Retirement Office Assistant

WHAT WE OFFER

• Flexible Schedules – Flexible schedules may be approved after six months.
• Educational Incentive - An educational incentive of 2.5% for completion of an associate degree, 3.5% for completion of a bachelor's degree, OR 5% for completion of a graduate degree.  
• Bilingual Incentive - Incumbents may also be eligible for a bilingual incentive depending upon operational needs and certification skills.   
• Annual Leave - 208 hours per year, increasing to 288 hours after 5 years of service.  
• Annual Leave Redemption - The ability to "cash in" or redeem up to 100 hours of Annual Leave per year after using 80 hours in the preceding twelve months.  
• Deferred Compensation - Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 3% match on your 401(k) contributions.  
• Health Plans – Full time employees are afforded a flexible credit allowance for purchasing medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from a group of authorized plans: Tier one for employee only is $464 per biweekly pay period, tier two for employee plus one is $834 per biweekly pay period and tier three for employee plus family is $1,024 per biweekly pay period. 
• Flexible Spending Accounts - Choice of participation in the Flexible Spending Accounts which increase spending power through reimbursement of pre-tax dollars for IRS-approved dependent care and health care expenses.  
• Pension Plan - Both the County and employees contribute to the County's Retirement Plan and to Social Security.  If eligible, reciprocity may be established with other public retirement systems, such as CalPERS.    
• Holidays - 13 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday. 

THE AGENCY

The Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association (VCERA) is a multi-employer, defined benefit, public pension plan located in Ventura County, California. Founded in 1947, the association is governed by the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (“1937 Act”) and the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA). VCERA’s primary responsibility is to provide lifetime retirement benefits for eligible employees of the County of Ventura, Ventura County Superior Court, Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (APCD), Ventura Regional Sanitation District (VRSD) and VCERA. The plan serves over 10,000 active members, over 4,000 deferred members, and more than 8,000 retirees.

THE POSITION

Under general supervision, performs a variety of clerical duties in support of Retirement operations.  Support activities may include public contact, customer service, records maintenance, document production, and/or processing data.

The ideal candidate will have excellent public contact and customer service skills; the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with others; and must be organized and have experience working in a fast-paced professional environment.

Distinguishing Characteristics

Office Assistant-Confidential is the entry/journey level classification in the job series. Incumbents perform a variety of clerical duties according to established criteria and prescribed procedures. Performing some of these clerical duties may require the application of specialized program knowledge in support of ongoing operations and services.  Some independent judgment is required in choosing among alternative courses of action in mostly standardized operations or routine situations.

The Office Assistant– Confidential is a Confidential classification and is eligible for overtime compensation.

The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Intermittent, Extra-help, Temporary, Fixed-term, and Regular vacancies. There are currently two (2) Regular vacancies within the Retirement Department.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
 OPENING DATE: Wednesday, August 26, 2026
CLOSING DATE:  Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

Depth and breadth of assignments may include, but are not limited to the following: 

• Provides clerical support to Retirement Benefits Specialists such as typing correspondence, tracking and logging documents, entering data, assembling retirement packets, providing income verifications, assisting with the disability retirement process, processing appeals, and meeting deadlines.
• Greets customers and answers phone calls; determines how incoming calls should be routed; directs people to appropriate offices or to proper information sources; answers routine questions; explains routine procedures, processes, or departmental activities; schedules appointments and maintains calendars; obtains routine factual information to create or update files; provides assistance in the completion of forms.
• Prepares, validates, and/or checks a variety of documents such as retirement applications and new member paperwork for completeness, accuracy, and submission standards.
• Sorts and distributes incoming correspondence; maintains and audits the electronic filing system which involves scanning documents and understanding workflow; generates letter batches and prepares mass mailings.
• Handles and tracks public records requests; interacts with Board members; coordinates with County department representatives and vendors; orders and maintains supplies.
• Researches reference materials to respond to customer or management inquiries.
• Operates a variety of office equipment, such as personal computers, scanners, and copiers to enter, update and extract information, and to produce routine reports, correspondence, or forms.
• Performs related duties as required.

These are entrance requirements to the examination process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on the eligible list.

EDUCATION, TRAINING, and EXPERIENCE

Considerable responsible clerical experience which has led to the acquisition of the required knowledge, skills and abilities. The required knowledge, skills and abilities also can be obtained by:

Any combination of education, training or equivalent, from no experience to three (3) years of office clerical experience.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

• Intermediate proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Excellent written communication skills must be demonstrated in the application and the supplemental questionnaire.

DESIRED

• Prior experience providing customer service support in an office setting.
• Experience utilizing Adobe Acrobat. 
• Intermediate proficiency with Microsoft Outlook.
• Working knowledge of VCERA’s Pension Administration System: V3.
• Experience with and general knowledge of Pension Plan Administration.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES:

Some knowledge of: modern office methods and practices; record maintenance systems such as VCERA’s Pension Administration System: V3; letter writing and report compilation.

Working knowledge of: customer service and public contact techniques; the operations, procedures and practices used in support of the function to which assigned; techniques to expedite or improve clerical tasks and record processing; word processing and data entry; correct English usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Skill in: Utilizing Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook

Working ability to: maintain confidentiality; perform and coordinate clerical work with accuracy and attention to detail; perform basic mathematical calculations; set up and maintain records and filing systems; extract information from a variety of sources; operate a variety of office equipment; multitask in a fast-paced environment; establish and maintain cooperative working relationships; communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

FINAL FILING DATE: Applications must be received by the County of Ventura, Human Resources in Ventura, California, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
   
To apply online, please refer to our website at www.venturacounty.gov/jobs. A paper application can be obtained by calling (805) 654-5129. Our address is County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.

NOTE: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here (Download PDF reader) for additional information.
    
NOTE TO APPLICANTS: Sufficient information must be provided under the Education/Work Experience portion of the application and supplemental questionnaire to thoroughly and accurately demonstrate your qualifications to determine eligibility. A resume may be attached to supplement your responses in the above-referenced sections; however, it may not be submitted in lieu of the application.
 
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE – Qualifying

All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire may result in the application being removed from further consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION- Qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine whether or not the stated requirements are met. Applicants meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the examination process.
   
WRITTEN EXAMINATION - 100%:  An un-proctored, online, internet-based job-related written examination will be conducted to test applicants' knowledge, skills and abilities in relation to office practices, reading comprehension, forms completion/checking, comparison, vocabulary, spelling, math, and filing. Applicants must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.
   
ELIGIBLE LIST:

Candidates successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION:

A thorough pre-employment, post-offer background investigation, which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information and driving record, may be required for this position.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: 

The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.  

For further information regarding this recruitment, please contact Melissa Rodriguez by email at [email protected] or by telephone (805) 677-5205.