CLASS SPECIFICATION

OFFICE SERVICES COORDINATOR

DEFINITION OF CLASS:
This is advanced office support work providing office and administrative support services for a major program or specialized function. The employee serves as the principal office support for a unit with responsibility for coordinating varied and extensive day-to-day office operations and for seeing that administrative matters of the unit are properly taken care of; or an employee may serve as the principal support position for a designated activity or function that is not a formal unit, but which has similar office and administrative support responsibilities. Personal contacts are with County Government managers and employees at all levels, the general public, other municipalities/agencies, and/or outside organizations for the purpose of receiving and exchanging information, explaining procedures to facilitate a process, provide a service, or resolve operating problems. An employee in this class performs direct public service and assistance by receiving visitors, responding to inquiries, providing appropriate assistance or referring caller to other offices for assistance.
Employees in this class carry out varied and extensive office and administrative support services requiring knowledge of program operations to organize, implement and carry out all associated office activities needed to ensure proper and effective support of the program. This requires knowledge of standard methods, procedures, and practices covering the office support services provided; specialized understanding of the function of the organization or program supported and related organizations; and knowledge of the policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing the initiation, preparation, and processing of administrative actions relating to such activities as budget preparation and administration, facilities and space management, fiscal record keeping and reporting, human resources administration, purchasing, and other administrative functions used to support County programs and services. The employee plans and carries out tasks independently, determining the sequence of work, obtaining necessary data or information, and selecting appropriate methods and procedures to accomplish work. Problems encountered in carrying out assignments are resolved in accordance with established policies and accepted practices, and often require research to ascertain causes and solutions. Guidelines consist of County Code and/or legislation, handbooks and manuals, and written or verbal instructions from the supervisor. The employee must exercise independent judgment in locating, selecting, and applying the appropriate law, rule, regulation, or procedure to a specific situation, and employees devise solutions to systemic problems encountered in utilizing computerized and/or manual systems. The work consists of a variety of office and administrative processes and methods, including the use of office automation systems and computer applications to produce correspondence, reports, and other documents in a variety of formats. The work products support and affect the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of office programs, services, and functions. The work environment is characterized by the demands associated with providing office support for an organizational unit or for several professionals. The work is primarily sedentary with occasional ongoing periods of operating a computer keyboard or video display terminal. Some employees in this class may serve as "lead worker" by giving assignments or instructions to others and by ensuring that work practices are observed and that work is completed on time.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES: (Illustrative Only)
Plans and organizes office support services for a unit and ensures their proper implementation, or organizes, implements and carries out all associated office activities needed to ensure proper and effective support of a major program or equivalent activity; transmits policies and instructions to staff members in the unit; may serve as office automation system resource for the unit and as backup to automated systems administrator; provides facility security, vehicle control, key control and other services for the unit or program.
Provides phone and visitor reception for a unit; ascertains nature of visitor visits and arranges for and/or schedules visitors with appropriate staff or refers visitors to other offices/agencies; queries callers to ascertain nature of calls and refers to appropriate staff or responds to callers' needs on own.
Receives and screens mail; discards junk mail and delivers other mail to appropriate staff, accompanied by file or background material as appropriate; composes responses to routine correspondence.
Maintains unit calendars and schedules, committing staff and/or supervisor to appointments, meetings and other obligations as authorized; may question need for appointments with staff/supervisor and arrange for other staff to accommodate the request.
Maintains unit operating records and prepares reports on such records; receives and processes information on unit operations from various sources and compiles such data for financial, statistical, operational and other reports depicting unit finances, revenues, accounts, membership, mailing lists, enrollment, fund utilization, budget allocations, grant management, and other such documents.
Monitors and records expenditures of accounts, grants, budgets, and petty cash according to office procedures and generally accepted accounting standards; monitors and may in some cases control usage of budget allotments, equipment, supplies, and capital assets in support of program objectives; maintains fiscal records, checks computations, verifies transactions, reconciles receipts with control records (invoices and deposits), and reconciles financial statements.
Provides staff support for committees, boards, commissions, task forces, and other bodies.
Arranges meetings, conferences, workshops and special events; locates facilities and notifies participants; arranges for audio, video, food and beverage services; arranges for transportation and lodging; assembles and/or prepares materials and distributes these to participants; performs event closeout tasks as required; attends meetings and takes notes, which are later transcribed and sent to participants
