Administrative Program Assistant I

Amherst County Department of Social Services is accepting applications for the Administrative Program Assistant position.

The Administrative Program Assistant I (APA) serves as an initial point of contact for visitors and callers, with responsibilities including screening and referring calls, providing administrative support for Benefit Programs & Family Service unit application registration/case assignment, managing Special Welfare accounting, tracking expenditures, assisting with reviews and audits, and conducting background checks. The ideal candidate should possess strong customer service skills, experience with Microsoft Office and basic computer troubleshooting, familiarity with multi-line phone systems, and the ability to work effectively with a diverse population. The role requires close collaboration with service and eligibility staff, communication with community partners and vendors, as well as coordination with county/state departments.

The core hours for this position are Monday through Friday from 8:30am-5:00pm with a half-hour for lunch. This position is considered an essential position and is not eligible for telework at this time. The ideal candidate would be dependable and punctual, and would have excellent attendance in previous positions.

The starting salary for this position is $36,247 annually/$17.43 per hour (commensurate with experience). Amherst County offers a generous benefit package which includes participation in the Virginia Retirement System including a traditional pension and deferred compensation with employer match, employer paid life and disability insurance, vacation and sick leave, affordable medical, dental and vision insurance, etc.

Administrative Program Assistant I represents a variety of office and administrative specialists such as fiscal, human resource, procurement and other administrative and office specialists. Employees in this class perform complex office and administrative support duties in a specialized program areas such as in accounting, human resources, information technology and are responsible for composing routine and non routine correspondence; proofreading or reviewing others’ work; preparing or contributing to various reports; having frequent contact with others in administrative program areas to advise others; making compliance decisions; and dealing with information that is sensitive and confidential.

General Work Tasks:

• Conducts business with the public, employees and other departments, answering questions and providing guidance, requiring the ability to assess the situation and determine a plan of action;

• Maintains cost, financial, inventory, manpower, payroll, personnel records, or other specialized records and reports in order to account for and evaluate items purchased, services rendered, security, productivity or other control oriented activities;

• Makes recommendations to improve services, collections or other products by comparing data such as production reports, transactions or fiscal summaries; 

• Interprets, explains and gathers information regarding specific program services, polices, and procedures;

• Records information such as inventory, personnel, statistical or fiscal data and compiles informational reports; 

• Proofreads work of others;

• Sets up hardware or loads software under carefully controlled parameters;

• Determines compliance with programmatic requirements and approves or disapproves services, activities or financial payments; and 

• Composes routine, non-routine, sensitive and confidential memos, reports, forms, or other correspondence.

• May serve as a leader for other clerical or administrative employees providing training and guidance.

   

Minimum Qualifications:
Considerable knowledge of office practices and procedures; agency policies and procedures as related to the subject area; and personal computer and office and agency software. Working knowledge of: basic math, accounting and bookkeeping; English, grammar, and use of the dictionary; and laws, rules, regulations pertaining to the subject area. Some knowledge of technical aspects of program area. 

Skill in operating a variety of automated office equipment including the calculator, fax/copier and computer-driven word processing, spreadsheet, graphics and file maintenance programs. 

Demonstrated ability to interact profess