Administrative Specialist

Primary purpose:
Performs a variety of clerical functions to manage and coordinate the Health and Human Services Department, including the divisions of public health, school health, and social services. Assists with administrative support to the Board of Licensing Commissioners. Also provides administrative support for the office of veterans’ services.

Supervision:
Scope and Judgment:  Performs professional office and administrative duties requiring mature and independent judgment and initiative to analyze, solve problems and make decisions based on departmental and city policies and procedures. Exercises considerable judgment and initiative in performing duties. Manages permit process independently.
Supervision Received:  Position reports to the Executive Administrator and operates with minimal supervision. Operates in accordance with applicable state and local laws and regulations, department policies and procedures, requiring the ability to plan and perform operations to independently complete assigned tasks according to a prescribed time schedule. Incumbent independently establishes own daily work plan based on regular routine and special assignments.
Supervision Given:  N/A

Job Environment:
Work is performed under typical office conditions, with little exposure to occupational risks; has interruptions during the day from inquiries by the general public, business organizations or contacts and other city personnel.
Operates computers, calculators, copier, telephone and all other standard office equipment.
May have contact with the general public, other town departments and officials, outside agencies, businesses, vendors, and other governmental organizations and attorneys, etc. Communication is by means of telephone, online meeting platforms, personal discussion, and correspondence and involves discussing routine information, requiring patience and courtesy.
Has access to confidential information regarding personnel records. Errors in judgment could result in significant delay or loss of services, legal ramifications, adverse public relations, and monetary loss.

Essential Functions:
(The essential functions or duties listed are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the position.)
Prepares grant contracts and renewals.
Answers, screens and directs calls. Receives, sorts and distributes incoming mail and faxes. May prepare outgoing mail.
Responsible for daily schedule of deposits.
Receives and directs citizens and other City employees at the customer service window.
Attends and participates in staff, department and other meetings.
Maintains department files.
Assists with preparing and tracking revolving, discretionary and grant accounts.
Provides support for designated department staff including scheduling meetings, attending meetings (both those held during day and evening hours), taking and distributing minutes.
Provides support for department programming including developing outreach materials, assisting with social media, and staffing various community programs.
Process permits and licenses through NewGov, our online portal. Maintains renewal campaigns for all HHS permits and licenses.
Answers citizen questions and inquiries on application fees and permit processes. Assists the public or others in form completion and the processing of complaints, inquiries and questions.
Tracks Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIA).
Tracks and logs all bite reports and laboratory submissions for rabies testing.
Provides administrative and reception support to the Director of Veterans’ Services, which may include purchase orders, budgeting, invoices, bill pay and other duties as assigned.
Works with all department members to stay informed of department services and programs and accurately share this information with the public.
Prepares office correspondence, notes, notices, reports and other documents, data entry/retrieval including using a wide variety of data bases such as NewGov, Excel and others.
Provides backup assistance to establishments with processing licensing applications and maintaining files. Assists in distributing meeting/hearing notices and preparing agenda and documentation for hearings; notifies members of meeting time and place, agenda. Assists in preparing and distributing minutes.
Provides backup in preparing department payroll and calculating work times, noting pay differentials, vacation, sick time, overtime and other variances including grant funded staff payrolls.
Provides backup assistance in maintaining department attendance.
Provides backup assistance with accounting of periodic statements. Processes invoices and purchase orders for payment. Maintains expenditure records, reconcile department accounts. Ensures approved bills are paid and accounts are balanced. Assists in and monitors expenditures.
Follows and adheres to department, City and other government rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
May be required to act as backup to other department clerical functions.
Performs other duties as required.

Minimum Entrance Qualifications:
Education, Training, and Experience:
High school/GED and one to three years of related experience and/or training or equivalent combination of education and experience. Strong computer skills including Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel and experience using databases.

Knowledge, Ability and Skill:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Knowledge: Knowledge of posting, data retrieval and office procedures and the operation of office equipment such as personal computers and computer software, data processing and/or word processing.
Ability: Ability to read and comprehend instructions, correspondence and memos. Ability to write correspondence and memos using formal style and adhering to grammatical rules. Ability to present information effectively, which may be controversial in nature, one-on-one or in small groups, to residents and/or employees of the City.
Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, decimals and percentages. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra. Knowledge of basic accounting, budgeting and maintaining attention to numeric detail.
Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out straightforward written or oral instructions. Ability to deal with problems involving clearly prescribed standardized practices. Ability to propose and learn new systems and approaches to efficiently and effectively operate in the office environment.
Skills: Expertise and skill in using personal computers and common computer programs (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and database and spreadsheet applications. Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills. Excellent writing skills including memos, reports, proposals, analyses, and professional communications. Excellent oral communication skills for presentations, meeting facilitation and contributions and public interactions.

