancement To:

Senior Corporate Administrator / Company Secretary Assistant
Corporate Governance Manager / Compliance Manager
Assistant Company Secretary or Company Secretary (after formal qualification)

Lateral Moves:

Legal Operations Coordinator
Office & Facilities Manager
Contracts Administrator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Coordinate and prepare all materials for board of directors and committee meetings including agendas, board packs, presentations and supporting documentation; ensure timely circulation, version control and secure storage of board materials.
Draft, review and accurately minute board and committee meetings, capturing resolutions, actions and dissenting views; circulate draft minutes for review and maintain action trackers to closure.
Maintain statutory registers (directors, shareholders, charges), minute books and corporate governance records in electronic and physical formats, ensuring audit-ready accuracy and secure retention in line with regulatory and policy requirements.
Prepare and file statutory and regulatory filings (annual returns, company formation and dissolution documents, director appointments and resignations, beneficial ownership filings) with relevant registries and regulators within required timelines.
Administer share capital changes, share transfers, options and share plans; update cap table and shareholder register; liaise with transfer agents and external registrars to execute issuances and transfers.
Manage company incorporations, corporate restructurings, name changes and registered office changes domestically and internationally, coordinating with external counsel and local agents to meet jurisdiction-specific requirements.
Maintain and update corporate policies and governance frameworks; coordinate policy approvals, version control, distribution and employee acknowledgements across the business.
Serve as primary point of contact for external advisors (corporate lawyers, auditors, registrars, government agencies) for transactional filings, statutory queries and compliance matters; manage engagement logistics and information requests.
Support corporate transactional activity by preparing corporate documents, compiling board approvals, obtaining director signatures and coordinating corporate searches and due diligence deliverables.
Implement and maintain a compliance calendar and reminder system for all statutory and corporate deadlines; proactively notify stakeholders of upcoming filings and escalate risks to leadership.
Manage legal and corporate document lifecycles including execution, witnessing, sealing, attestation, notarization and electronic signature processes; ensure proper retention and retrieval.
Coordinate annual general meetings and shareholder communications including proxy materials, notices, meeting logistics, shareholder queries and post-meeting filings.
Support enterprise-level risk and insurance administration by maintaining insurance certificates, liaising with brokers, processing renewals and tracking claims administration as needed.
Prepare and process invoices, purchase orders and vendor contracts for corporate services; support budget tracking for corporate secretarial and administrative spend.
Lead cross-functional administrative projects such as office relocations, vendor consolidations, fixed asset registers and record digitization, including project plans, stakeholder communications and delivery tracking.
Maintain and continually improve corporate admin processes, templates and knowledge base to increase efficiency, reduce risk and enable scalable governance as the business grows.
Provide operational support to senior executives including complex travel and event arrangements, expense reconciliation, calendar management and confidential correspondence handling.
Support HR and recruitment administration for executive hires and board appointments (offer letters, onboarding documents, background checks, right-to-work verification).
Respond to regulatory or audit information requests by compiling records, producing affidavits and coordinating responses with legal, finance and external counsel.
Manage and supervise relationships with outsourced corporate service providers and local agents in foreign jurisdictions; conduct quality assurance, performance reviews and invoice reconciliation.
Ensure strict confidentiality and data protection for all sensitive corporate and personal information; implement access controls and secure transmission practices.
Track legislative and regulatory developments affecting corporate compliance and corporate governance best practices; summarize impacts and recommend operational changes to management.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist with preparation of internal governance reports, risk registers and compliance dashboards for leadership review.
Provide administrative training and guidance to junior administrative staff and temporary resources during peak periods.
Organize corporate events, board dinners and stakeholder engagement activities including venue sourcing, invitations and logistics.
Maintain office supplies, fixed asset inventories and coordinate facilities repairs and vendor appointments.
Support continuous improvement initiatives by documenting current state processes, identifying bottlenecks and recommending automation opportunities.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Company secretarial expertise: statutory filings, minute taking, annual returns, director and shareholder filings.
Corporate governance knowledge including board administration, committee support and governance frameworks.
Experience maintaining statutory registers, cap tables and share registries.
Proficiency with electronic minute books, document management systems and secure file sharing (e.g., Diligent, BoardEffect, SharePoint).
Strong Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel (VLOOKUP, pivot tables), Word (document formatting and templates) and PowerPoint.
Familiarity with corporate formation, dissolution and cross-border registration processes and local agents.
Contract administration and basic commercial legal document handling (execution, witnessing, seal management).
Experience with compliance calendars, regulatory filing workflows and audit preparation.
Experience liaising with external counsel, auditors, registrars and corporate service providers.
Basic financial administration skills: invoice processing, PO handling and simple budget tracking.
Electronic signature platforms and secure document workflow experience (e.g., DocuSign, Adobe Sign).
Knowledge of data protection, privacy and confidentiality best practices for corporate records (GDPR awareness beneficial).
Familiarity with enterprise ERPs or record systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle NetSuite, Workday) is advantageous.

Soft Skills

Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy — especially when preparing statutory filings and board materials.
Strong written and verbal communication skills for clear board correspondence and cross-team coordination.
Excellent stakeholder management: ability to work effectively with C-suite, directors, legal and finance.
High level of discretion, integrity and confidentiality handling sensitive corporate information.
Prioritization and time management skills — managing competing deadlines and fast-paced board cycles.
Proactive problem-solving and initiative; identifies risks and proposes mitigations.
Adaptability and resilience in a dynamic, often deadline-driven corporate environment.
Team player with the ability to lead projects and coordinate third parties.
Professional demeanor and credibility when interacting with external regulators and advisors.
Organizational skills and process orientation to improve governance workflows.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience in business administration, law, finance or related field.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Law, Corporate Governance, Finance, or comparable discipline.
Professional qualifications or training in corporate governance, company secretarial practice or paralegal studies are a plus (e.g., ICSA/Chartered Governance qualification).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Law (Company/Corporate law emphasis)
Finance, Accounting, or Corporate Governance

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2–7 years of progressive corporate administration, company secretarial or legal administrative experience. (Junior roles: 0–2 years; Senior/Lead roles: 5+ years)

Preferred:

Demonstrable experience supporting boards and executive leadership in a medium-to-large corporate environment.
Prior exposure to multi-jurisdictional filings, share registry administration, and working with external registrars or law firms.
Experience with governance software, electronic filing systems and producing legally-compliant corporate records.