Administrative Assistant

AGRICULTURE - A Cornerstone of Washington's Economy

The Washington State Department of Agriculture has been serving the state for more than 100 years. Through service, regulation, and advocacy, we keep agriculture viable and vital in Washington State, while protecting consumers, public health, and the environment. We work extensively with farmers and ranchers, but our responsibilities – from ensuring food safety to environmental protection – touch the lives of millions of people locally, nationally, and abroad.

The Opportunity:

The Farm & Food Systems Development division (FFSD) is dedicated to strengthening the food systems and economic viability of Washington agriculture. The programs in this division support consumers, farmers, and food businesses through service, assistance, and advocacy advancing the vision that agriculture thrives while contributing to the health of the people and the economy of Washington.

The Administrative Team for FFSD provides comprehensive support across all programs within the division, ensuring smooth day‑to‑day operations and effective coordination. We serve as a central resource for communication, organization, and process management, helping maintain consistency, efficiency, and organization across the division.

The Administrative Assistant provides direct administrative support for all 4 programs within the division including Food Assistance, Regional Markets, International Marketing, and Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. The Administrative Assistant also supports the administrative needs of the FFSD Assistant Director and Division Coordinator. This support includes, but is not limited to, time keeping, payroll activities, travel coordination, and supporting division procurement and purchasing activities.

The Administrative Assistant reports to the Farm & Food Systems Development Division Coordinator.

WSDA is recruiting for a full‑time Administrative Assistant 3 within the Farm & Food Systems Development Division. This position is located in Olympia, Washington. This is a non‑represented position. The base pay offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the preferred candidate's job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. The typical starting salary for this position is:
Range 44 Step A $47,100
- Step L $61,644 annually.

• Keep supervisor apprised of urgent, confidential, and/or time sensitive situations.
• Perform complex work processing tasks for division such as mail/merge, sort, integrating text with graphics, database work, etc.
• Maintain and track office supplies and inventory.
• Maintain the FFSD division and program calendar.
• Contribute to overall efficient division operations, attend administrative staff meetings, assist across division and adjust workload and priorities as needed.
• Organize and prioritize projects to ensure accuracy and timeliness in their completion.
• Provide division staff and programs with administrative support on various projects.
• Compose correspondence to internal staff and vendors.
• Coordinate with division staff on administrative best practices.
• Act as timekeeper in PISCES; track employee leave, generate timesheets for payroll submissions, and assist staff with timekeeping related questions.
• Compile and distribute payroll, position data, leave balance, and other reports to be distributed to supervisors and program managers.
• Meet with supervisor regularly to plan and prioritize workload, tasks, and schedules to best support division needs.
• Assist in maintaining division storage and surplus space in the agency mailroom.
• Process and send division mail as needed.

• Review, verify, and approve cost spreadsheets for motorpool, cell phone invoices, PC leases, and others sending adjustments or updates to Financial Services as needed.
• Compile and distribute financial reports to programs.
• Develop, evaluate, and conduct purchasing for division equipment and supplies.
• Assist with processing division freeze tracker requests and reviews for completeness.
• Prepare, track, process, and submit division purchase requests.
• Prepare and process invoices received from division…