Job Specifications

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY

Under direction, to serve as secretary to the County Administrative Officer and staff; to relieve staff of clerical and administrative tasks; to perform difficult responsible clerical support tasks; and to do other work as required.

This single position class provides the full range of clerical support to the County Administrative Officer and Analysts. Within the County and legal requirements and departmental policies and procedures, the incumbent is expected to exercise a high degree of initiative, independent judgment discretion. This class differs from the Secretary class by the preponderance of duties requiring considerable knowledge of the County's services, other governmental services not necessarily related to the County's functions and frequent exposure to confidential information including fiscal, political and personnel matters having County-wide impact.

Coordinates the weekly Board agenda process including setting up and maintaining follow-up files; coordinates the County proposed budget flow process and types and edits the budget; coordinates workflow, priority and work load among the clerical support staff; maintains master files for County contracts and advises staff concerning contract status; types Board agenda items, letters, memos and reports from handwritten or typewritten drafts and edits; composes correspondence, memos and letters; responds to numerous requests for assistance from the public and other County officers; monitors Board actions and keeps current in pending issues; follows up with departments various items referred by the Board for action; sets up and maintains a variety of files; assists in selecting and evaluating clerical employees; develops and recommends office procedures and practices, implements as approved; operates word processing equipment or micro computers to input, access and print a variety of data and reports; makes travel arrangements, schedules appointments, and maintains the County Administrative Officers calendar; arranges conferences and meetings; screens calls.

• Thorough knowledge of office procedures, including preparing correspondence and reports and record keeping systems;
• Thorough knowledge of business English, vocabulary, spelling, grammar and punctuation;
• Thorough knowledge of formats for business correspondence and reports;
• Working knowledge of overall structure and function of County governmental operations;
• Some knowledge of the application of automated data processing to business office operations;
• Some knowledge of the administrative process unique to the County Administrative Office;
• Some knowledge of the principals of administration and management;
• Some knowledge of the procedures used in budget preparation and control

• Maintain confidential files and privileged information;
• Perform varied complex and difficult clerical work involving independent judgment and requiring accuracy and speed;
• Prioritize and schedule work;
• Use sound judgment in making decisions;
• Accurately type or utilize word processing to produce finished copy which includes technical terminology from rough copy;
• Compose and edit correspondence;
• Set up and maintain complex records and files;
• Develop a thorough knowledge of the roles, organization, policies and procedures of the County Administrative Office;
• Train clerical staff;
• Understand, apply and explain laws, ordinances, policies and procedures;
• Evaluate and resolve potentially sensitive issues through discussion and persuasion in order to gain concurrence and cooperation;
• Establish and maintain an effective working relationship with others;
• Operate word processing equipment or micro computer to input, access and print data and reports;
• Adjust to work load changes and meet deadlines under pressure.

Training and Experience: Any combination of training and experience, which would provide the required knowledge and abilities, is qualifying. A typical way to obtain such knowledge and abilities would be:

Four years of increasingly responsible clerical experience which would provide the knowledge and abilities listed above.

OR

One year of experience equivalent to a Secretary with the County of Santa Cruz.

Performance: Pass performance test, which demonstrates keyboard and formatting proficiency.