Administrative Assistant 3 - Professional Certification

State of Washington; United States; Hybrid; USD 48,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Infant at Work

Flexible schedules

Telework options

Job summary

OSPI, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in Olympia, Washington, is seeking an Administrative Assistant 3 in a permanent, full-time role. The position supports the Teaching, Learning, & School Improvement division with calendar management, document handling, travel and purchasing tasks, and budget support.

A flexible telework option is available, though training requires in-office presence. The role emphasizes DEIB, compliance with state and agency policies, and collaboration

Qualifications

• High school graduation or GED plus 3 years of admin/clerical experience, or an associate's degree with 2 years, or a bachelor’s degree with 1 year.
• Ability to attend mandatory in-person meetings and trainings.
• Experience with Microsoft Office is preferred.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the Director/Department.
• Manage calendars and scheduling for the team.
• Prepare and distribute meeting materials; take notes.
• Coordinate travel, purchasing, contracts, grants, and budgeting tasks.
• Support records management, ADA compliance, and web updates as needed.
• Assist with office operations and data reporting.

Skills

Calendar management

Written and verbal communication

Attention to detail

Customer service

Education

High school graduation or GED

Associates degree

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Outlook

Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Summary

GENERAL SERVICE

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Administrative Assistant 3 - Professional Certification

$48,048—$64,512 annually

Closes November 19, 2026

The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) seeks to fill an Administrative Assistant 3 position within the Professional Certification Department. This full-time permanent position is based in Olympia, Washington. This position may be eligible for partial- to near-full-time telework. Telework is a combination of in-building and off-site days. During your training period you will be required to be in the office 5 days per week. After you’ve completed your initial training, you may have the option to work from home 2 days a week on a flexible telework schedule. While we’re happy to offer this balance of in-office connections and telework flexibility, this isn’t a fully remote position. We encourage interested candidates to visit the OSPI website to gain insight into our agency.

About OSPI and our initiatives

OSPI is the primary agency charged with overseeing public K–12 education in Washington state. Working with the state's 295 public school districts and 7 state-tribal education compact schools, OSPI allocates funding and provides tools, resources, and technical assistance so every student in Washington is provided a high-quality public education.

• We support a healthy work/life balance by offering flexible/alternative work schedules and mobile and telework options. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We have an Infant at Work Program that is based on long-term values of newborns and infant-parent bonding. Eligible employees who are new parents or legal guardians can bring their infant (six weeks to six months) when returning to work. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We value and are actively involved in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within OSPI by way of cross-divisional, collaborative committee. The focus of the committee includes employee engagement and education; reinforcing OSPI values; and maximizing the value of diversity and identifying strategies for inclusion.

Vision, Mission, and Values

Vision: All students prepared for post-secondary pathways, careers, and civic engagement.

Mission: Transform K-12 education to a system that is centered on closing opportunity gaps and is characterized by high expectations for all students and educators. We achieve this by developing equity-based policies and supports that empower educators, families, and communities.

Values: Ensuring Equity, Collaboration and Service, Achieving Excellence through Continuous Improvement, Focus on the Whole Child

Equity

Each student, family, and community possesses strengths and cultural knowledge that benefits their peers, educators, and schools. Ensuring educational equity:

• Goes beyond equality; it requires education leaders to examine the ways current policies and practices result in disparate outcomes for our students of color, students living in poverty, students receiving special education and English Learner services, students who identify as LGBTQ+, and highly mobile student populations.
• Requires education leaders to develop an understanding of historical contexts; engage students, families, and community representatives as partners in decision‑making; and actively dismantle systemic barriers, replacing them with policies and practices that ensure all students have access to the instruction and support they need to succeed in our schools.

Position Overview

This position will provide essential administrative support to the Teaching, Learning, & School Improvement division. Administrative duties may include providing support for specific teams or agency wide as needed. The objective of this position is to provide essential administrative support to ensure smooth and efficient operations. This role involves independently performing comprehensive, complex administrative duties, including planning, organizing, and prioritizing work to meet internal and external deadlines. Responsibilities typically include, but are not limited to, calendar management; editing and formatting complex Word documents; coordinating meeting logistics; travel arrangements and support; purchasing; compiling reports and data; coordinating office operations; and providing additional support as needed for budget, contracts, website updates, and ADA compliance.

