What it is: Guide's executive assistant (EA) feature lets you link an EA to any executive interviewer in their scheduling preferences. This tells Aria that the EA manages the executive's calendar and is the main scheduling POC, so all conflict outreach drafts are drafted correctly.
How to set it up:
Go to Users (or open any page where you can edit an interviewer's scheduling preferences).
Find the "Executive Assistant" field and select the person who manages the executive's calendar.
The EA must have their own Guide account (synced from Greenhouse).
Save.
What it changes when Aria schedules:
Any interviewer with an EA set is automatically treated as requiring availability confirmation - even when their calendar appears open. Aria will never auto-release a schedule for that interviewer without confirmation from the EA first.
When Aria identifies a conflict (or an open-calendar slot that still needs confirmation) for an EA-managed interviewer, it directs all outreach to the EA - not the interviewer - because the EA is the person who actually controls the calendar.
Aria's generated message greets the EA by name, identifies the executive by name in the body, explains the scheduling request and the conflict (if one exists), and lists the candidate's alternative availability windows so the EA can suggest a swap if the preferred time doesn't work.
For open-calendar confirmation requests, Aria frames the message as a confirmation ask - not a request to move a meeting - since there may not be a conflicting event at all.
If some interviewers on the same panel have EAs and others don't, Aria handles each one separately: outreach to the EA for those who have one, directly to the interviewer for those who don't.
Once the EA confirms, the recruiter records that confirmation, and Aria proceeds to validate and release the schedule.
Important note: The EA must have an active account in Guide (via an active account in your ATS) for the field to appear in the dropdown.