Department Assistant

Description

Mesa Water District (Mesa Water) is thrilled to now be accepting applications for a Department Assistant position! This position will spend half of their time in Human Resources and the other half in Administrative Services. While in Human Resources, this position will provide vital administrative assistance during recruitment and selection, labor relations, employee engagement, file management and other related HR programs. While in Administrative Services, this position will serve a critical role in supporting the District's Board of Directors meetings, travel, and expenses. This is a wonderful opportunity for someone who is organized, likes autonomy, loves working with people, has a positive attitude, and can work with highly confidential materials.

Why Choose Us?

- Competitive Pay & Benefits - We offer strong compensation and benefits packages that are regularly evaluated to stay ahead of industry standards.

- Supportive Work Culture - At Mesa Water, we foster a fun, collaborative environment where meaningful relationships and teamwork thrive.

- Dynamic & Varied Work - This unique position spans two departments, offering exposure to diverse projects that keep your work engaging and impactful.

- Employee-Centered Environment - Our organization-wide engagement program reflects our deep commitment to keeping employees motivated, supported, and excited about their work.

What we're looking for:

- Experience providing administrative support to:

- Human resources programs (e.g., recruitment, employee events, labor relations, etc.)

- Top company executives

- Public Board meetings

- Experience maintaining and organizing department files (both electronic and hardcopy)

- Experience compiling documents utilizing word, excel and Adobe Acrobat Pro

- Ability to adapt work methods when implementing new procedures

- Displays honesty, integrity and personal accountability

- Presents information clearly and in an organized manner (orally & in writing)

- Shows interest and understanding of the needs and expectations of internal and external customers

- Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing time-sensitive tasks with accuracy

- Strong willingness to learn and take on new responsibilities in a dynamic environment

- Maintains confidentiality and exercises sound judgment with sensitive employee or organizational information

- Excellent interpersonal skills and professionalism in working with colleagues, managers, and external contacts

- Comfortable handling a variety of administrative duties, including compiling reports, coordinating travel, and maintaining calendars

Interested candidates must submit their applications by 11:59 PM on Friday, October 31, 2025. Employees at Mesa Water District work a 9/80, onsite schedule, with every other Friday off.

Teamwork and camaraderie at our District All Hands meeting at the OC Fair!

The Position

This is the fully qualified classification in the administrative support job family. Positions at this level are distinguished from the Office Assistant by the performance of the full range of duties as assigned, working independently, and exercising judgment and initiative. Positions at this level receive only occasional instruction or assistance as new or unusual situations arise and are fully aware of the operating procedures and policies of the work unit. Incumbents may provide technical or functional direction to lower-level support staff.

Representative Duties

Human Resources

- Provides administrative support to recruitment functions including, preparing interview binders, scheduling candidates, soliciting rater involvement, copying and collating examination materials, arranging and dismantling interview panel rooms, collecting completed pre-employment examination materials, compiling and filing recruitment close-out folders.

- Provides administrative support in labor contract negotiations, meet and confer sessions, and employee grievances, in coordinating meetings, composing sensitive documents (e.g. District negotiation positions), printing meeting materials, and preparing binders.

- Reserves and schedules facilities for training and various District events and plans for room set-up and participant meals and/or refreshments.

- Creates credit card receipts and enters requests for Purchase Orders into District financial system.

- Prints and collates forms for new hires, including preparing new hire binders.

- Assists in maintaining and organizing human resources files (e.g., Personnel, Recruitment, Labor Relations, etc.), both electronic and hardcopy.

Administrative Services

- Coordinates travel arrangements for the Chief Administrative Officer; implements travel itinerary for the General Manager at the direction of the Executive Assistant of the General Manager (i.e., making airline/lodging/rental car reservations and submitting conference registration.).

- Manages District memberships; enters requisitions into District billing system for processing by Finance.

- Compiles various reports and documents for Administrative Services (e.g., quarterly training report, strategic plan, etc.)

- Ensures the General Manager’s re-occurring meetings with outside entities are accurate and up-to-date.

- Serves as backup to the Office Assistant in preparing Board and Committee meeting packets; prepares and posts meeting notices and agendas; compiles all information to be posted publicly, in accordance with legal requirements; posts all meeting materials onto the District website; photocopies and assemble meeting materials; distribute/deliver packets and materials; prepares Board meeting scripts and templates for meeting minutes.

- Oversees and updates the Board of Directors and District Transparency sections of the District’s website to ensure information is up-to-date.

Employees turning up the heat in our Hot Ones challenge!

Minimum & Desired Qualifications

Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be:

Education: Equivalent to the completion of the twelfth grade supplemented by vocational/technical training in office practices.