Key Responsibilities

Administrative Support to Director/Department

• Keeping supervisor apprised of urgent, confidential, and sensitive situations.
• Processing mail
• Meeting with the team regularly to review workload, prioritize tasks, and coordinate schedules.
• Creating or maintaining office databases, distribution lists, and filing systems.
• Performing complex word processing tasks (merging, sorting, integrating text with graphics).
• Tracking and maintaining office supplies.
• Reporting on work assignments and project status.
• Maintaining calendars and scheduling.
• Ensuring compliance with and processing requests in accordance with state, federal, and agency policies and procedures.
• Engaging in independent and collaborative professional development opportunities to include diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) learning as directed by the department and division, as well as other mandatory trainings.

Fiscal Support - Travel, Purchasing, Contracts, Grants, Budget in accordance with state (SAAM), federal, and agency policy.

Travel support

• Preparing and maintaining travel requests, processing travel reimbursements, and registration purchase requests. Staying current on state and agency policies and procedures.
• Monitoring travel requests and reimbursements throughout the process and collaborating with agency staff as needed to get paperwork completed, approved, and finalized.
• Preparing and managing purchase requests.

Contract support

Drafting, formatting, editing, submitting, monitoring, and paying invoices.

Grant support

Drafting, editing, and submitting requests, tracking deliverables and expenditures, and drafting reports.

Fiscal support

• Processing invoices.
• Monitoring program budget(s) and providing expenditure estimates and updates as necessary.

Meeting/Event Coordination and Support

• Scheduling meetings, taking notes, and distributing information.
• Providing on-site setup, registration, technology support, document distribution, and customer support.
• Preparing meeting documents (expense forms, committee/consultant forms, notices, agendas, PowerPoint presentations, and other preparatory tasks as needed).
• Scheduling and reserving meeting and conference locations (rooms and venues).
• Making travel reservations such as plane, car, and hotel.
• Providing virtual meeting setup, support, breakout rooms, polls, chats, and posting materials.
• Utilizing software for closed captioning.

Communications Support

• Creating and supporting surveys.
• Reviewing and verifying that all public-facing materials, such as forms and presentations, conform to agency standards and ensure ADA compliance.
• Responding to phone calls and emails by providing program information and technical assistance.
• Composing correspondence, bulletins, and other official communications in accordance with agency standards.
• Monitoring and updating program and department websites by drafting content, submitting requests, and reviewing for updates and corrections.

Records Management

• Conducting and ensuring compliance with paper and electronic retention and archiving requirements.
• Providing support for teams making public records requests.

Other Duties

• Supporting Human Resources activities (recruitments, personnel action requests, hiring requests, evaluation and expectations)
• Providing coverage for other departments/divisions as needed.
• Providing front desk support on an as‑needed basis.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• High school graduation or GED equivalent AND Three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in office/clerical, secretarial, bookkeeping, accounting, or general administrative work experience OR
• Associates degree AND 2 years of progressively responsible experience in office/clerical, secretarial, bookkeeping, accounting, or general administrative work experience OR
• Bachelor’s degree AND 1 year of experience in office/clerical, secretarial, bookkeeping, accounting, or general administrative work experience
• This position requires the ability to attend mandatory in-person meetings, trainings, or events that may be additional in-person days outside of approved telework agreement

Desired Qualifications

• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite, especially Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Experience with calendar management, especially supporting supervisory positions.
• Possess strong writing and speaking skills: knowledge of proper English grammar, punctuation, correspondence formatting, proofreading, and using Plain Talk principles in a business setting.

Compensation

The annual compensation for the position is $48,048—$64,512, depending on experience, educational background, and qualifications. Geographic differentials may be applied based on work location of successful candidate. Washington State offers a generous benefit package including health, dental and life insurance, retirement and an optional deferred compensation program. Please visit Health Care Authority for information regarding health benefits and the Department of Retirement Systems for retirement plan information. This is a general service position. This position is not represented by a bargaining unit.

Contact Information

Please address any questions to:

Sal Salazar, Human ResourcesOffice of Superintendent of Public Instruction

600 Washington Street Southeast

Olympia, Washington 98504-7200

360-725-6278: [e-mail]

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the Human Resources Office at [phone] or [phone], or e-mail [e-mail].

OSPI is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from job seekers who will contribute to our diversity. OSPI provides equal access to all programs and services without discrimination based on sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. If you would like, please include your name and gender pronouns in your application, to ensure we address you appropriately throughout the application process. Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the human resource consultant listed in “Application Process.”