Administrative Assistant

Overview

Hamilton County Schools, located in Chattanooga, TN, is working to ensure that all students thrive and experience a future without limits. We are committed to excellence for every student and are seeking outstanding leaders, teachers, support staff, and district employees who desire to make a difference in the lives of students. With nearly 75 schools, we are confident that you can find your place in Hamilton County.

Learn more about working for Hamilton County Schools e.org and get to know us and our strategic plan, Opportunity 2030.

The purpose of this position is to work independently to provide administrative office management support to managers, directors and schools in the school district.

• Acts in a professional, respectful, and welcoming manner at all times.
• Creates a customer‑focused climate and provides quality services and support to school and other stakeholders.
• Handles person/customer complaints at the direction of the supervisor.
• Complies with applicable district, state, and federal codes, laws, rules, regulations, standards, policies and procedures.
• Works closely with the executive administrative assistants to ensure effective and timely communication among assigned departments and schools. Makes recommendations relating to office procedures and workflow to the executive administrative assistants.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of operations and projects in assigned areas; identifies and recommends improvements or enhancements.
• Reviews departmental expenditures to ensure compliance with purchasing guidelines and with the approved budget; reviews invoices for accuracy, researches discrepancies, ensures expenditures are charged to proper accounts, approves invoices for payment or directs to appropriate personnel for approval; reviews weekly departmental and school accounting reports and follows up with departments and schools on open purchase orders.
• Evaluates excessive costs, summarizes yearly financial data and assists with preparation of the annual operating budget.
• Prepares or completes various forms, reports, correspondence, charts, tables, graphs and other documents, summarizes reports in an articulate manner and utilizes appropriate visual representation for communication to various audiences.
• Serves as a liaison between departments to organize, disseminate, and upload federal and state documents to digital platforms relevant to the department.
• Works in multiple digital platforms; obtains an in‑depth knowledge of platforms to manage digital records and assist general users.
• Maintains a working knowledge of assigned area in order to communicate with employees, administrators, Board attorney, parents, elected officials and others outside the school district in a way that promotes a positive image of the Hamilton County Department of Education.
• Answers telephone calls and greets visitors promptly, ascertains the nature of business, directs callers or visitors to appropriate personnel, records and relays messages, retrieves messages from voicemail and initiates and returns calls as necessary.
• Drafts letters and correspondence at the direction of the supervisor.
• Provides customer service regarding school programs, services, activities, procedures, forms, fees or other issues; responds to routine questions and complaints and initiates problem resolution.
• Performs a wide range of office management functions and assists the supervisor in coordinating district‑wide operations and functions in assigned areas, such as organizing district‑wide functions including Speak‑Out, SCOPE, the Superintendent’s Honors Banquet and graduation.
• Uses technology to maintain spreadsheets, grants and initiatives, producing a variety of reports using data and information in spreadsheets.
• Coordinates calendars, travel arrangements, accommodations, conference and seminar registrations, or other travel‑related plans for department staff.
• Communicates through the proper channels to keep the supervisor and other appropriate personnel informed of impending problems or events of an unusual nature.
• Follows established procedures for ensuring assigned areas are safe.
• Works collaboratively with board members,…