Administrative Assistant

Job DescriptionJob Description:

JOB SUMMARY Under general supervision, the Administrative Assistants for the Public Works Department are responsible for performing a wide variety of professional administrative duties in support of the activities and services of the Public Works Department, which includes tasks such as creating and maintaining filing systems, receiving telephone calls and visitors in the office; taking and transcribing minutes and correspondence; and logging, compiling and reporting data. Scope: This position is typically the first point of contact in the Public Works Department. Employees must be able to work in a high-stress environment and handle multiple priorities. Incumbents should have the ability to diffuse situations and must be able to remain calm and courteous at all times. Defining Class Characteristics: Positions in the Administrative Assistant classification perform confidential, difficult, and highly complex duties with a relatively high level of independence. The work requires the interpretation and application of policies, procedures, and regulations and involves frequent contact with the public and various research support functions. This class is distinguished from other administrative classifications by its confidential duties, the assumed responsibility level, and the complexity of the duties assigned. Employees at this level must be fully trained in all procedures related to the assigned area(s) of responsibility. They are required to maintain a high level of confidentiality. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONSReception duties: Receives and greets all visitors, including vendors, customers, and other visitors having business with the department; assists, provides instructions, or directs to other departments if appropriate.Phone duties: Provides telephone reception services to the general public and/or staff; assists callers or routes to appropriate staff.Basic office duties: Performs basic office and clerical duties such as making copies, sending and receiving faxes, distributing faxes to appropriate staff/department, and obtaining signatures on documents as needed.Mail: Retrieves, opens, stamps, sorts, and distributes incoming, interoffice, and outgoing mail and packages, including FedEx and UPS.Correspondence: Prepare various forms of correspondence, including letters, memos, electronic messages (e‐mails), facsimile recordation, and documentation; Department Head may review correspondence; respond to general correspondence of a routine nature associated with departmental responsibilities; proofread correspondence materials and make corrections for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and general content. Filing: Organizes and maintains various filing systems and manuals. Purchase Orders: Generates purchase orders, including: preparing requisitions and invoices; requesting forms for vendors; coordinating orders; receiving and reconciling shipments with purchase orders; maintaining vendor files; coordinating equipment maintenance and repairs. Payroll: Prepares employee time sheets and time cards for payroll. Scheduling: Coordinates and schedules appointments, meetings, or reservations at the request of staff; prepares the location, photocopies materials, and agendas; arranges meetings and conferences. Inventory: Maintains inventory of department/division supplies; ordering and maintaining supplies. Office Machines: Operates and performs routine maintenance of general office machines such as copiers, facsimiles, and telephone systems. Meetings: Prepares agendas; attends, takes, and transcribes minutes of commission/committee meetings, staff meetings, or other meetings as assigned; prepares agenda packets and distributes to appropriate staff; types staff reports. Programs: Routes application and permit fees such as Right‐of‐Way Applications, Bid Specifications Fees, House Move Applications, Temporary Parking Permits, Special Event Permits, Erosion Control Permits, Landscape Permits, etc. Payments/Petty Cash: Receive payments or fees; issue receipts; maintain records of transactions; may maintain petty cash. Accounting: Performs accounting functions which may include: receiving payments, preparing invoices, completing timesheets, processing expense reports, managing petty cash, forwarding invoices to accounting for payment, reconciling bank statements and department accounts, and preparing check requests. Confidential Assignments: Works with highly confidential information. Provide direct and confidential administrative, clerical or secretarial support to a department head or executive manager, such as: Collects Employee Reports of Vehicle/Equipment/Property Damage, Employee Incident Reports, and Employee Injury Reports from Public Works managerial personnel and distributes them to appropriate Town personnel. Manages department records retention and destruction. Receives and transmits two‐way radio calls for the Public Works Department. Copies all letters for mass mailing, personnel files, Freedom of Information Act requests, and other documents as needed within the scope and function of the office. Updates and distributes department Policy and Procedures Manual. Compiles and maintains for distribution the departmental New Employee Information Packet, employee rosters, emergency information cards, and other departmental documents for distribution to public works employees; Oversees distribution of bid documents to bidders; coordinates advertisement of bid documents; schedules and attends bid openings to record bids and attendants; disseminates bid opening information to contractors and vendors; Maintains and enters work order database information for Operations, Engineering, and Fleet Divisions; generates job code and employee activity reports, material usage reports, billing statements monthly, quarterly, annually, or upon request. Collects, analyzes, enters, reconciles, and batches payment information from several hundred vendors and processes purchase orders for the department. Makes travel and accommodation arrangements for various department personnel. Creates and disseminates department press releases via email, fax, and Internet. Performs conference room scheduling, which involves reviewing conference room requests for availability, electronically scheduling conference rooms, and assisting with resolving conflicts. Other duties as assigned. JOB REQUIREMENTS Education & Experience Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be:Completion of high school or equivalent and four years of progressively responsible clerical/administrative experience; or completion of a two‐year office science or business administration program and two years of progressively responsible clerical/administrative experience; or completion of a four‐year program