About the Department

An employee in this class performs a variety of complex office and administrative assistance for the department head and other staff with daily affairs. Interprets, develops, and carries out policies and procedures for all programs. This position must effectively collaborate with various county agencies including but not limited to, Human Resources, Finance, Maintenance, IT, as well as other departments and the general public. This position must have a good working relationship with State agencies and serve as a liaison between the department and consultants. This position also provides agency-wide monitoring and training on safety compliance requirements serving as HIPAA Officer. Work also includes greeting individuals as they enter the Health Department Administrative Offices. This employee also serves as the Deputy Registrar for Vital Records. The employee should have considerable knowledge of effective practices to ensure the public and clients are assisted in a timely manner with a comprehensive responsibility for administrative operations. Sound judgement is required in performing the tasks. Work involves highly confidential and sensitive information regarding employees and clients. Work is performed under direct supervision of the Health Director.

Position Duties

• Assists the Health Director with day-to-day tasks such as writing letters, reports, researching, interpreting various materials; receives, screens, and reviews correspondence. 
• Screens telephone, greets visitors, provides information or routes callers to appropriate personnel, takes messages as appropriate and answers inquiries from the public by phone or from walk-ins for the Health Director and keeps the Health Director on task for meetings. Uses discretion in communication both at work and outside of workplace so as not to release confidential information. 
• Handles difficult situations with tact and ensures communication is handled professionally and with courtesy without exception. 
• Develops and revises work procedures and methods.
• Serves as liaison to expedite the flow of information, interprets policies, procedures, rules, and regulations to staff, as well as the general public.
• Coordinates and schedules meetings, conferences, and workshops as necessary. 
• Attends meetings and conferences which may include staff meetings, division meetings, monthly or more frequent individual conferences with the Director and/or Human Resources Department.
• Prepares, posts, and documents public notices.
• Compiles and maintains information packets, schedules and attends various meetings, takes and transcribes minutes for various staff; assists with the preparation of meeting agendas and packets. 
• Serves as the first point of contact for staff complaints or grievances while making every effort to resolve the problem in the best interest of the employee and the department.
• Serves as liaison to the community on committees, boards, and the like connecting the agency and the programs or services to the community. 
• Prepares personnel action forms, completes new hire orientation, and prepares payroll for all staff.  
• Assists department with maintenance of departmental policy and procedure manuals.
• Assists with planning for mass care shelter operations as directed.
• Serves on various boards within the County and throughout the region or State (ex: LEPC, WNCHLPHMSSA).
• Records, approves, and affirms all incoming notification of deaths, death certificates, and home birth certificates for Alexander County.  
• Completes reports for Vital Records office on a weekly and monthly basis. 
• Issues Burial Transit, Disinterment, and Reinternment permits in accordance with Vital Statistic Laws.
• Maintains contact with the local funeral homes, as well as the physicians if applicable, to assure death certificates are filed within the appropriate time frame. 
• Coordinates communication between the Health Director and staff.
• Maintains contact with local and state agencies as well as private entities to gather information and/or explain agency policies and procedures.  
• Operates and maintains a variety of office equipment; maintains departmental vehicle logs, as well as schedules staff usage for the vehicles. 
• Serves as the department liaison between the Health Department and other county entities such as IT, Maintenance, Human Resources, and others., submitting work orders for staff to the appropriate department as necessary. 
• Assists Health Educator with maintaining notations and placement of completed benchmarks for accreditation, keeping a paper copy of all documentation. 
• Develops, maintains, reviews, and revises quality management program, accreditation, and general departmental policies and procedures on an annual basis. Provides follow-up recommendations for implemented quality improvement processes, assisting the quality improvement team with various administrative duties and assures standardization in implementation of processes to ensure quality and consistency of services. 
• Assists with developing and maintaining procedures, protocols, and memorandums of understanding for the department. 
• Obtains and maintains Notary Public in NC for required DNA/Drug Screens. 
• This position has been identified to have responsibilities in the Preparedness Plan for the Health Department. In the case of an event within the county the employee is required to work at a specified location in-house or off-site as identified in various Health Department Emergency Response Plans (ex. Preparedness, Pan Flu, etc.). 
• This position has been identified to have a role on the Epidemiology Team (Epi-Team) for the Health Department. All response activities shall be performed per the Epi-Team policy and the Preparedness Plan for the Health Department. 
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Thorough knowledge of office practices and procedures.
• Ability to analyze and interpret policy/procedural guidelines.
• Ability to independently resolve problems and questions.  
• Thorough knowledge and ability to use correct grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. 
• Considerable knowledge of County function to which assigned and related policies, procedures, and regulations.
• Ability to be tactful and courteous, communicating effectively in person and via telephone.
• Ability to receive and relay basic information and instructions on departmental programs based on inquiries.
• Ability to gather and compile materials from a variety of sources.      
• Ability to use a wide variety of word processing and other computer software to generate work for the office assigned (ex. Microsoft, Zoom, Screen Hub, Canva, etc.).
• Ability to use judgment in organizing/establishing priorities and work assigned.  
• Ability to handle and process sensitive/confidential information and data appropriately.
• Ability to record information and balance figures.
• Ability to compile information based on general instructions.
• Ability to arrange records, reports, and files into a proper sequence; establish and maintain inventory records management systems.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with supervisor, employees, and the general public.

Other Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in business administration, public administration or other related fields; or 
• Associate's Degree in secretarial science or business administration and two years of responsible secretarial or clerical/administrative experience; or 
• Graduation from high school or equivalent and four years of progressively responsible secretarial / administrative experience including two years of administrative or office management experience involving substantial public contact, information gathering and writing experience; or 
• Equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Possess a valid NC Driver's License.