Salary : $60,067.31 – $73,028.33 Annually
Location : Santa Rosa, CA
Job Type: Full-Time
Job Number: 23/07-0023-OB
Department: Office of Equity (OOE)
Opening Date: 07/06/2023
Closing Date: 8/1/2023 11:59 PM Pacific
Position Information
Bring your administrative skills to the Office of Equity and join the team as an Administrative Assistant! Fluent bilingual (English/Spanish) skills required.
Starting salary up to $34.99/hour ($73,028/year), plus a competitive total compensation package, and an additional $1.50 per hour for fluent bilingual skills*
The Administrative Assistant role in the Office of Equity (OOE) will provide customer service and reception support for visitors and colleagues, screen correspondences, and respond to telephone and email inquiries. This position manages the Director’s calendar, schedules team appointments, and provides meeting support such as arranging rooms and equipment, preparing and distributing agendas and relevant materials, and taking minutes of meetings. Additional responsibilities include:
- Assisting the Director by providing reference materials and assembling materials for their use
- Assisting with the department website and newsletter
- Coordinating Public Records Act requests
- Acting as the department’s Payroll Clerk
- Maintaining the Office’s file system and helping archive Office records
- Using the purchasing requisition system, processing payments, and acting as the billing official for OOE
- Creating office procedure manuals and binders, as needed
- Ordering supplies and performing other administrative and clerical tasks, as needed
The ideal candidate will be a self-starter and problem solver who is able to ground their work in anti-racist principles and brings:
- A combination of lived and professional experience working with and for communities of color, low income, or underserved communities, and the capacity to demonstrate cultural humility and healing-centered approaches in their work with different stakeholders
- An understanding of Racial Equity principles and of Anti-Racism and an ability to apply the concepts in their work
- An ongoing commitment and passion for social justice
- A sense of purpose, dignity, healing, and authenticity in their work with County staff and the public
- Computer skills including Microsoft Office applications such Excel, Outlook, and Word and some experience using Google applications
- De-escalation training or conflict resolution skills are desired
- Experience with the Americans with Disabilities Act and remediating is a plus!
This position will be assigned to work regular office hours with the possibility of working evening or weekend hours in response to community meetings or emergency needs. Some candidates may see a long list of job requirements and may feel discouraged because they don’t meet every single one of them. – Don’t let that stop you! If you are excited about this role and believe you can be relentless about pushing boundaries to succeed and change government systems, we encourage you to apply.
What We Offer
Working at the County of Sonoma offers expansive opportunities for growth and development, the ability to be a part of a challenging and rewarding work environment, and the satisfaction of knowing you’re working to better our communities. You can also look forward to flexible work arrangements and excellent benefits* including:
- A hybrid telework schedule that meets the needs of our staff, department operations, and the communities we serve may be available depending on the assignment
- Eligibility for a salary increase after 1,040 hours (6 months when working full-time) for good work performance; eligibility for a salary increase for good performance every year thereafter, until reaching the top of the salary range
- Competitive vacation and sick leave accruals, 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year
- An annual Staff Development/Wellness Benefit allowance of up to $500 and ongoing education/training opportunities
- County paid 100% premium contribution for the majority of employee-only and employee + family health plan options
- County contribution to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement to help fund post-retirement employee health insurance/benefits
- Retirement fully integrated with Social Security
- May be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) of Paid Parental Leave after 12 months of County employment
*Salary is negotiable within the established range. Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice. Additional information can be found in the and our
This recruitment is being conducted to fill a full-time, fluent bilingual Administrative Assistant position in the Office of Equity. This bilingual position requires English and Spanish skills at the fluent (reading, writing, and conversational) level. Applicants who wish to be considered for this fluent bilingual position must indicate their level of skill in the required supplemental questionnaire. An examination will be conducted prior to employment in a bilingual position to confirm the level of skill in this area. Bilingual premium pay is $1.50/hour for fluent bilingual skills.
The employment list established from this recruitment may also be used to fill future fluent Spanish bilingual full-time, part-time, or extra-help positions as they occur during the active status of this list. Qualified County employees who wish to be considered for future positions should consider applying to this recruitment. The Civil Service title for this position is Secretary.
APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS REQUIRE THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE BE COMPLETED.
Minimum Qualifications
Education and Experience: Any combination of education, vocational training and work experience which provides the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and abilities listed. Normally, formal coursework in secretarial skills and three or more years of general clerical work experience which includes working with personal computers will provide this opportunity.
Performance Skills: The ability to type accurately at the rate of 45 words per minute is required.
