Administrative Associate, County Administrator's Office

THIS IS A NEW ASSEMBLED EXAMINATION.  The eligible list resulting from this examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year, but can be extended. Applications must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Applications will only be accepted on-line.

Supplemental Questionnaire:  A properly completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted with each application.  Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Failure to submit the Supplemental Questionnaire will result in disqualification.

Applications will only be accepted on-line.

The Position:
Under minimal supervision, Administrative Associate, County Administrator's Office (CAO) incumbents function in lead secretarial capacities and perform the most complex and time sensitive assignments, secretarial and administrative duties in support of various units of the County Administrator’s Office including the Clerk of the Board, Risk Management, Budget, Finance, Administration and Economic Development.

These positions often engage in higher level contact with principal County officials, community members, the public regarding various meetings, handle more complex agenda items, legislative issues, assessment appeal and various other functions which may impact all departments, employees and other functions in Alameda county.  Positions are often exposed to highly confidential information unique to the Board of Supervisor, Board Committees, Assessment Appeals Board or County Administrator's Office.

Key Responsibilities:

• Prepare correspondence, documents, agendas and minutes of meetings (i.e., Board meetings, Board Committees, Assessment Appeals Board, and special ad hoc committees.
• Provide secretarial support to the Clerk of the Board and CAO Management staff assigned direct responsibility of various programs of the County Administrator’s Office including, Risk Management, Budget and Administration and East Bay Economic Development Alliance.
• Maintain the databases for the County Boards and Commissions, Risk Management, and other County Administrator units. 
• Monitor progress of projects and staff assigned to support functions or programs or event specific to the Clerk of the Board, Risk Management, Budget and Administration and Economic Development. 
• Recommend operational changes/enhancements and involved in implementation of new procedures. 
• Have responsibility and authority for the unit(s) and effectively serve as a supervisor/leader.
• Attend and clerk special committee meetings and take notes; edit drafts for composition and grammatical structure.
• Exercise discretion in referring inquirer to another appropriate source of information or service; advise the Clerk of the Board of appointments; set up meetings, contact participants, reserve rooms, prepare notices and agenda and assembles materials and documents needed for such meetings.
• Handle confidential information which has not yet been made public ; record actions to be taken on sensitive matters, based on a thorough knowledge of the departmental or court policies; take responsibility for releasing information to authorized parties.
• Compile a variety of narrative and statistical reports, locating sources of information, devising forms to secure data, and determining proper format for finished reports; may maintain cost records, prepare departmental budgets, and assist in maintaining financial controls throughout the year. 
• May be assigned lead supervision of a clerical unit.

Ideal Candidate:
Administrative Associates are integral team members, their support and assistance are key to keeping our operations productive. Administrative Associates must be flexible and have to ability to adapt to a fast pasted environment, with evolving responsibilities and assignments. Administrative Associates perform progressively responsible administrative support functions in a highly confidential, political, and dynamic environment, which require strong written and oral communication skills.  Successful candidates will have the ability to resolve operational and administrative issues, synthesize and interpret data from a variety of sources and to provide high quality reports.  

The ideal candidate is someone who is energetic, detail-oriented, self-motivated, has the ability to manage multiple priorities and understands the services and dynamic nature of a government entity dedicated to exceptional customer service.  Possession of strong business judgment and excellent communication skills is required to interact with a variety of people and to perform complex job functions. An Administrative Associate must be able to their skills to strategically support the goals, vision and mission of the department.

The ideal candidate will also possess the following critical attributes:

• Ability to identify and understand complex problems and concepts.
• Apply logical thinking and quantitative methods of gathering and analyzing information.
• Make decisions and exercise good judgment based on available data, design solutions to problems.
• formulate and articulate action plans proactively and collaboratively.  
• A great communicator and listener, quick and clear thinking, calm under pressure.
• The ability to continue to be effective, proactive and innovative while dealing with changing priorities and deadlines.  
• Highly focused, organized and responsible, juggling a variety of projects and ensuring they are completed in a timely fashion.   
• Politically sensitive to the dynamics of the organization and the competing needs of internal and external stakeholders.  

Either I

Experience:

The equivalent of two years of full-time experience in the class of Secretary I, or an equivalent or higher level clerical class in Alameda County classified service, that requires a typing proficiency level of not less than 40 wpm. (Non-classified includes District Attorney’s Office, Hospital Authority, and the Consolidated Courts.)

