Virtual Assistant - Community & Operations Support

This is a Virtual Assistant Role with focus on Community & Operations support.

Sponge is an untypical branding agency based in Brisbane Australia and proudly working to build the Business for Good community. We believe that awesome is no longer enough; businesses must also do good to achieve the success they truly want.

We work exclusively with purpose-led and purpose-ready business owners to help them become ElectroMagnets for top talent and dream clients. Our goal is to help 1 million people live their lives to the fullest by helping create cultures where people shine, building impact models that inspire greatness, and crafting brand stories that ripple meaning through the market.

We are fanatical about culture and this role must be a culture fit. Check out what that means for us at our website (which you will have to find). We highly recommend you read our culture pages.

If you're obsessed with order, thrive on structure, and love making things run smoothly, this might be your dream role.

THE ROLE: WHY WE NEED YOU

We are looking for a highly meticulous Community & Operations Assistant to manage the heartbeat of our outreach and events.

Note: This role will begin strictly as part-time (up to 20 hours/week), but has the potential to evolve into a Full-Time position based on the relationship built and the value you provide.

This is not a creative marketing or project management role. This is a pure execution role. You will be running established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure our community members are invited, engaged, and nurtured consistently. If you are a stickler for detail, love following a proven process, and take pride in making sure no one falls through the cracks, this is for you.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT & OUTREACH
- Execute daily LinkedIn outreach and messaging on behalf of the founder using proven SOPs and scripts
- Manage follow-ups based on established outreach cadences to ensure the right frequency of touch
- Track engagement and maintain accurate records of conversations and interactions

CLIENT COMMUNICATION
- Draft and send weekly client project updates
- Keep CRM data current and accurate
- Support professional, friendly communication with clients on behalf of the founder

EVENT COORDINATION & OPERATIONS
- Set up and update regular events across multiple online platforms
- Coordinate with our design team to ensure event graphics are published correctly
- Invite curated "A-list" guests to events following specific guidelines
- Track RSVPs, monitor attendance, and ensure the correct follow-up messages are sent


EMAIL COMMUNICATION & CAMPAIGN SUPPORT
- Assist with ongoing email communications and campaign execution via Mailchimp
- Manage segmented lists and execute scheduled communications
- Support specific follow-ups based on community engagement or event attendance

DATA, REPORTING & ADMINISTRATION
- Keep our CRM and community contact lists meticulously clean and updated
- Send daily "End of Day" (EOD) reports detailing completed tasks, blockers, and next steps
- Run established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) reliably to ensure no one falls through the cracks

REQUIREMENTS

- Extreme Attention to Detail: Small mistakes compound quickly in community operations. You must be highly accurate.
- Process Discipline: You must be comfortable and happy executing repetitive, structured SOPs daily without needing to "reinvent" them.
- Tech Comfort: Experience with LinkedIn (outreach/messaging), Mailchimp, CRM management, and event platforms.
- Relationship Awareness: A professional, warm tone and an understanding of how to treat high-value community members.
- Availability: Up to 20 hours/week, spread across the week and aligning with the founder’s time.
- Hunger: A hunger to learn better ways to do things. You always want to optimise, simplify, and improve.

BONUS SKILLS (Not Required, but Great to Have)
As this role has the potential to grow into a full-time position, candidates with the following additional skills will be highly regarded:
- Experience with social media posting and platform management
- Account management experience
- Light account management and client relationship building

TO APPLY

Your application must include:
1. Write a short intro about why you're applying for this role and why it fits you.
2. Share a specific example of how you’ve managed events via event platforms.
3. Share an example of how you organised chaos into clarity, i.e. a system, checklist, routine, or tool that made something easier and more efficient.
4. Confirm your availability for 20 hours/week and your ability to work with a start time of around 9:30am AEST most week days.
5. Use the word "Connection" in your subject line and your 4th sentence.
6. Tell us what our culture means to you.
7. Use exactly 7 app points.

We’ll only consider applicants who follow all instructions.

This position is long-term, stable, and highly valued. If you love structure, take pride in being the one who keeps the community humming, and want to work with a business that’s doing good in the world, we look forward to hearing from you.