License: Possession of a valid driver’s license at the appropriate level including special endorsements, as required by the State of California, may be required depending upon assignment to perform the essential job functions of the position.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Considerable knowledge of: the organization, services, programs and functions of the agency in order to plan, evaluate, coordinate and perform clerical support and minor administrative functions; departmental and general clerical work practices from reference materials, procedures, guidelines, written formats, and timetables to schedule events; compile, consolidate and summarize information; authorize and/or submit claims, requisitions, payroll time reports; and answer a variety of information such as work progress, routings, application of procedures to specific situations, agendas, status of accounts, location of materials, and coordination of clerical support and administrative functions; English grammar, spelling, written format and punctuation; the functions, timetables, workload, and priority of the administrative and professional positions served; the procedures, work practices, format and routines associated with secretarial responsibilities to one or more commissions or boards if such work has been assigned.
Working knowledge of: the principles of supervision and office practices to instruct and provide training to secretarial and general clerical positions; office equipment and filing systems, including personal computers and/or terminals, as well as business software programs generally used by County departments.
Knowledge of: the principal administrative employee’s style of writing and thinking in order to compose routine correspondence in his or her absence and to clarify wordage or sentence structure not necessitating review.
Ability to: select, understand and apply regulations, rules, procedures, office routine and work practices related to a variety of clerical support and minor administrative work functions in the department or division located; exercise discretion and good judgment in coordinating and performing work assigned; independently initiate, prioritize, perform or solve problems related to deviations in work assigned in order to meet fixed or fluctuating deadlines and achieve work objectives; coordinate the submittal of a variety of information such as resolutions, reports and appeals to be heard by commission or board members and to prioritize subject matter to be heard by content and implication as well as structural format; summarize motions, divisions, appeals, and actions presented before or taken by commission or board members and to organize and transcribe such into minutes of meetings when such work has been assigned; take verbatim dictation during board or commission meetings; instruct or advise co-workers in the proper routines, procedures, office practice, or step-by-step sequence to properly compile and summarize data in order to consolidate fiscal, statistical or informational data for the use of the supervisor or to comply with procedural or administrative requirements; screen and prioritize correspondence, phone calls or visitors seeking the personal attention of the supervisor and to refer matters which may be adequately handled by someone other than the supervisor to the appropriate person or department section; select, extract and organize a variety of information related to different department programs, services, or functions for the use of the supervisor in answering complaints, inquiries or preparing administrative reports; answer procedural, factual and semi-technical questions related to department services, programs, or functions; schedule appointments, maintain supervisor’s calendar and coordinate calendared events with other departments, agencies, private concerns and affected individuals; compose correspondence in answer to routine inquiries or complaints; recognize and know the purpose of standardized forms related to department services, functions and programs; deal with the general public and co-workers in a tactful, courteous and effective manner; safeguard classified materials or contents of closed or sealed meetings; independently set-up, prepare and summarize control records such as department, division or sectional budget, expenditures, fund, or revenue records, personnel, time and leave records, production output, census and statistical records, and purchasing and inventory control records.
Selection Procedure & Some Helpful Tips When Applying
- Your application information and your responses to the supplemental questions are evaluated and taken into consideration throughout the entire selection process.
- You should list all employers and positions held within the last ten years in the work history section of your application. Be as thorough as possible when responding to the supplemental questions.
- You may include history beyond ten years if related to the position for which you are applying. If you held multiple positions with one employer, list out each position separately.
- Failure to follow these instructions may impact your competitiveness in this process or may result in disqualification.
Please visit to review more detailed information about the hiring process, including the application process, examination steps, and department selection process.
APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS REQUIRE THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE BE COMPLETED.
Responses to supplemental questions will be scored using position-specific criteria. Please provide specific and detailed responses of a reasonable length to allow for a thorough assessment of your qualifications. Responses that state “See Resume” or “See Application” may be considered insufficient and therefore may not be scored.
The selection procedure will consist of the following examination:
An Application & Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination (weight 100%) will be conducted to evaluate each applicant’s application and supplemental questionnaire for satisfaction of minimum qualifications (pass/not pass); and for educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge, and abilities which relate to this position. Each applicant will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Relevance of work history, related experience, and achieved level of education and/or training as described in the application and responses to the supplemental questions.
Candidates demonstrating possession of the minimum qualifications will be placed on an employment list in order of most qualified to least qualified based on the achieved score received in the Application & Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination which evaluates the education, training, experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, and other qualifications that you demonstrate in your application and/or response to the supplemental questionnaire. Please be aware that resumes and cover letters are not typically evaluated in the Application & Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination. Scores may be adjusted based on such factors as the number of candidates, anticipated vacancies, past practice, and natural breaks in the scores achieved by this group of candidates.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A background investigation is required prior to employment. Candidates referred to departments for a selection interview are typically required to sign authorization and release forms enabling such an investigation. Failure to sign prescribed forms will result in the candidate not being considered further for that vacancy. Reference information will not be made available to applicants.
