The Rhode Island Public Defender is seeking an Executive Assistant/Administrative Officer to serve as a liaison between the Public Defender’s Office and the Department of Administration and its administrative divisions relating to human resources, employee benefits, employee retirement, state employee workers’ compensation, the office of diversity, equity and opportunity, accounts and control, purchasing and to administer and manage those subject areas within the Public Defender’s Office.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Personnel Administration and Human Resources—The position performs and is responsible for all aspects of onboarding and offboarding all Public Defender employees, interns, and volunteers. This includes but is not limited to posting and processing Personal Action Request System [“PARS”] for new hires, upgrades, downgrades, and extensions for seasonal employees. Position is also responsible for maintaining and updating employment and intern files and, upon request, responding to employment/internship verification. General personnel-related duties include but are not limited to posting and advertising open positions on both the state jobs website and with other third-party employment recruiting companies; maintaining demographic data of applicants/employees to be incorporated into the agency’s annual affirmative action plan; and coordination with division chiefs regarding employee/intern training.

Payroll—The position processes and is responsible for processing payroll for all office employees, including taking attendance, inputting data into the payroll system, maintaining payroll records and monitoring employee leave time; coordinating employee benefits and employee contact information; preparing and updating register of payroll projections, and processing and paying bills that fall within the state payroll system.

Purchasing- The position will require create Purchase Orders in RI FANS in
accordance with State policies and directives. This requires knowledge of the
State’s Master Price Agreements and State Purchasing laws, soliciting.
quotes/bids when necessary, maintaining files in accordance with the State’s.
Archive schedule, etc. Purchases may include furniture, equipment,
malpractice insurance, computer include, etc.
Coordinate Agency’s Fixed Asset Program according to State’s policies and
directives. Surplus: Coordinate Agency’s Surplus Program according to State’s
polices and directives. Agency liaison with State’s Surplus Program
coordinator.Record daily attendance on each employee’s attendance card. Respond to and address all employee inquiries regarding personnel, payroll, or employee benefits.

Process PARS for new hires, upgrades, downgrades, and extensions for seasonal part-time employees. Record PARS approvals on spreadsheet. Update employee data spreadsheet with any changes to employee’s current position, i.e., step increases, changes in employee benefits.

Compile and respond to any personnel-related reporting obligations such as the annual filing of the agency affirmative action plan.

Serve as liaison between the agency and the awardees of the John R. Justice (JRJ) loan repayment program and between the agency and the loan services agencies for the JRJ program.

Coordinate access to prison facilities for all employees, interns, and part-time seasonal employees.

Procurement: This requires knowledge of the State’s Master Price Agreements and State Purchasing laws, soliciting quotes/bids when necessary, maintaining files in accordance with the State’s Archive schedule.


Petty Cash: Maintain Agony’s petty cash fund.
Make reimbursements to employees, collecting appropriate documentation.
Reconciling petty cash at the end of the fiscal year and submitting documentation to Accounts and Control
Requesting additional petty cash funds as needed

General Ledger: Create journals to pay for interdepartmental purchases.

Purchase Card:
Manage Agency’s Purchase Card program.
Assigning natural accounts for purchases
Submitting monthly transaction report to Accounts and Control
Entering Purchase card data into Agency’s ledger and reconciling with the State’s general ledger.


Applicants should possess a general knowledge of human resources in the state agency context. Strong candidates will be familiar with, and have experience administering and processing, the state payroll systems. Applicants should have basic computer literacy, familiarity with Excel spreadsheets and Microsoft applications, and a proficiency in mathematical calculations. The Public Defender’s Office specializes in providing legal services to people living at or below the poverty level and people with a history of criminal legal involvement and/or incarceration; an applicant’s interest in and/or dedication to the mission of the office and its clients is a strong plus.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Education: Such as may have been gained through graduation with a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education, or education and experience that is substantially equivalent, and

Experience: Such as may have been gained through employment or previous experience in a similar position in a related field.