Administrative Support Specialist

Job Summary:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Administrative Support Specialist to provide senior-level administrative support to the City of Toronto. As a key member of our team, you will be responsible for delivering top-quality administrative services in a fast-paced and complex municipal government setting.

Key Responsibilities:

• Administrative Support: Provide senior-level administrative support, advice, and guidance on key initiatives and policies. Review and direct incoming correspondence, phone calls, and initiate responses.
• Scheduling and Coordination: Manage and schedule daily appointments and activities; arrange meetings and business travel. Organize the daily schedule around urgent requests from senior management and department staff.
• Workload Prioritization: Co-ordinate daily administrative operations by organizing workload priorities. Provide effective work direction, training, and guidance to support staff. Co-ordinate the development and implementation of secretarial and administrative standards and procedures for the division.
• Client Communication: Receive and provide initial responses to telephone calls and correspondence from clients and staff. Refer for appropriate action and respond to issues of upset and concerned clients.
• Document Preparation: Prepare and process documents of a confidential nature, such as notes regarding disciplinary action, documents pertaining to grievances and arbitrations, letters of discipline, contingency planning, restructuring, and downsizing initiatives. May attend and take minutes at grievance hearings.
• Document Review and Processing: Ensure and check the efficient and correct preparation and processing of documents in accordance with appropriate policies and legislation. Ensure conformity with regulations, statutes, by-laws, agreements, policies, and procedures. Apply and check layout and formatting guidelines. Proof-read own and other's material.
• Reporting and Monitoring: Monitor all key reports required for committees and council. Ensure deadlines are met. Review council and standing committee agendas and reports, flagging items that will impact operations. Identify issues and initiate responses.
• Manual Maintenance: Organize and maintain up-to-date manuals, such as Council and corporate administrative policies and guidelines.
• Communication Strategies: Participate in the development of communication strategies and prepare and co-ordinate communications material within the department/division, including newsletters, bulletins, and flyers.
• Labour Disruption Planning: Co-ordinate labour disruption plans.
• Records Management: Co-ordinate and maintain the records management system.
• Information and Guidance: Handle, prioritize, and/or redirect inquiries and/or provide information and guidance to staff, senior management, clients, the public, the media, agencies, union representatives, and other levels of government, utilizing specialized knowledge of corporate policies, regulations, protocols.
• Administrative Tasks: Perform highly independent, specialized administrative tasks, including preparation, research, investigation, review, reconciliation, control, and co-ordination of various documentation and processes.
• Document Administration: Administer, prepare, process, and compose documents, routine reports, statistical summaries, and reports requiring considerable judgment in the interpretation and application of regulations and practices. Prepare complex calculations and analysis of data. Monitor expenses and participate in compiling data for forecasting and budgeting. Prepare correspondence.
• Computer Operations: Operate computers utilizing and manipulating a variety of desktop applications and corporate systems. Prepare presentation materials.
• Meetings and Events: Attend various meetings, events, hearings, and act as the unit representative.
• Special Projects: May review applications from the public and handle special projects.
• Meeting Coordination: Co-ordinate meetings, special events, schedules, workshops, grievances, labour-management meetings, food services, printing of conference materials, registration. Take/transcribe minutes and follow-up, taking action when necessary.
• PCard Management: Manage assigned PCard, including making authorized purchases in accordance with corporate policies and guidelines.
• Attendance Management: Monitor, track, and report attendance management.
• Knowledge and Awareness: Maintain a continuous awareness of corporate and departmental administrative systems and procedures, organizational structure, and major activities in order to provide effective administrative assistance.

Key Qualifications:

1. Administrative Experience: Extensive experience providing administrative support to senior management, handling a broad range of administrative matters, standard office practices, and procedures.
2. Correspondence and Reporting: Extensive experience in the preparation and drafting of standard correspondence and reports, editing the layout and formatting of complex reports, presentations, correspondence, charts, and tables, and statements to senior and executive management.
3. Agenda Preparation and Minutes Taking: Considerable experience preparing agendas, taking minutes at meetings, and identifying items for follow-up, in coordination with other admin staff.
4. Data Analysis and Annotation: Experience annotating and/or summarizing complex data, reports, briefing notes, and/or committee/council reports.
5. Technical Skills: Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Applications, managing databases, and an aptitude for learning new technologies/systems.
6. Financial Management Software: Knowledge of financial management software such as SAP is an asset.
7. Municipal Operations: Knowledge of municipal operations that may include but is not limited to council proceedings, corporate protocols, established committees functions, both internal and special interest groups, and current political issues.
8. Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills in combination with the ability to perform duties under minimal supervision in a politically sensitive environment, using sound judgment and discretion, including handling of confidential materials and information.
9. Administrative Work Procedures: Ability to implement effective administrative work procedures and maintain an organized office in a fast-paced environment.
10. Organizational and Time Management Skills: Excellent organizational and time management skills, including attention to detail, ability to set priorities, meet deadlines, assess situations to determine importance, urgency, and risks, and make clear decisions or deal with conflicting priorities and work demands.
11. Interpersonal and Communication Skills: Highly developed interpersonal skills with the ability to deliver excellent customer service at all levels and with external partners and stakeholders. Excellent communication skills, both orally and in writing.
12. Initiative and Adaptability: Must be resourceful, adaptable, and possess a high degree of initiative.
13. Work Direction and Research: Ability to provide work direction to other support staff and research and prepare information in a timely manner.
14. Flexibility and Availability: Ability to work beyond normal business hours and flexible hours, including weekends and evenings when necessary.
15. City of Toronto Values: Ability to support the Toronto Public Service values to ensure a culture that champions equity, diversity, and respectful workplaces.