Job Specification

Purpose of Position :

To provide clerical, administrative, human resources and financial management support to the Manager, Coordinators and staff of the Section. To provide customer service to internal and external clients. To support administrative requirements associated with the delivery of training and transfer workshops, meetings and the delivery of partnership projects and communications materials. To work closely with the Branch Financial Officer, Human Resources Advisor and other Administrative Assistant to support the range of administrative, human resource and financial management support for the section.

Duties / Responsibilities :

1. Providing Human Resources services by processing and preparing payroll documentation for input for classified, unclassified and seasonal employees, e.g. checking length of employment to determine employees' eligibility to work, notifying appropriate Supervisors when expiry dates of contracts exceed allowable periods of employment. Prepares and processes job competition and hiring documentation for classified and unclassified staff. Maintains local/section personnel files. Keeping up-to-date personnel records for the section/units, e.g. retirements, secondments and maternity leaves. Preparing WIN hiring documents and unclassified staff contracts, e.g. WIN Employee Action Request Form (WEAR).

2. Performing various financial and revenue tasks by receiving, receipting and reconciling accounts. On behalf of the sections, and working with the Branch Financial Officer preparing and reviewing monthly and quarterly reports on spreadsheets (e.g. travel accounts, GPC reports, revenues, 6/6 and 9/3 summaries), notifying appropriate supervisor of variances in planned expenditures; dealing with accounts payable (e.g. invoice verifications); providing Integrated Financial Information Systems (IFIS) input, e.g. General Ledger inquiry, purchasing, requisitioning and receiving (e.g. tracking and verifying expenditures on behalf of section staff); identifying variances and coding errors and taking corrective action, preparing and requesting journal entries, for Managers and section staff; preparing distribution sets for travel accounts and vehicle expenses, assisting specialists with the requisition of goods and services. Requisitioning, ordering, receiving and processing invoices for office supplies, goods and services by use of Government Purchasing Card and IFIS.

3. Providing clerical, administrative and program support to the Managers, Coordinators and the staff of the Sections by receiving incoming and preparing outgoing mail; managing section filing system (paper, library, electronic); arranging meetings and conference calls, recording and composing minutes, preparing agendas, notices, and background materials for meetings, photocopying various materials, composing, editing, and formatting correspondence. Receiving incoming calls and answering inquiries based on knowledge of current activities of work or directing calls and/or visitors to appropriate persons or office.

4. Providing administrative support to the delivery of workshops and seminars by arranging for logistics including meeting rooms, transportation, speaker accommodations, meals and audio-visual equipment, registering participants, preparing handouts, proceedings, course materials, maintaining lists of participants and evaluations.

5. Providing administrative support to Section communications activities e.g. updating Section web-site content as required, entering and editing original material for manuals, papers, brochures, reports, presentations etc., using word processing, database, graphics and spreadsheet software.

6. Maintaining the electronic database and the physical archive of section publications, by liaising with section staff to determine publications information (title, authors, status, etc.), entering data into electronic database, responding to requests for information, and generating reports.

7. Providing back-up support services to other areas of the office/Branch during the absence of other administrative support staff.

Managers have the right to assign additional duties.

The incumbent shall, while in the workplace, conduct themselves in compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and any workplace practices as directed by their immediate supervisor.

Staffing and Licensing :

n/a

Knowledge :

Job requires knowledge of government and ministry office administration policies, procedures, and practices associated with administrative, financial, HR services and office management, to provide support to section/unit staff (e.g. processing expense claims and time sheets, making purchases and following financial and purchasing procedures (IFIS), establishing and maintaining electronic records (e.g., ITAMS), hiring practices and documentation required - WIN).

Job requires knowledge of program-related policy, procedures, and activities to provide verbal and written information in response to general inquiries from ministry staff, public, and industry clients. Job requires knowledge of program related terminology to accurately prepare correspondence, reports, and presentations for staff.

Job requires knowledge of arithmetic to verify and reconcile expenditures, prepare expense claims maintain financial records and assist in the preparation of unit work plans and budget estimates.

Job requires knowledge of commercial and corporate software programs (e.g. fully programmable word-processing, data base, electronic mail, electronic organizers, spreadsheet applications, government financial, revenue and human resource applications, and the Internet) in order to perform a variety of duties such as typing correspondence and reports, inputting and retrieving data, maintaining web-sites, scheduling events and tracking expenditures.

Job requires knowledge of document retention schedules and file management procedures to maintain filing systems.

Job requires knowledge of office equipment operating procedures (e.g. photocopier, facsimile, postage meter, printers) to ensure equipment functions properly by replacing toner cartridges and paper supplies.

Job requires knowledge of client services practices, telephone operation and etiquette to provide effective reception services by responding to general requests for information.

Job requires knowledge of worker responsibilities as outlined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Skills :

Job requires analytical skills to determine urgency of matters/inquiries/processes and give priority based on knowledge of subject matter or by discussing with supervisor/area team staff; to identify and resolve discrepancies in invoices, expenses, coding errors, and accounts receivable on behalf of team; to determine the most effective way to produce correspondence, reports, charts and tables, by trying different layout formats or software packages.

Job requires analytical and evaluative skills to determine nature of inquiries and how to respond (e.g. which information to provide by referring to policies and procedures or by forwarding more complex inquiries to other technical/ professional staff/supervisors including issues of confidentiality).

Job requires oral communication skills to convey information (e.g. nature of workshops/training sessions); to greet and deal with client groups and the general public, using tact and diplomacy in responding to inquiries and resolving complaints/issues (e.g. workshop registration); to provide and retrieve information from staff on field assignments (e.g. giving status of their location and time).

Job requires written communication skills to compose general correspondence, workshop notices, meeting minutes, and to check spelling/grammar/format in correspondence and reports prepared by others.

Job requires planning skills to make local arrangements for meetings, preparing for training sessions, seminars and workshops (e.g. team meetings, science workshops), on own or as a part of the area team; coordinating travel arrangements and accommodations for area team members and invited speakers, to organize own workload to ensure priorities are completed within established time frames, as the work is varied and often done for several principals.

Job requires arithmetic skills to track accounts or expenditures, monitor area team allocations and expenditures (e.g. reviewing general ledger reports and transaction listings), purchasing supplies via purchasing card or requisition system, inputting financial data (e.g. travel claims, goods and services invoices).

Keyboarding, word processing, data entry skills to ministry standards.

Freedom of Action :

Job requires adhering to and accessing relevant Ministry policies, procedures, guidelines, directives, established practices and file information to provide answers to inquiries and resolve client concerns.

Job requires making decisions on own initiative (e.g. composing correspondence, arranging logistics for workshops and seminars) based on questioning staff to determine objectives and ensure accordance with policies and directives, identifying and rectifying errors (e.g. coding errors on invoices).

Job requires performing tasks with minimal direct supervision and works independently to establish work priorities and resolve issues within established policies, procedures and directives.

Job requires referring to supervisor on matters of an unusual/potentially contentious nature or which represent a contravention of policies, procedures or normal business practices (e.g. purchase of services from external providers).