Experience: Three years of increasingly responsible clerical, secretarial, and routine administrative support experience. Routine administrative support experience in a human resources department is highly desirable.

Knowledge of:

- General operational characteristics, services, and activities of the functions, programs, and operations of a public agency.

- Principles and practices of fiscal, statistical, and administrative research and report preparation.

- Principles and procedures of record keeping and filing, and business letter writing.

- Principles of agenda preparation and distribution; notice requirements for public meetings, Board actions, ordinances, and resolutions.

- Methods and techniques of public relations.

- Mathematical principles; basic principles and practices of budget preparation and administration.

- Principles and techniques for working with groups and fostering effective team interaction to ensure teamwork is conducted smoothly.

- Techniques for providing a high level of customer service by effectively dealing with the public, vendors, contractors, and District staff.

- The structure and content of the English language, including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

- Modern equipment and communication tools used for business functions and program, project, and task coordination.

- Computers and software programs (e.g., Microsoft software packages, Adobe, etc.) to conduct, compile, and/or generate documentation.

Ability To:

- Perform a full range of secretarial, advanced clerical, and routine administrative and programmatic work of a general or specialized nature involving the use of independent judgment and personal initiative.

- Understand the organization, operation, and services of the District and of outside agencies; understand, interpret, and apply general and specific administrative and departmental policies and procedures; effectively represent the District to outside individuals and agencies; respond to requests and inquiries from the public; advise and provide interpretation to others how to apply policies, procedures, and standards to specific situations.

- Research, compile, analyze, and interpret data; compare, count, differentiate, measure, and/or sort data and information; assemble, copy, record, and transcribe data and information; classify, compute and tabulate data.

- Participate in the preparation of a variety of administrative and financial reports; prepare correspondence and memoranda; implement and maintain standard filing systems.

- Use functional reasoning in performing semi-routine functions involving standardized work with some choice of action.

- Maintain sensitive and confidential information.

- Independently organize work, set priorities, meet critical deadlines, and follow-up on assignments.

- Effectively use computer systems, software applications, and modern business equipment to perform a variety of work tasks.

- Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, using appropriate English grammar and syntax.

- Use tact, initiative, prudence, and independent judgment within general policy, procedural and legal guidelines; exercise good judgment and maintain confidentiality in maintaining critical and sensitive information, records, and reports.

- Establish, maintain, and foster positive and effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

Holidays – Mesa Water provides full-time employees with 107 holiday hours per year, comprised of twelve observed holidays (96 hours) and (11) floating holiday hours.

Vacation – Employees accrue between eighty-eight (88) and one hundred and sixty (160) hours annually, depending on tenure. Accrued time is available to use after six months.

Sick Leave – Employees accrue ninety-six (96) hours per year, with no maximum accrual cap.

Retirement – Mesa Water employees participate in CalPERS retirement.

Effective January 1, 2013, newly hired employees who are new CalPERS members, as defined by the Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), will be enrolled in the CalPERS 2% at age 62 defined benefit plan with a three-year final compensation in accordance with PEPRA. New members will be required to pay 8.25% of pension reportable salary as their full share of their member contribution.

An employee who is a "classic" member of CalPERS or a current member of another California public retirement system who is hired on or after January 1, 2013, will be enrolled in the CalPERS 2% @ 55 benefit formula with one-year final compensation. Effective 1/6/17, employees pay 7.0% of the employee contribution to CalPERS.

The District participates in Social Security. Please contact Human Resources if you have more questions.

Cafeteria Plan Benefits – Employees receive a $2,400 “Flex Credit” allocation per month to be used towards health benefits including medical, dental and vision. Flex credits not used towards benefits may be taken as additional taxable non-“Persable” income.

Deferred Compensation – A voluntary Deferred Compensation Plan (Section 457) is available to employees through Empower Retirement. Eligible employees may receive dollar for dollar employer match up to 3.5% of salary per calendar year.

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) – Employees may participate in either or both of Mesa Water's Section 125 plan flexible spending accounts: Dependent Care Reimbursement (eligible upon hire) and Medical Expense Reimbursement (after one-year).

Life Insurance – Full-time employees are covered by $200,000 in group term life insurance paid by District (benefit decreases at age 65).

Long Term Disability (LTD) – Full-time employees receive District-paid LTD insurance coverage equal to 2/3 of salary ($12,000 maximum monthly benefit) after a 90-day waiting period.

Short-Term Disability – The District participates in State Disability Insurance (SDI).

Automobile Allowance – Management employees receive an Automobile Allowance per month.

9/80 Work Schedule – Employees are offered a 9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off.

Tuition Reimbursement and Educational Incentives

Salary Increases – Based on performance, new Mesa Water employees are eligible for merit step increases at 6-months and 12-months, and annually thereafter.