JOB TITLE: Principal Assistant - Fire

DEPARTMENT: Fire Department

LOCATION: Duxbury Fire Station

REPORTS TO: Fire Chief

FLSA STATUS: Non-Exempt – Non-benefit eligible

POSITION GRADE: Personnel Plan Grade 3

PAY: Pay range starts at $23.23 per hour, actual pay dependent upon qualifications.

WORK SCHEDULE: Part time, 19 hours per week, variable hours, non-benefit eligible

Statement of Duties: Answers telephones, greets the public and assist with their needs. Performs information and referral services to the general public, issues permits, licenses and other documents. Maintains computer filing system for scheduling permits, licenses, public education and other personnel documentation/transactions. Assists the public, other town departments and vendors by furnishing a variety of routine information and assistance and resolving minor problems and complaints. Collect fees and/or fines. Type a variety of documents including correspondence, memorandums, meetings, orders, warrants, vouchers, purchase orders and agendas. Interprets and applies established policies and procedures where clear and ample precedents have been established. Searches documents to answer factual inquiries and to locate information. Schedules inspections

Supervision Required: Under general supervision of the Fire Chief the employee is familiar with the work routine and uses initiative in carrying out recurring assignments independently with specific instruction. The supervisor provides additional, specific instruction for new, difficult or unusual assignments, including suggested work methods. The employee is expected to recognize instances which are out of the ordinary and which do not fall within existing instructions; the employee is then expected to seek advice and further instructions. Supervisor reviews and checks employee’s work to be aware of progress, to insure that completed work and methods used are technically accurate and that instructions are being followed. However, in some cases, the work is self-checking, for example, requiring accounts to balance before proceeding.

Supervisory Responsibility: Employee, as a regular and continuing part of the job is not required to supervise any employees.

Confidentiality: Employee has access to some confidential information obtained during performance of regular position responsibilities in accordance with the State Public Records Law.

Accountability: Consequences of errors, missed deadlines or poor judgment may include adverse public relations, monetary loss, missed deadlines, legal repercussions or jeopardize programs.

Judgment: Numerous standardized practices, procedures, or general instructions govern the work, and in some cases, may require additional interpretation. Judgment is needed to locate, select, and apply the most pertinent practice, procedure, regulation, or guideline.

Complexity: The work consists of a variety of duties which generally follow standardized practices, procedures, regulations or guidelines. The sequence of work and/or the procedures followed vary according to the nature of the transaction and/or the information involved or sought in a particular situation.

Work Environment: The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant.

Nature and Purpose of Public Contact: Relationships with co-workers and the public involve frequent explanation, discussion or interpretation of practices, procedures, regulations or guidelines in order to render service, plan or coordinate work efforts, or resolve operating problems. More than ordinary courtesy, tact, and diplomacy may be required to resolve complaints or deal with uncooperative or uninformed persons. Employee may furnish news media with routine information such as meeting agendas, press releases or department programs.

Occupational Risk: Duties of the job present little potential for injury to the employee. Risk exposure is similar to that found in typical library or office settings.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

1. Answers non-emergency Fire department telephones, assists the public, member towns, town departments and vendors by furnishing a variety of routine information and assistance and resolving minor problems and complaints.

2. Assist in the compilation and organization of related materials into system Red Alert database.

3. Assists with Fire permit scheduling including management of the master schedule and collects fees and/or fines.

4. Administers the use of training/meeting rooms including the scheduling of room usage and communication with staff and other users.

5. Maintains other important departmental records requiring careful recording, classification and compilation of various materials.

6. Provides information and referral services to the general public, issues permits, licenses and other documents.

7. Prepares a variety of documents including correspondence, memorandums, meeting notices.

8. Manages inbound, outbound, postal and interoffice deliveries. Including deliveries and pickups at the Town Hall and USPS. Also directs in-coming parcel and package delivery personnel within the Fire Department.

9. Distributes reports, memos and necessary information to appropriate persons.

10. Maintains, files and uploads instructed documentation within Red Alert.

11. Schedules inspections and provides proper accounting and security of funds received.

12. Manages Public Education schedule, is liaison between Fire and school personnel, as well as Duxbury residents, for Fire Safety presentations.

13. Provides backup office coverage as needed to ensure coverage as necessary.

14. Immediately transfers any call for emergent fire services to a certified ROCCC Dispatcher.

15. Assists with printing/copying of materials as needed for budget preparation, presentations and award ceremonies.

Recommended Minimum Qualifications:

Education and Experience: Associate’s degree with one to three (1-3) years related work experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Special Requirements: None

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge: Common policies, practices and procedures of the department and office operations including principles of bookkeeping; laws and regulations pertinent to position functions. Working knowledge of the Internet in support of department operations.

Abilities: Ability to interact effectively and appropriately with the staff, member towns and the public, perform multiple tasks and maintain confidential information.

Skills: Proficient personal computer skills, proficient in Microsoft Excel, mathematical skills, recordkeeping and clerical skills, written and oral communication skills. Effective customer service skills.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Demands: Little or no physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as books, office equipment and computer paper.

Motor Skills: Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone system, computer and/or most other office equipment, typing and/or word processing, filing, and sorting of papers.

Visual Demands: Visual demands require the employee to constantly read documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.