Produces typed or word processed documents from rough draft, verbal instructions or taped material, utilizing word processing and other software (e.g., desktop publishing, presentation) to produce graphics, tables of contents, merge files, create tables and similar document features needed for presentations, contracts, reports with tables and graphs, brochures, newsletters, manuscripts and bound publications as well as more common items such as letters and memoranda; develops format and style guides for the unit and, if required, for subordinate units of the organization, and ensures their effective implementation.
Prepares official documents such as reports, legislation, regulations, executive orders, contracts, invoices, legal documents, public hearing records, memoranda, budget and/or personnel documents for submission by others to the County Council, the County Executive, County committees/agencies, and outside organizations and contractors.
Responds to inquiries from the general public and from others with special needs such as attorneys, property owners, business and nonprofit representatives, community leaders, and public officials; ascertains nature of inquiries and provides appropriate information or arranges for the information to be transmitted to parties; explains procedures regarding processes, requirements and other activities to assist callers in utilizing services of the agency.
Sets up and maintains files including retrieval control, expansion, retention and archival procedures; may create computerized file structures for data files.
Develops and/or modifies forms, methods and procedures for more efficient processing of recurring office tasks; maintains office supplies and decides on procurement of office supplies and equipment; requests maintenance and phone services and may coordinate phone installation and control for one or more units of the organization.
Processes administrative transactions including vendor claims, requisitions and purchase orders, payments, tax bills and payments, license applications, inspection reports and citations, permit requests and other such actions; utilizes unit and/or agency (County, State, Federal) databases and the County's FAMIS and ADPIC systems to access data regarding transactions and enters, edits and updates such databases and initiates actions to record transactions, issue appropriate documents and produce reports; utilizes knowledge of systems to resolve problems encountered in processing transactions and may be consulted by IT staff regarding problems and possible solutions required to deal with system defects.
Utilizes large databases consisting of numerous, varied fields that must be accessed in order to process transactions covering a wide range of actions (e.g., centralized processing of personnel data and action forms to record and enter employees' personnel and pay information); provides comprehensive review of source documents, checks for erroneous entries and initiates backtracking as necessary to correct information; obtains additional information needed for processing (e.g., locating/contacting persons or offices for information).
May direct or lead the work of subordinate office support staff, temporaries, and/or volunteers.
Performs related duties as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Experience: Four (4) years of administrative aide/office support experience.
Education: Completion of high school or High School Certificate of completion recognized in the State of Maryland.
Equivalency: An equivalent combination of experience and education may be substituted.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Considerable knowledge of standard office practices and procedures including organization and management of office services.
Considerable knowledge of administrative processes including budget preparation and administration, facilities and space management, fiscal record keeping and reporting, human resources administration, and purchasing.
Considerable knowledge of and ability to apply the rules of Business English, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Knowledge of the subject matter, terminology, and processes relating to the assigned position.
Knowledge of County Government operations and procedures.
Skill in operating desktop computers and word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation and other office automation software.
Ability to acquire a thorough knowledge of departmental rules, regulations, procedures and functions and to apply these to work problems.
Ability to work independently on multiple and varied administrative tasks.
Ability to maintain multiple and complicated records and databases and to generate/prepare accurate reports.
Ability to perform mathematical computations, financial reconciliations, record keeping, and accounting duties, as required by the assigned position.
Ability to resolve office administrative problems quickly and efficiently as they arise.
Ability to plan, assign, and review the work of subordinate staff, as may be required.
Ability to exercise sound judgment, courtesy and tact in responding to telephone callers and office visitors and make proper disposition of problems.
Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing.
Ability to work under time sensitive demands.
Ability to utilize stenographic or machine dictation skills when required.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with associates, supervisors, and the general public.
Ability to attend meetings and perform other assignments at locations outside the office.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD:
Individuals appointed or promoted to a bargaining unit position in this class will be required to serve a probationary period of six months. Individuals appointed to a non-bargaining unit position in this class will be required to serve a probationary period of twelve months, or if promoted to a non-bargaining unit position, will be required to serve a probationary period of six months. Performance will be carefully evaluated during the probationary period. Continuation in this class will be contingent upon successful completion of the probationary period.

MEDICAL PROTOCOL: Medical History Review

Class Established: October, 1986
Revised: November, l989
June, 1995(M)
June, 2003(M) February, 2004
April, 2010