Or II

Experience:

The equivalent of four years of full-time secretarial or office administrative experience which included considerable exercise of initiative and independent judgment and would provide the knowledge and skills listed.


NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

 NOTE: The level and scope of the following knowledge and abilities are related to duties listed under the “Examples of Duties” section of this specification.

Knowledge of:

 
• Modern office practices and procedures, including business correspondence, filing, and standard office equipment operations.
• Specialized program knowledge of work requiring the application of a variety of rules, procedures, codes, calculations, and systems is required in some positions.
• Techniques and practices for dealing with individuals from various socio-economic and ethnic groups, in person, via telephone, and through correspondence (may include contacts with irate and hostile individuals).
• Data processing applications and systems and the principles of modern office management.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office systems.
• Standard office administrative and secretarial practices and procedures including business correspondence, correct English usage, grammar, spelling, vocabulary and punctuation.
• Records management principles and practices and research methods and techniques.
• Business mathematics and financial record keeping and report production.
• Customer Service practices, principles and techniques for dealing with the public in person and over the telephone regarding sensitive and/or political issues.



Ability to:

• Learn the legal requirements governing the processing of documents related to Board actions.
• Maintain and secure confidential, highly sensitive records.
• Analyze and problem solve.
• Interpret, apply and explain policies, procedures and regulations, prepare a variety of correspondence, reports and other written materials.
• Retain and recall information to respond to inquiries and to efficiently search files and retrieve data as required.
• Organize and prioritize own workload and adjusting to changes in workload and assignments to meet critical deadlines under pressure.
• Effectively communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Comprehend information requests and respond courteously, efficiently and accurately.
• Make sound decisions.
• Demonstrate interpersonal sensitivity.
• Adapt to challenging situations.
• Plan, organize and coordinate work.
• Take initiative and work independently.
• Be flexible and adjust to changing priorities.
• Be an effective team member.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those encountered during performance of duties.
• Word process and type 40 wpm.
• Plan own work, complete multiple, concurrent projects and meet critical time deadlines.

THE EXAMINATION WILL CONSIST OF the following steps:
1) A review of candidates' applications to verify possession of minimum requirements. Those candidates who possess the minimum requirements for the class will move on to the next step in the examination process.
2) A review of candidates’ Supplemental Questionnaires to select the best qualified applicants to continue in the process. 
3) An oral interview which will be weighted as 100% of the candidate's final examination score. The oral interview may contain situational exercises.

CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION.

We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components. Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position. Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the “What You Need to Know” section of our website, www.acgov.org/hrs.

Applicants will be informed via e-mail with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance. The following dates are tentative and subject to change based on the needs of the Agency:  

TENTATIVE SELECTION PLAN:

Deadline for Filing:                                                                                  5:00 pm, Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Review of Minimum Qualifications:                                                         Tuesday, October 6, 2015  

Screening of Supplemental Questionnaire for Best Qualified:                Friday, October 16, 2015

Oral Interviews:                                                                                       Thursday, October 29, 2015                   

*WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLAN*

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statues. To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources Representative listed on the job announcement before the last date of filing. Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statues.

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website, www.acgov.org/hrs

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall well being.  These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Welfare Benefits

• Medical – HMO & PPO Insurance
• Dental – PPO & DHMO Insurance  
• Vision
• Basic Life Insurance 
• Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage) 
• County Allowance (Employer Credit)
• Health Flexible Spending Account
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
• Accident, Critical Illness & Hospital Indemnity
• Long Term Care Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

• Short-term Disability Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Retirement Plan – (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
• Deferred Compensation Plan

For your Work/Life Balance

• 11 paid holidays
• Vacation and sick leave accrual
• Vacation purchase program
• Management Paid Leave**
• Group Auto/Home Insurance
• Commuter Benefits Program
• Group Legal
• Guaranteed Ride Home
• Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
• Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
• Child Care Resources
• 1^st United Services Credit Union 

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement.  This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

** Non-exempt management employees are entitled to up to three days of management paid leave. Exempt management employees are entitled to up to seven days of management paid leave.

All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @acgov.org and alamedacountyHR@acgov.org as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you.

All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the "My applications" button on the Current Job Openings page. Please take the steps recommended above to insure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment.

NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box alamedacountyHR@acgov.org are routed to an unmonitored mailbox.  If you have questions please go to our website at www.acgov.org/hrs. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the bulletin for the recruitment for which you have applied.

Anna Montoya, HR Analyst III
Human Resource Services Division-County of Alameda
510-272-6459
www.acgov.org

Alameda County is an Equal Opportunity Employer