Administrative Officer

THE POSITION

The Council is seeking applications from suitably qualified candidates with relevant experience for the position of Administrative Officer.It is proposed to form a panel of qualified candidates from which permanent and temporary vacancies will be filled during the lifetime of the panel.

The Administrative Officer is the primary point of contact and liaison with other sections in relation to all operational matters for the service delivery section or sections or support functional area or areas for which they are responsible or a combination of both, depending on the organisational arrangements in place. Duties may also include representing the Department or Council on various committees and contributing through the business planning process to the formulation of policy. The post holder will be directly accountable for the work of the staff reporting to them. The positions are in various sections of the organisation, the duties will vary depending on assignment.

The post holder will work under the direction and control of the Senior Executive Officer or analogous grade or other officer designated by the Chief Executive Officer or Director of Services as appropriate.

The Administrative Officer is responsible for management of the day-to-day operations of the section or department and is a contributor to the strategic and policy making decision of the local authority. They will be expected to contribute to the development and implementation of policies and strategies and to work closely with the elected Councillors, Oireachtas members and senior managers in delivering services to the highest standard.

The post holder will be expected to support the operations of the elected Council, the Strategic Policy Committees, Joint Policing Committee, Municipal Districts and other Council Departments.

The Administrative Officer role will require excellent administrative, employee management, interpersonal and communication skills.

Wicklow County Council now invites applications from suitably qualified persons who wish to be considered for inclusion on a panel from which temporary and permanent vacancies for Administrative Officer may be filled throughout the lifetime of the panel.

Recruitment arrangements to this grade will be on the following basis:

·       Panel A – 50% confined to employees of the sector.

·       Panel B – 30% open.

·       Panel C – 20% confined to employees of Wicklow County Council.

The Council will form three sperate panels of suitably qualified candidates to meet the requirements agreed nationally of the ratio of posts to be confined to the local government sector, open, and those confined to Wicklow County Council staff. The order of candidates placed on each of the three panels is determined by where they were placed on the overall Order of Merit List.

Panel A (Confined to Local Authority Sector) will comprise of successful applicants in order of merit from within the Local Authority Sector only i.e. candidates serving in a local authority or Regional Assembly (where applicable).

Panel B (Open) will comprise of all successful applicants in order of merit and may include candidates serving in a local authority, regional assembly and external applicants.

Panel C (Confined to Wicklow County Council) will comprise of all successful applicants in order of merit from within the recruiting Local Authority i.e., candidates serving in Wicklow County Council.

For the purposes of the above, the sector Panel A is comprehended to include all Local Authorities and the three Regional Assemblies only. Staff who are not existing employees of local authorities or regional assemblies are not eligible to apply for competitions confined to the sector (Panel A) or to the local authority (Panel C).

1         Character Candidates shall be of good character.

2         Health Candidates shall in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.

3         Education, Experience, etc. Candidates must, on the latest date for receipt of completed application forms:

Applicants to Panel B (Open)

(i)            (a) have obtained at least Grade D (or a Pass), in Higher or Ordinary Level, in five subjects (or four subjects if Irish is included) from the approved list of subjects in the Department of Education Established Leaving Certificate Examination or Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme Including Irish and/or English and one of the following: Mathematics, Accounting, Business Organisation or Economics,

AND

(b) have obtained at least Grade C (or Honours) in higher level (or Honours) papers in three subjects in that examination (or two subjects if Irish and/or one of the following is included: Mathematics, Accounting, Business Organisation or Economics),

or

(ii)      have obtained a comparable standard in an equivalent examination,

or

(iii)    hold a third level qualification of at least degree standard.

(iv)    shall have satisfactory experience in administrative procedures, including adequate practical experience in work of an executive nature, office organisation and control of staff.

Confined Competition (Panel A)

(v)    (a) be a serving employee in a local authority, or a regional assembly and have no less than two years’ satisfactory experience in a post of Clerical Officer or analogous post,

AND

(b) have satisfactory experience in administrative procedures, including adequate practical experience in work of an executive nature, office organisation and control of staff.

Confined Competition (Panel C)

(i)     (a) be a serving employee of Wicklow County Council, and have not less than two years’ satisfactory experience in a post of Clerical Officer or analogous post.

AND

(b) have satisfactory experience in administrative procedures, including adequate practical experience in work of an executive nature, office organisation and control of staff.

PLEASE NOTE: Non-Irish Qualifications must be accompanied by a determination from Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) to establish their comparability against the Irish National Framework of Qualifications. Overseas qualifications must also be accompanied by a translation document. Failure to do so will deem your application inadmissible.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of key duties and responsibilities which may be assigned to an Administrative Officer.

(a)    Provide high level administrative support based on a thorough understanding of the overall workings and policy of a section.

(b)   Supervision and Management of Staff including general office management ensuring that services ae delivered efficiently and in line with Corporate Objectives.

(c)    Promote a culture of dignity, respect and fairness and seek to eliminate all forms of discrimination. Promote equality of opportunity and protect the human rights of staff and service users.

(d)   Supervise and participate in the Performance Management Development System (PMDS).

(e)    Manage workload effectively within team ensuring that the targets set for that work area are reached.

(f)     Project Management as required.

(g)    Policy formation.

(h)   Successfully manage the relationship and attending meetings with internal departments and external service providers as needed.

(i)     Possess a high degree of initiative and be able to work both as an individual and as a team member.

(j)     Maintain/develop appropriate records, reports and documentation as required.

(k)    Have the ability to manage financial resources with a budgetary control framework and manage budgets as required.

(l)     Budget preparation and management of same.

(m)  To implement the systems necessary to support the services.

(n)   Represent Wicklow County Council at a variety of meetings.

(o)   Continuously monitoring existing procedures to ensure they comply with best practice and the development of new/improved procedures where appropriate.

(p)   Use all technology and equipment assigned and complete all essential training successfully.

(q)   Work on inter-departmental teams concerned with introducing organisational change.

An ability to demonstrate competence in the following areas:

·        Satisfactory knowledge of the functions and duties of Local Authorities, and awareness of current local government issues, priorities and challenges.

Holders of the office shall reside in the district in which their duties are to be performed or within a reasonable distance thereof.

There is no mandatory retirement age for new entrants to the Public Service as defined in the Public Services Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004.

Persons who are NOT new entrants to the Public Service as defined in the Public Services Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004 and the Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Act 2018, are subject to a compulsory retirement age of 70 years.

With effect from 1st January 2013, persons who are pensionable under the terms of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme will have a minimum retirement age of 66 years initially rising in line with the State Pension age changes. Members of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme have a compulsory retirement age of 70 years.