Administrative Analyst / Executive Assistant to the Clerk

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania is seeking a highly organized and detail-oriented Administrative Analyst / Executive Assistant to the Clerk. This position reports directly to the Clerk of Court.

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Duties

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The incumbent performs and coordinates administrative, technical, and professional work, related to multiple administrative functions and ensures compliance with the Guide to Judiciary Policy, applicable Administrative Office policies and procedures, internal controls guidelines, and all local policies and procedures. The incumbent supports the Clerk of Court, Chief Deputy in correspondence, filings, scheduling and public-relations efforts. The incumbent serves as the Court's central resource for executive action items and meeting coordination. The incumbent is responsible for the planning and coordination of court sponsored events, ceremonies and clerk's office events.

Representative Duties:

Liaison and Communication: Serves as a liaison on behalf of the Clerk of Court with judges, chambers, other court units, Administrative Office and related justice agencies. Assists in the preparing and distribution of general orders, press releases, policies, and other correspondence. Maintains confidentiality of sensitive court matters. Disseminates communications to managers, executives, and peers, ensuring follow-ups on action items.

Executive Support: Provides professional administrative support to the Clerk and the Chief Deputy Clerk. Receives, screens, and refers telephone callers. Routes mail and answers general inquiries on behalf of the Clerk and Chief Deputy. Proofreads all documents and materials for errors, appropriate format, proper syntax, grammar, spelling, and typographical errors, to ensure accuracy prior to the Clerk or Chief Deputy's review. Maintains the calendar and sets appointments for the Clerk and Chief Deputy.

Court Related Events: Plans and coordinates court related events such as civics events, attorney ceremonies and investitures and judicial ceremonies, special office events, meetings, and other programs. Primarily responsible for event logistics including catering, security arrangements, program invitations, guest lists, etc. Assists with site selection, preparing programming, agendas, minutes, and speaker relations. Coordinate procurement and budgeting needs, visitor and vendor access requests, and space and facilities related management. Maintains calendar for conference room coordination including all notifications, preparation and distribution of meeting materials, administrative details, and logistical matters. May be required to take meeting minutes. Assists with the employee recognition program. Oversees logistics for court conferences, including site planning, security, and hospitality. May include travel for conferences.

Public Inquiries: Responds to public and media inquiries or directs inquiries to appropriate parties. Conducts research and drafts responses for the Clerk as needed.

Operations and Records Management: Establishes and maintains Clerk's records and files including standing orders, court policies and administrative files, such as administrative manuals, bulletins, etc., including electronic and hard copy. Conducts research and analysis on procedural matters. Writes, edits, revises, standardizes policies, procedures, guides, and manuals. Prepares and manages statistical and operational reports. Assists in maintaining court directories and official documents.

Travel Coordination: Arranges travel itineraries for the Clerk and Chief Deputy, ensuring compliance with judiciary policies. Prepares and audits travel vouchers for reimbursement.

Attorney Admissions: Reviews and processes attorney admission applications. Coordinates attorney admission ceremonies and maintains attorney admission databases. Assists with attorney discipline and admissions committee matters. Administrative Support: Provides administrative support to District Court Executive, Chief Deputy Clerks, senior managers and serves as a back-up to other administrative staff. Maintains and coordinates updates to the Court's website, external publications, Court Directory, and other information relevant to the work of the Court ensuring accurate content and design. Assists in maintaining and updating official forms and templates and presentations in Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF, and PowerPoint. Manages workflow efficiency by developing administrative procedures and project management systems. May assist Human Resources with recruitment efforts. May also assist in magistrate judge reappointments, recruitments, and surveys.

Additional Duties: Participates in special projects related to the administrative functions of the Clerk of Court and performs other duties as assigned. Maintains confidentiality of sensitive matters.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents seeking U.S. citizenship.
• This position is classified as a sensitive position which requires the selected candidate to submit to a background clearance, which will include a criminal history, credit and FBI fingerprint check as a condition of employment and may be subject to periodic updates. The selected candidate will be hired provisionally pending the successful completion of the required background check and favorable employment suitability determination. A negative finding from the background check may result in termination of employment.

Qualifications

• Applicant must have significant experience in an administrative support capacity position.
• Applicant must have at least one year of Specialized Experience. *
• Strong knowledge and skills in use of personal computers and software applications to prepare reports, correspondence, and presentations. Expert Excel and PowerPoint skills are required. Familiarization with virtual platforms (Zoom, Teams, etc.).

*Specialized Experience means progressively responsible clerical or administrative experience that is in, or closely related to, the work of the position and which has demonstrated the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of project management and executive assistant work.

• Attention to Detail: Demonstrated attention to detail is essential for ensuring accuracy in all aspects of work, including data entry, document review, and compliance with established procedures. The ability to identify errors, inconsistencies, or anomalies and take corrective action is critical. Successful candidates must consistently produce high-quality work with minimal oversight.
• Resilience: Effectively deals with work related problems, pressure, and stress in a professional and positive manner. Demonstrates emotional maturity.
• Interpersonal Communication Skills: Strong ability to communicate effectively (orally and in writing) with individuals of diverse backgrounds inside and outside of the Clerk's Office, able to explain operational matters and concepts, and gather information from a variety of individuals and groups, including judges, lawyers, court unit executives, managers, and co-workers.
• Discretion: Recognizes the sensitivity of information and strong ability to maintain confidentiality.

Preferred Qualifications/Court Preferred Skills:

• Bachelor's degree or above from an accredited college or university.
• Decisive Judgment: Ability to consistently demonstrate sound ethics and judgment in a timely and confident manner.
• Adaptable Work Style: Quickly restructures tasks and priorities as the needs of the Clerk's Office change; anticipates turns of events and proactively takes action to avoid any negative consequences.
• Organizational Skills: Organizes and plans work according to meet the needs of the Clerk by defining objectives and anticipating needs and priorities to meet established deadlines. Skill in administrative matters such as event planning, file maintenance, record keeping and reporting.
• Productiveness: Maintains a high level of commitment to personal performance. Takes initiative developing and managing projects with varying priorities and deadlines and can undertake new programs and projects to meet critical needs. Ability to multitask, work independently, and coordinate the work of others.
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Effectively works and collaborates with others toward a common goal.
• Analytical Thinking: Works to understand complex situations, issues, and problems by breaking them down into smaller pieces. Follows a step-by-step approach while anticipating implications or consequences of a decision or problems that might occur.

Education

Bachelor's degree or above from an accredited college or university preferred.

Additional information

• This position requires work to be performed in the office. Telework may be permitted after six months on a limited basis.
• Judiciary employees serve under excepted appointments. Judiciary employees are considered "at will" and are not covered by federal civil service classifications or regulations.
• This position is subject to mandatory electronic funds transfer (direct deposit) for payment of federal wages.
• The U.S. Courts require employees to adhere to the Code of Conduct.
• The court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, to withdraw the job announcement, and/or to commence interviews immediately, any of which may occur without prior written or other notice.
• In the event a position becomes vacant in a similar classification within a reasonable time from the original announcement, the Court may select an appointee from the candidates who responded to the initial announcement without re-posting the vacancy.
• Applicants are advised that false statements or omission(s) of information on any application materials may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment or dismissal after being employed.

The United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity in the workplace.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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Employees are eligible for a full range of benefits to include retirement, health and life insurance, flexible benefits, paid holidays, and annual and sick leave accrual. Click here for additional information.