Administrative Assistant III

Fairfax County boasts a top-notch school system, safe neighborhoods, thousands of acres of parkland, and bustling town centers. County government sits at the heart of this dynamic community of almost 1.2 million residents and seeks employees eager to bring their energy, enthusiasm and skills to serve Fairfax residents and to shape the county's future. Land Development Services (LDS) is the steward of the county's land development and building construction codes and regulations, and its staff members embrace their essential role as "first preventers." Every day, through careful review, permitting and inspection of site and building construction, our staff protect the health, safety, welfare, and environment for those who live in, work in, and visit Fairfax County. Our department also serves as the gateway to much of the county's economic development, reviewing over 30,000 building and site plan submissions, issuing nearly 70,000 building permits, and conducting over 220,000 building and site inspections each year. If you would like to join a creative, collaborative, innovative team doing meaningful work, then LDS is the place for you.

We are seeking a detail-oriented, customer-focused Administrative Assistant III to support the Permitting and Code Administration (PACA) Division and the Joint Training Academy (JTA). Under the supervision of the Administrative Assistant IV, this position plays a key role in delivering outstanding customer service, maintaining efficient administrative operations, and supporting training activities across the division.

About the Role:
In this role, you will provide administrative, clerical, and technical support to ensure smooth daily operations across PACA. You’ll handle inquiries from residents and professionals, manage records and digital files, notarize documents, coordinate meetings, assist with training logistics, support purchasing and recruitment tasks, and help maintain division-wide administrative policies. You will also serve as a backup to other administrative staff.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working in a dynamic and evolving environment, demonstrate the ability to adapt to emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and work collaboratively with colleagues across the organization to deliver timely, effective, and high-quality service.

Duties include:

• General clerical and administrative duties, including processing and notarizing documents, screening and routing phone calls and emails, receiving visitors, maintaining digital files, scheduling appointments and meetings, data entry and document tracking.
• Providing back up support to other division administrative assistants.
• Providing administrative support for the Proffer Compliance team.
• Leading the agencies refund processing coordination.
• Assisting the Administrative Assistant IV in coordinating and organizing division-wide policies for file organization, standard operating procedures, webpages and other administrative policies and procedures.
• Providing administrative support on division-wide tasks including purchasing, apparel orders, recruitment, tracking, assistance with administration of contract employees and timesheets, functions as division timekeeper, employee certification support, and distributes mail.
• Providing exceptional customer support for services performed by the agency with a key responsibility being the timely delivery of effective customer service through in-person, phone, and virtual channels.
• Collaborating with colleagues both within and outside the business unit to ensure efficient service delivery and timely resolution of customer needs.
• Complying with LDS's safety program and guidelines.
• Complying with county, agency, and job specific training, including emergency management and safety related courses.

NOTE: The assigned functional areas for this position include general administration and office management.(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position job description.)

General Financial Duties

• Uses spreadsheets or databases to organize information and produce standard reports;
• Prepares a variety of complex disbursement forms (e.g., check requests, travel forms, cash sheets, and journal entries) for routing and approval;
• May approve some disbursement forms;
• Compiles and maintains monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual totals, reports, and financial statements;
• Explains fiscal rules and procedures to employees to ensure uniform application.

Fiscal Administration

• Sets up accounts through corporate systems;
• Reconciles ledgers;
• Prepares status reports;
• Gathers data for use by others in preparing budget;
• Prepares transfer vouchers and interfund billing;
• Monitors external accounts for discrepancies.

Accounting

• Prepares wide variety of accounting forms;
• Reconciles daily receipts or accounts receivable/payable;
• Identifies discrepancies and makes corrections;
• Collects required documents;
• Prepares and authorizes expense vouchers and/or invoices within limited authorization levels.

Purchasing

• Verifies requests for goods and services against county contracts and funding sources;
• Orders goods or services and follows up/resolves discrepancies and ensures delivery;
• Authorizes requests for goods and services in corporate systems;
• Ensures appropriate routing and approval of purchase requests.
• Scheduling & Coordinating for Others
• Maintains calendar(s);
• Schedules meetings;
• Makes and cancels appointments;
• Schedules rooms for classes, meetings, conferences, etc.;
• Coordinates audiovisual, training equipment, refreshment requests;
• Set up schedules for internal administrative staff to insure that they are available to meet changing work needs.

Communication

• Composes routine correspondence on behalf of the executive/work unit head.

