Filipino Operations VA for Creative Studio

I'm a Sydney-based creative director and photographer running a commercial photography and brand strategy practice. The operational side needs an owner, and that's where you come in. I need someone who lives for the logistics. Who gets genuine satisfaction from a clean project tracker, a followed-up email, and a status update sent before they're asked for one. Someone who can look at a messy pile of moving parts across multiple projects and immediately know what to do with it. You'll be the person who makes sure nothing falls through the cracks - tracking what's outstanding, chasing the people who need chasing, and keeping me informed so I can stay in the creative work where I do my best thinking. This is a part-time, ongoing role at approximately 10 hours per week. I'm looking for someone to grow with long-term. What you'll actually be doing: - Owning the operational status of multiple active client projects - knowing where everything is at, at all times - Following up with clients, collaborators, and suppliers on my behalf - proactively, without being asked - Flagging what needs my attention vs. what you can handle yourself - Keeping project timelines moving when things stall waiting on other people to provide information and assets - Light research - venues, suppliers, contacts, opportunities General studio operations as needed. What I'm looking for: - A natural operations brain - you find disorder uncomfortable and fixing it satisfying - Background in a creative agency, photography studio, or marketing environment - you understand how creative projects actually work - Experience working with Australian or Western clients - A proactive communicator - you send a brief status update without being asked, you flag problems before they become problems - Strong written English - you can write a warm, professional email that sounds human - Comfortable with shifting priorities - Trustworthy and discreet - you'll have access to client communications and business information - Reliable, fast internet connection Tools: Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Docs), and ideally some familiarity with project tracking tools (Notion, Trello, Asana - even basic like Monday). We can work with whatever you know. Bonus points if you enjoy building simple systems and processes from scratch - we're a small studio and there's genuine room to shape how we operate. What this isn't: This is not a social media management role. This is not data entry. This is not a one-off project. I'm looking for someone who wants to be genuinely embedded in a small creative studio and take ownership of keeping it running, so the creative director can do her best work. To apply, please tell me: - A brief description of your background and why operations work suits you - One example of a time you proactively kept a project on track or solved a problem without being asked - Your availability and hourly rate Hours: ~10 hrs/week, ongoing Rate: Open - please include your rate in your application Timezone: Philippines-based preferred; must be available for occasional overlap with AEST (Sydney time)