Additional requirements, such as successful completion of a physical exam, drug screen, etc., may apply, depending on the duties and responsibilities of the position. If you receive a conditional job offer for the position, the requirements upon which the offer is contingent will be outlined in the conditional job letter. You may also review the to determine the requirements for this position.
HOW TO APPLY
Applications are accepted online at www.yourpath2sonomacounty.org. Paper applications may be submitted by person, fax (707-565-3770), email, or through the mail. All applications and appropriate supplemental information as outlined in the job bulletin must be RECEIVED by the time and date specified on the first page of this job announcement. Applications received after the recruitment closes will not be accepted.
The County of Sonoma values diversity and is dedicated to creating a workplace environment that provides individuals with a sense of belonging. We are committed to having a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. The County is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer where all aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance, and business need.
HR Analyst: AK
HR Technician: KK
IMPORTANT NOTE: Benefits described herein do not apply to Extra Help positions.
COUNTY OF SONOMA BENEFITS: GENERAL*
These are some of the excellent benefits the County offers:
Paid Time Off: Competitive vacation and sick leave accruals; 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year; and may be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) of Paid Parental Leave after 12 months of County employment.
Health Plan: Choice of five health plans (a PPO, EPO, HMO, and two deductible HMOs) with a County contribution toward the premium (the contribution amount varies by bargaining unit. For specific details, please refer to the applicable MOU). A County contribution to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement is available for some bargaining units.
Retirement: Fully integrated with Social Security. For more information regarding eligibility, retirement contributions, and reciprocity with prior public service, please visit
IRS 457 Plan: Pre-tax employee contribution up to the IRS annual maximum.
Retiree Medical: County contribution to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement to help fund post-retirement employee health insurance/benefits.
Plus excellent dental, vision, disability, life insurance, professional development, and more.
For answers to specific questions regarding the employment process and more details about benefits or retirement, please contact Human Resources at (707) 565-2331. Additional details about benefit and compensation packages can be found in the MOUs located at For specific information about health and welfare benefits including plan options, coverage, and premium amounts go to or, contact the Human Resources’ Risk Management-Benefits Office at or (707) 565-2900.
*IMPORTANT NOTES: Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice.
01
How did you first learn about this opportunity?
- Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)
- CalJobs
- Careers in Government
- College or University
- Craigslist
- DiversityJobs
- Employee of Sonoma County
- Glassdoor
- GovernmentJobs.com
- Handshake
- Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Sonoma County
- Indeed
- Job Fair
- La Voz
- Latino Service Providers
- Los Cien
- Minority Organization or Group
- Press Democrat
- sonoma-county.org/www.yourpath2sonomacounty.org
- Sonoma County Human Resources Office
- Sonoma County Job Line
- Start Here!
- Veterans Services Office
- Women’s Organization or Group
- Workplace Diversity
- Other Internet Site
- Other Publication
02
Please indicate if you would also be interested in future part-time or extra-help (temporary, intermittent, or seasonal employment) positions should they become available. Check all that apply.
- I would also like to be considered for future part-time positions
- I would also like to be considered for future extra-help positions
- I am only interested in full-time positions
03
ENGLISH/SPANISH BILINGUAL ABILITIES: Do you have fluent English/Spanish bilingual abilities and wish to be considered for a bilingual position? (Fluent means the ability to speak, read, and write English and Spanish using correct grammar, translating accurately, conveying information correctly and clearly, etc.) Candidates must pass a bilingual proficiency examination to be eligible for a bilingual position.
- Yes, I have fluent (reading, writing, and conversational) English/Spanish bilingual skills.
- No, I do not have English/Spanish bilingual skills and/or I do not wish to be consideredfor a bilingual position.
04
To the best of your knowledge do you possess the ability to type at least 45 wpm? (You may be asked to verify this skill prior to appointment.)
- Yes
- No
05
For this question, and all subsequent questions, provide sufficient information to allow for a thorough evaluation of your qualifications.
Please describe how you meet the minimum qualifications for this position, which normally includes three or more years of clerical experience. For each relevant position you list, include:
06
Please describe your experience providing culturally responsive customer service to colleagues and/or members of the public. Provide an example of a specific challenging situation in which you took a lead role and describe the situation, your approach to addressing it, and the outcome of the interaction.
07
Please describe your degree of proficiency (beginner, intermediate, advanced) using the following applications. Provide examples of the types of work products you generated using:
- Excel
- Outlook (highlighted scheduling experience)
- Word
- Other (please specify)
Required Question