in a college or university, preferably with a major emphasis on coursework in business administration, public administration or other related field and six months of administrative or office management experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Knowledge ofGeneral knowledge of: standard office procedures such as filing, typing, duplicating materials; answering telephones and taking/sending written or electronic‐mail messages; distributing mail; telephone etiquette; correct English usage, grammar and punctuation; proper spelling of commonly used words; operation of computers and other office machines; word processing software; manual and computerized recordkeeping methods; basic math; reading skills sufficient to understand information and materials related to the assignment.Thorough knowledge of office management techniques and ability to practice effective communication techniques both orally and in writing including the ability to coordinate a variety of resources in gathering information and independently answering inquiries.Basic knowledge of basic budgetary processes and procedures.Familiarity with the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).Regulatory knowledge – Knowledge after training, of department functions, responsibilities, and organizational structure. Ability to understand and comprehend the meaning of legal language of a variety of statues and the administrative language of rules, regulations, and procedures, and to commit to recallable memory the primary factors of each that are pertinent to customers for obtaining permits and licenses, and the ability to answer questions around laws and ordinances. Skills Interpersonal skills – Ability to remain calm and professional under pressure and communicate verbally in a clear, concise, and efficient manner. Ability to accept change by demonstrating a positive attitude when changes occur. Ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of people with different socioeconomic status, educational levels, interests, and emotional conditions during the communicating and service needs that include occasional confrontational conditions and tensions among citizens. Ability to maintain a professional attitude and approach to communications. Ability to maintain excellent attendance and flexibility in scheduling. Ability to meet office objectives, and daily talk times. Organizational skills ‐ Ability to work effectively in an open office environment with frequent interruptions and distractions, a moderate noise level, fluctuating workloads at a consistently high level, requiring special processing of some cases, priority changes, and schedule adjustments. Computer systems /software – Advanced skill level in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and internet search software relevant to the position. Proficiency in Access and/or other specialized software is strongly preferred. Quality of Work: Maintains high standards of accuracy and attention to detail in exercising duties and responsibilities. Exercises immediate remedial action to correct any quality deficiencies in areas of responsibility. Maintains high-quality communication and interacts with all City departments, divisions, co‐workers, and the public. Ability to:Develop and maintain filing systems.Analyze and interpret policy and procedural guidelines and resolve problems and questions, independently.Deal with the public tactfully in difficult work situations.Maintain financial records and logs using computer data entry methods.Type sixty (60) words per minute on a computer keyboard.Read and interpret a map.Organize and prioritize information and tasks.Communicate clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing.Provide excellent customer service.Learn new computer software programs.Learn Department procedures, policies, activities, and services.Set priorities and manage time and work in a fast‐paced and busy environment with multiple tasks and interruptionsRead and interpret a map.Interpret and apply administrative and departmental policies and procedures.Develop and maintain a complex filing system.Understand the organization and operations of the Public Works Department, the Town of Forest Heights, and of outside agencies as necessary to assume assigned responsibilities.Work under pressure during peak workload periodsAccurately and efficiently transcribe from a voice recording device;Understand and effectively apply complex oral and written instructions and procedures.Work with confidential information.Respond under emergency conditions. Licenses, Certifications and Memberships RequiredMust possess a valid driver’s license in state of Residency or obtain one within fifteen (15) days of employment.Designation as Notary Public is desirable. CONTACTS: INTERNAL/EXTERNALDaily telephone contact with the general public and contact with visitors of the Public Works offices.Regular contact with internal staff and other governmental offices, contractors, business owners, Council members, and commission/board members. Working Environment: The work environment characteristics described herein are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.Standard office setting. The work requires sitting and/or standing for prolonged periods of time, walking and frequent interaction with others, both in person and on the phone.Work environment is both formal and informal, team‐ and autonomy‐oriented, having variable tasks, pace and pressureMay require occasional evening hours to attend board/commission meetings. Physical Requirements: The physical demands described herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.Due to the nature of work assignments, incumbents must be able to perform detailed work on multiple, concurrent tasks, with frequent interruptions and under time constraint. Daily, the essential duties of this classification may require the ability to stoop; reach; to stand, to walk and sit for extended periods of time; to push and/or pull objects weighing up to 10 pounds; lift and carry objects weighing up to 10 pounds; to use finger dexterity to operate a computer and other office equipment and hand strength to grasp files and other objects; to perceive the attributes of objects by touch; to hear and verbally exchange ideas and information with the public, staff, and others on the phone and in the office. On a frequent basis, essential duties of the position may require the ability to climb stairs, to kneel, and/or crouch to retrieve files and other items.Vision: See in the normal visual range with or without correction; vision sufficient to read computer screens and printed documents; visually inspect work in progress.Hearing: Hear in the normal audio range with or without correction. Must be able to use a two‐way radio.

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