Statement of the Job:

The Administrative Specialist CL3 with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension will provide administrative, bookkeeping, and facility management support to the Kennebec County Cooperative Extension Office in Augusta. This person in this position is responsible for general office management tasks in support of the faculty, staff, and volunteers conducting educational programming, research, and outreach. The work done in this position is essential to Cooperative Extension’s mission because it provides customer service to the public and supports local and statewide Extension staff in 4-H, Agriculture, and Horticulture programs. Position will be based in the Kennebec County Extension office located at 125 State Street in Augusta as the primary point of contact for clients, faculty, staff and volunteers. Full-time, 40 hours per week, 5 days per week. Daily work hours are Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This position pays $19.59/hour.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Performs a wide range of administrative duties in support of Extension faculty, staff, volunteers, and programs such as customer service, word processing and database management, website maintenance, account reconciliation, purchasing, accounts payable and building management.

• Oversees daily operations of the Counties’ office; answering the phone, triage and screening client calls, visitors and mail; directing non-routine requests; registering clients for programs, acts as intermediary for faculty maintaining contact with others; answers questions and gives information about well-defined administrative, programmatic or personnel areas, some requiring limited policy interpretation; schedules meetings; schedules use of conference space.

• Provides word processing capacity including desktop publishing; maintains databases; composes correspondence; edits, proofs and compiles manuscripts; maintains 4-H database and produces reports as needed or requested; tracks 4-H paperwork (enrollments, animal approval forms, meeting minutes, club charters, club EIN information, and project records) and creates monthly newsletters or blogs; manages MyTurn database. (Must be proficient in Microsoft Office, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel; Adobe products, requiring strong computer skills and aptitude.)

• Serves as Executive Committee Liaison: Serves as primary contact for the Kennebec County Extension Association (KCEA). Contacts KCEA President when checks need to be signed. Researches new equipment purchases or services as needed, and solicits bids for KCEA action. Creates and distributes invoices to Kennebec County. Assists in preparation for meetings, distributes agendas and minutes to KCEA each month. Prepares and distributes Annual KCEA report to County Commissioners, Budget Committees and State Elected officials. Prepares and distributes county budget requests and represents the office (with KCEA volunteers) at county budget hearings. Attends KCEA meetings and county budget hearings.

• Carries out bookkeeping tasks including making bank deposits; preparing checks and check requests, reconciling budget and expenses statements; preparing reports for the KCEA board; works with KCEA treasurer, monitoring county chartfields and creating purchase orders through Marketplace.

• Performs basic bookkeeping including tracking budgets, monitoring expenditures, preparing purchase orders, depositing cash and checks, and preparing financial reports and/or other appropriate payroll tasks. This also includes maintaining a filing system for invoices, receipts and other financial documents; ordering routine supplies and materials; soliciting estimates and quotes for purchase orders, and completing orders once quotes are approved. Reconciles accounts and statements monthly and resolves identified issues.

• Maintains a complex filing system as well as an electronic tracking system.

• Provides some support for statewide staff located at the Kennebec County office.

• Manages social media updates (content created by others) for Kennebec Extension accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (as they exist) under the supervision of the Extension Marketing Manager as well as monitors, updates and maintains the Kennebec County website.

• Composes, edits, and reviews a variety of standard and/or specialized correspondence, reports, documents, applications, forms, memos, and/or other applicable materials.

• Provides support for: event support for 4-H and Ag programs (such as printing name tags, purchasing and mailing materials and managing event registration)

• Provides timely and accurate information in response to public requests for information.

• Engages in continuing professional development opportunities to build upon skills.

• Acts as office Civil Rights contact in partnership with staff and faculty.

• Acts as office safety contact.

• Develops and maintains professional relationships that reflect courtesy, civility, and mutual respect.

• Attends quarterly UMaine Extension staff meetings and attends bi-monthly Extension Association meetings (held in the evening).

• Contributes skills and insights for effective office management.

• Utilizes coaching and mentoring methods that provide an environment that is anticipatory, supportive, and encourages constructive feedback on performance.

• Performs other reasonably related duties as assigned.

About the University:

The University of Maine is a community of more than 11,900 undergraduate and graduate students, and 2,500 employees located on the Orono campus, the regional campus in Machias, and throughout the state. UMaine is a land, sea and space grant university, and maintains a leadership role as the University of Maine System's flagship institution. UMaine is the state's public research university and a Carnegie R1 top-tier research institution, dedicated to providing excellent teaching, research and service for Maine, the nation and the world. More information about UMaine is at umaine.edu.

The University of Maine offers a wide range of benefits (https://www.maine.edu/human-resources/benefits/) for employees including, but not limited to, tuition benefits (employee and dependent), comprehensive insurance coverage including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and short and long term disability as well as retirement plan options. As a former NSF ADVANCE institution, the University of Maine is committed to diversity in our workforce and to dual-career couples.

Qualifications:

Required:

• 60 credits or more of higher education or equivalent work experience and training.

• Approximately three years of administrative support experience in accounting, office management, or a related field.

• Experience in office settings, performing a variety of routine to non-routine clerical and administrative support responsibilities and tasks.

• Significant knowledge of financial and purchasing procedures, systems, record-keeping, policies, etc.

• Experience in handling office bookkeeping, Quicken preferred; bank deposits; reconciliation of accounts and processing confidential information.

• Significant computer skills and experience with database usage, and fluency in all Microsoft Office applications – particularly Excel, as well as Google Drive and document management software.

• Excellent organizational skills with attention to detail and accuracy.

• Ability to manage multiple complex responsibilities simultaneously, develop and implement systems and strategies, determine and set priorities, meet deadlines, and track details.

• Exemplary interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively with diverse groups of constituents.

• Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks in an autonomous work environment as well work effectively as part of a team, and able to achieve and document measurable results.

• Exemplary customer service skills.

• Ability to communicate effectively using oral, written, and electronic methods.

• Willingness to handle/process insect and plant samples as necessary.

  Preferred:

• Associate’s degree in a related field with approximately three years of progressively more responsible administrative experience.

• Previous work experience at a university level.

• Experience with UMaine’s General Ledger and MaineStreet systems.

• Basic knowledge of database management.

• Knowledge of University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s mission and educational programs.

• Experience working with diverse audiences; knowledge of diversity, equity and inclusion; and understanding of equal opportunity, affirmative action and civil rights policies.

How to apply:

Materials must be submitted via "Apply For Position" below. You will need to create a profile and application; upload:

1.) a cover letter which describes your experience, interests, and suitability for the position

2.) a resume/curriculum vitae

Candidates selected to proceed to the final stages of the search process will be requested to provide a list of names and contact information for references.

Incomplete application materials cannot be considered. Materials received after the initial review date will be reviewed at the discretion of the University.

For questions about the search, please contact search committee chair Caragh Fitzgerald, cfitzgerald@maine.edu .

The successful applicant is subject to appropriate background screening.

In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability physical or mental, genetic information, or veterans or military status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 Boudreau Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).

Clery Act

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, mandates that all Title IV institutions, such as the University, prepare, publish and distribute an Annual Security Report, (ASR) and provide notice of the availability of the ASR to all prospective employees. This report consists of two basic parts: disclosure of the University’s crime statistics for the past three calendar years; and disclosures regarding the University’s current campus security policies. You may view the University’s Annual Security Report by clicking on this link: https://umaine.edu/police/clery-annual-safety-report/. If you wish to have a paper copy of the ASR or you need to have a copy of the ASR in an accessible format, the University will provide such a copy upon request. Please contact: UMaine Police Department, 81 Rangeley Rd., The University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5794, or call 207.581.4053.