Office Management

• Provides administrative support and implements procedures;
• May supervise others;
• Establishes/modifies and maintains a system for tracking the progress of work that is the responsibility of the executive/work unit head;
• Trains and orients new employees;
• Provides and explains relevant policies and procedures.

General Administrative

• Composes routine correspondence on behalf of the executive/work unit head.

Receptionist/Public Contact

• Schedule appointments;
• Explains departmental policy/procedure but does not interpret them;
• Responds to inquiries that require referencing a variety of sources and utilizing
• knowledge of the department/county operations.

Word Processing/Typing

• Keys/types complex documents (e.g., technical);
• Proofs spelling and grammar;
• Uses multiple software packages to prepare equations, statistics, tables and/or presentations;
• Compiles reports from edited drafts;
• Uses macros and templates developed by others.

Information Systems/Software

• Performs data entry with some knowledge of department/work unit/program;
• Manipulates screens for additional entries;
• Generates routine reports;
• Creates simple spreadsheets;
• Maintains databases.

Reports

• Compiles routine factual/numerical reports using readily available information.

Payroll

• Processes pay adjustments;
• Transmits on-line T&As;
• Regularly inputs routine Human Capital Management Enterprise Resource Planning system entries;
• Performs payroll functions (e.g., internal collection of time sheets, verify T&A entries, verify leave slips);
• Trains new employees on how to do on-line time.

Personnel

• Prepares and verifies completeness/accuracy of forms/documents (e.g., personnel requisitions, PARS, PCFs);
• Provides basic new employee benefits information;
• Explains routine personnel policies and procedures;
• Gathers information (e.g., salary range, class specifications, and merit adjustments) from HR website or other county sources for supervisor/management;
• Instructs employees in proper completion of routine documents (e.g., insurance enrollment forms).

(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)

Knowledge of standard rules and interpretations within own functional area and a working knowledge of established methods and procedures used in related areas;
Significant nonstandard skill/knowledge is required involving production of an end product such as a report.

Word Processing/Typing

• Basic skills in the use of Microsoft Word.

Math Skills

• Basic math skills.

PC Skills

• Basic skills in the use of applicable Microsoft Office Suite software.

Communication

• Ability to write simple documents.

Information Abilities

• Ability to process and integrate complex data.

Interpersonal Abilities

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with both external and internal contacts.

Purchasing and Accounting

• Ability to perform data entry into Purchasing/Logistics Enterprise Resource Planning systems and/or Financial Enterprise Resource Planning systems in at least three functions (e.g., create shells, accounts payable processing).

Personnel and Payroll

• Ability to perform routineHuman Capital Management Enterprise Resource Planning system functions (e.g., process PARS, requisitions).

Executive Assistance

• Ability to maintain confidentiality and be sensitive to political issues.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Any combination of education, experience, and training equivalent to the following:  
(Click on the aforementioned link to learn how Fairfax County interprets equivalencies for "Any combination, experience, and training equivalent to") high school graduation and two years of experience providing administrative support in the assigned functional area(s).

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to this position will be required to complete a criminal background check to the satisfaction of the employer.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• At least two years of experience of providing administrative support to technical staff duties to include: proofreading technical reports, file management and process improvement to increase efficiencies.
• At least two years of providing front-line customer service responding to customer inquiries face-to-face, by telephone, and in writing.
• Experience providing executive-level support, including calendar management, meeting coordination, and preparation of correspondence, reports, and presentation materials.
• Strong organizational and coordination skills, with demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities, track multiple projects, and maintain accurate digital and physical records.
• Experience with Microsoft Office 365 applications (Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, SharePoint, PowerPoint) and comfort learning new enterprise systems such as PLUS, FOCUS, or other permitting, payroll, or records management tools or project tracking software such as SmartSheet.
• Knowledge of purchasing, timekeeping, and HR administrative processes, including procurement requests, timesheet oversight, and coordination with HR or payroll representatives.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interact professionally and effectively with staff, management, and the public.
• Experience with notary duties or willingness to obtain a Notary Public Commission within six months of employment.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Ability to operate keyboard-driven equipment. Duties performed in a normal office environment. All duties performed with or without reasonable accommodations.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview and may include exercise.

Fairfax County is home to a highly diverse population, with a significant number of residents speaking languages other than English at home (including Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and many others.) We encourage candidates who are bilingual in English and another language to apply for this opportunity. 

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. TTY 703-222-7314. [email protected] EEO/AA/TTY.

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