Executive Administrative Assistant

About Us

Asahi Kasei Battery Separator Canada, an Asahi Kasei Company, is a pioneer in battery technology and a long-trusted supplier of lithium battery separators, which are polymer-based microporous membranes that are key components of lithium-ion batteries (LIB).

The company’s Hipore™ brand of separators have been commercially available since the lithium battery market’s inception in the early 1990s and they are found primarily in electric drive vehicles (EDVs) as well as in consumer electronics (CE) such as smartphones, tablets and personal computers. Hipore™ membrane separators bring high porosity and excellent energy transfer, while contributing to battery safety and reliability and they are especially well matched for the high-capacity batteries required for power plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and full battery (BEV) vehicles.

Asahi Kasei is accelerating its next phase of global growth with proactive investment and capacity expansion in battery separators to meet increasing demand for electric vehicle applications. Expansions have been announced at existing Asahi Kasei LIB separator facilities in the United States, Japan, and South Korea, with start-up scheduled in succession from the first half of fiscal year 2026. Asahi Kasei will continue investing to further build its LIB separator infrastructure for automotive applications to meet growing demand in North America where significant expansion of electric vehicle production is forecasted.

We are now in the early phases of staffing our new greenfield site, in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada, that will have an investment of about 1.57 billion CAD$ to further build its LIB separator infrastructure for automotive applications to meet growing demand in North America where significant expansion of electric vehicle production is forecasted.

The Asahi Kasei Group is a diversified group of companies led by holding company Asahi Kasei Corp., with operations in the material, homes, and health care business sectors. With more than 48,000 employees around the world, the Asahi Kasei Group serves customers in more than 100 countries. We are Creating for Tomorrow

About the Role

We are seeking an Executive Administrative Assistant to be a part of a new plant construction and start-up based in Port Colborne, Ontario. The incumbent will have a high level of interaction with operations and corporate teams, customers, suppliers, and Japanese counterparts. The Senior Administrative Assistant will execute a variety of administrative functions in a fast-paced office, supporting multiple staff-level and executive leaders in the manufacturing facility. This role will work cross-functionally to create and utilize processes and systems to ensure the safe, efficient, and accurate operation of the office environment. This position provides administrative support while working onsite.

Reporting Relationships

This position directly reports to the Plant Manager and does not supervise others.

Asahi Kasei Values

• Sincerity – Being sincere with everyone
• Challenge – Bolding taking challenges, continually seeking change
• Creativity – Creating new value through unity and synergy

Key Accountabilities

• Communicate with people outside the organization; represent the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources; project a professional company image through in-person and phone interaction
• Prepare and modify documents including reports, drafts, memos, and emails; proactively provide information to a variety of audiences by telephone, in written form, e-mail, breakroom monitors or in person
• Supervise the work of the administrative assistant and potentially summer students engaged in administrative work.
• Must maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the company’s dealings
• Coordinate large scale meetings and visits form VIPs
• Make travel arrangements for employees and company visitors, including accommodation and entertainment arrangements as needed; assist with expense report preparation and submission
• Set up meeting agendas, and ensure needed resources are available for the meetings.
• Take detailed meeting notes and prepare minutes, action registers. Setup and coordinate a variety of meetings and conferences, including meeting organization, planning, catering arrangements, and agenda preparation
• Produce presentations and documents needed for meetings to ensure consistency and a level of professionalism, in particular for materials shared with outside organizations.
• Manage and track ProCard expenses
• Update, organize, and maintain paper and electronic files to optimize data storage and retrieval, process paperwork
• Serve as local administrator for SharePoint site and other computer systems
• Schedule appointments; manage and maintain plant manager’s calendar
• Answer, screen, and transfer inbound phone calls; provide information and direction to callers
• Conduct research, including internet research; compile data, and prepare papers, reports, and presentations for consideration and presentation by executives and managers
• Coordinate repair and maintenance of office equipment; manage various service suppliers
• Support staff in assigned project-based work; work on multiple projects
• Meet and greet clients and visitors; screen visitors before allowing access to the facility; ensure visitors are oriented to location safety and environmental rules
• Perform general clerical duties to include but not limited to photocopying, faxing, mailing, & filing
• Research, price, and purchase office supplies and furniture; store and maintain office supply inventories; run errands as needed
• Coordinate and maintain records for staff office space, phones, company credit cards and office keys
• Assist with scheduling candidate interviews, new employee onboard meetings; provide office orientation for new employees
• Cross-train, continuously learn and develop skills, keep up-to-date technically, apply new knowledge
• Work collaboratively; lead and participate in cross-functional teams
• Set up and oversee administrative policies and procedures; interpret administrative and operating policies and procedures for employees; resolve administrative problems and inquiries
• Review operating practices and procedures with plant manager to determine whether improvements can be made in areas such as workflow, reporting procedures, or expenditures
• Respond to inquiries regarding feedback or concerns with plant construction

Qualifications

Education Background:

• High school diploma or equivalent required; 2-year or 4-year degree preferred

Knowledge & Experience:

• 5+ years office administrative experience supporting multiple managers is required
• Experience supporting managers in a manufacturing environment preferred
• Must be able to operate basic office equipment such as, computers, copiers, calculators, and printers
• Knowledge of telephone protocol as well as the principles and practices of basic office management is required
• Professional verbal and written communication skills and the ability to type quickly and accurately is required
• Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as managing files and records, designing forms, and other office procedures and practices is required
• Strong technical skills (Microsoft Office Suite) including the ability to create advanced Power Point presentations, manage and manipulate all the functions within Excel spreadsheets, manage Outlook with ease, and create and design documents in Word is required; experience in database management a plus
• Experience working for a global organization with cross cultural interaction is strongly preferred
• Japanese language skills are preferred

Travel:

• The incumbent may be required to spend time in Japan learning the product and training on manufacturing processes as well as connect with team members Japan offices.
• Local day trips will be required; occasional overnight trips may be required in the region or to sister companies in North America for team meetings.

Schedule:

• Must be able and willing to work a flexible schedule to attend in-person meetings and conference calls outside of normal business hours. May need to work holidays and overtime in case of emergencies. The incumbent can flex working hours to accommodate.

Working Environment

This position will initially be a hydrid position to allow for working with different time zones. While on site, it will be based in a temporary structure on or near a construction site until the permanent office is built in 2026. The final work environment will be at a 24/7 manufacturing operation. This position is in support of manufacturing and requires working in a production environment around chemicals. The manufacturing facility will be a state of the art in terms of automation and being temperature and humidity controlled. This will be a clean and comfortable environment due to the nature of the products being produced.

Work will require sitting at a desk for up to 70% of the time. The rest of the time is spent outside of the office to visit government offices and related institutions for applications, to visit neighboring organizations and schools/universities, and to attend to visitors from Japan and the US.