Job Description
Sr. Executive Assistant to the General Manager Location Laurel, MD :
The Sr. Executive Assistant to the General Manager serves as a personal, confidential administrative assistant for the CEO/General Manager of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Assists the General Manager with completing important administrative tasks, serves as a liaison with public contacts, and maintains the General Manager's schedule. Arranges and coordinates appearances and meetings, receives and exchanges information, resolves sensitive problems, and facilitates actions affecting WSSC Water programs, services and procedures. Essential Functions - Maintains the CEO/General Manager's schedule, receives and evaluates the nature of the requests and determines priority, obtains appropriate input as needed, and follows through to schedule and arrange all details (researches and assembles/develops information and materials on a variety of matters for review by the General Manager) for the General Manager's attendance at meetings, appearances, conferences and social events.
- Serves as liaison between the General Manager and senior management team, appointed and elected officials and their staffs, senior management in the private sector, community representatives, WSSC Water customers, constituents and the general public, and ensures that highly confidential, complex and sensitive matters are attended to.
- Receives telephone and in-person callers, screening those that in his/her opinion can be handled by others in lieu of the CEO/General Manager or Deputy General Manager.
- Receives, reviews and classifies the priority of incoming correspondence and other material for the General Manager, determines the direction or course of action required, and either prepares a response, assigns to a senior management team member for preparation of a response or other disposition, or ensures review by the General Manager.
- Implements and maintains correspondence tracking/tickler system for General Manager's/Deputy General Manager's correspondence, establishing due dates and following up on status to effect timely execution.
- Composes correspondence based upon independent research and compilation of data from files and records in response to inquiries and initiatives and composes correspondence of a personal and confidential nature for the General Manager to reflect the General Manager's sensitivity to customer and citizen needs.
- Receives, investigates and answers complaints and inquiries from customers and citizens on a broad range of matters including WSSC Water functions, status of operations and existing procedures and policies.
- Reviews letters, memoranda and other official WSSC Water documents prior to presentation to the General Manager for signature to ascertain correctness in form, style and message as well as ensuring all concerned Team Chiefs/Directors have had an opportunity to review the document.
- Provides guidance to team/departmental/chain of command staff to ensure correct format and procedure are followed for executive correspondence and routes documents through proper channels for distribution per critical timelines.
- Establishes and maintains various complex, sensitive and confidential files and records for the Office of the General Manager which involve highly sensitive personnel matters, departmental issues, appointments and/or designations by the General Manager and other matters.
- Assigns, reviews and coordinates the daily workflow of less senior clerical/administrative employees, and provides guidance to other WSSC Water support staff in order to ensure the smooth operation of the office of the General Manager.
- Trains subordinate WSSC Water administrative assistants in administrative procedures and practices, including developing needed improvements in practices which may be out-of-date or which do not exist.
- Prepares and/or assembles reports and presentations for the General Manager including, among others, General Manager's monthly report to Commissioners, weekly status of urgent customer issues (Hot List), weekly General Manager's/Deputy General Manager's tickler listing of working issues, and a large array of other important management tools.
- Prepares professional PowerPoint presentations for use by the General Manager at various meetings and assemblies.
- Reconciles expense related to conference and meeting attendance or other expenses, as required.
- Assists with budget and expenditure tracking for the General Manager's Office.
- Maintains awareness of issues the General Manager considers current and critical through regular meetings with the General Manager, Deputy General Manager and senior management team, takes notes and prepares meeting minutes and to-do lists for various meetings attended by the General Manager and/or Deputy General Manager.
- Works in a harmonious, seamless manner as a partner with the Deputy General Manager's support staff to effect overall accomplishment of the work of the General Manager's office.
Other Functions Performs other related duties as required. Work Environment And Physical Demands Professional office setting. Required Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities - Expert knowledge of public administration organizations, functions and operations of WSSC Water, government or corporate entities.
- Extensive knowledge of administrative, office practices, procedures, systems and equipment including expert proficiency with word processing applications such as Microsoft Office Suite, including PowerPoint.
- Thorough knowledge of business English, grammatical construction, spelling, and punctuation; considerable knowledge of administrative and procedural policies and practices pertaining to WSSC Water or other government entities.
- High degree of administrative aptitude; excellent verbal communication skills.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with elected and appointed officials, government executives and managers, employees, customers and the general citizenry; ability to deal with requests and complaints with sensitivity and tact.
- Ability to maintain highly complex, confidential and sensitive records and to conduct research and prepare accurate reports from internal records and outside sources.
- Ability to independently compose letters, other correspondence and presentations.
- Ability to use independent judgment and discretion within assigned areas and to use initiative and resourcefulness in responding to new and unusual assignments.
Minimum Education, Experience Requirements - High School diploma (or equivalent)
- 7+ years administrative experience
- 3+ years experience in a senior administrative capacity
Job Tags
Full time, Immediate start,