Physical requirements:
(The physical demands described here represent those requirements that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.)
Regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, feel or operate objects, tools, equipment, machinery or controls, and reach with hands and arms as in picking up/accessing paper, files, and other common office objects as well as equipment and supplies relating to programs and needs in the HHS Department. Lifts and/or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds. Manually operates all office equipment and other necessary equipment. Needs to operate a computer keyboard at an efficient speed.

Performance Standard:
Employees at all levels are expected to effectively work together to meet the needs of the community and the City through work behaviors demonstrating the City’s values. Employees are also expected to lead by example and demonstrate the highest level of ethics.

(This job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the job change.)

Please note that the posted salary range is not necessarily the hiring range. The starting salary typically falls within the first few steps of the posted salary range. The starting salary is influenced by relevant qualifications, and where applicable, by the collective bargaining agreement.

THE CITY:

The City of Newton is a wonderful place to live and work. Newton has safe and attractive neighborhoods, an excellent public school system, an active community life, multiple transportation systems, proximity to Boston and a well-managed and financially strong City government. The City of Newton has a population of approximately 88,900, with 32,600 housing units and occupies a land area of 18.3 square miles. Newton is principally suburban-residential in character. Unlike many other communities that are established around a single Main Street or downtown, Newton is comprised of thirteen distinctive villages. Newton has a diversified economic base with approximately 4,700 establishments employing approximately 79,500 people. Newton is special in many ways. It is home to a variety of private secondary and post-secondary schools including a portion of Boston College, Lasell University, William James College, Hebrew College, and the UMass Amherst – Mount Ida Campus.  The longest stretch of the Boston Marathon runs through the City, including the well-known Heartbreak Hill. Newton-Wellesley Hospital, part of the Mass General Brigham health care system, serves as an important partner to the City. In September 2018, Newton was again ranked #1 in Massachusetts as the best place to live and #12 in the U.S.

OUR GOVERNMENT:

Newton has what is known as a “strong Mayor” form of government with the Mayor having the executive and administrative powers of the City. The legislative branch is comprised of 24 City Councilors. Mayor Marc C. Laredo was sworn in on January 1, 2026 after serving on the City Council. The City of Newton was evaluated by Moody’s Investors Services in February 2020 and assigned its highest rating of AAA. Newton was thus well-positioned to weather the pandemic and economic downturn.

AS AN EMPLOYER:

The City of Newton believes that its employees are its greatest asset.  To that end, we are committed to supporting our employees by providing competitive wages and growth, a comprehensive benefits package which includes a defined municipal pension plan, quality health and dental insurance plans, generous paid leave benefits, paid holidays, and access to supplemental benefits such as deferred compensation, short term disability plans, flexible spending accounts, and other employee benefits.  We also provide access to an Employee Assistance Program and access to employee training and professional development opportunities.  We continuously work to review and expand upon our benefit offerings.  We encourage you to visit our Human Resources Department website to learn more about our organization and benefits which are available to our employees.  And as always, you are encouraged to reach out to our dynamic HR Team by emailing hr@newtonma.gov.

Human Resources Diversity Statement

We recognize our workforce is a source of strength that is vital to our ability to effectively serve the City of Newton’s diverse community. We will:

• Actively recruit, develop, and retain a diverse and talented workforce.
• Proactively address discrimination through education and in partnership with other departments and leaders.
• Serve as a role model to celebrate and nurture diversity.
• Foster inclusion by staying curious and clarifying assumptions.
• Evaluate and develop policies and practices that reflect the diverse nature of our workforce.
• Build and strengthen accountability at all levels to support diversity efforts.

The targeted salary range reflects what the City of Newton reasonably and in good faith expects to offer for this position at the time of posting, but the final salary determination may be within or outside this range based on various factors, including, but not limited to, experience, skills, education, and market factors. The range will be reviewed regularly and is subject to change.

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• 457 Deferred Compensation plans
• Metro Credit Union
• Verizon Wireless discount
• Employee Assistance Program
• Generous paid leave time benefits and paid holidays.
• City Retirement (Mandatory)
• Weekly Direct Deposit
• Opportunity to serve the public and join a dynamic team of dedicated employees