Administrative Support Assistant

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); Brewerton (NY); On-site; USD 41,000 - 53,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

None

Job summary

USDA APHIS in the United States is seeking an Administrative Support Assistant to perform a range of support duties including timekeeping, travel system assistance, FOIA responses, and record-keeping for office programs.

The role involves maintaining property inventories, personnel files, and awards databases, with emphasis on accuracy, compliance, and timely communication. This GS-5 level opportunity is wide-ranging and team-oriented.

Qualifications

• Experience maintaining the filing system, both physical and electronic.
• Experience analyzing and reporting findings from financial systems and ledgers.
• Experience working with agreements and reporting.
• Experience scheduling and organizing planning meetings.

Responsibilities

• Serves as timekeeper for Time and Attendance processing (WebTA).
• Assists employees in the use of the travel system.
• Responds to FOIA requests and assists the public.
• Maintains inventory of property and handles transfers/disposals.
• Maintains employee performance documents.
• Processes awards and maintains awards database.
• Maintains files per records management policies and APHIS guidelines.
• Responds to routine correspondence; edits for grammar and spelling.
• Performs other related administrative duties.

Skills

Filing systems

Financial reporting

Agreements management

Meeting scheduling

Education

Four years above high school

Job description

Find Your Future With Us at USDA – Animal Plant Health Inspection Service

Job Summary

In this position you will serve as Administrative Support Assistant with responsibility for performing and conducting a variety of support work in the areas of procurement and supply, data processing, property, time and travel, personnel support duties, and program record-keeping.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. FOR THE GS-5 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-4 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates: Experience maintaining the filing system, both physical and electronic for an entire office/program. Experience organizing, reviewing, error checking, querying, analyzing and reporting findings from financial systems and ledgers. Experience working with agreements, including initiating agreements, cooperator contact, and reporting. Experience scheduling and organizing planning meetings for small and large groups and managing the various needs of the meeting. OR Education: Four years above high school. Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level. TRANSCRIPTS are required if: You are qualifying for the position based on education. You are qualifying for this position based on a combination of experience and education. This education must have been successfully completed and obtained from an accredited school, college, or university. COMBINATION OF EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE AT THE GS-5 GRADE LEVEL: Applicants may have combinations of successfully completed education and specialized experience to meet total qualification requirements. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for that grade level. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Major Duties

• Serves as timekeeper for Time and Attendance processing, in accordance with appropriate system (i.e., WebTA) policies and procedures.
• Assists employees in the use of the travel system.
• Assists the office/program unit in responding to common Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and Department or Agency data calls, and assists the public.
• Maintains a current inventory of property assigned to the office/program unit. Ensures that transfers, disposals, and other property transactions are properly conducted and documented.
• Maintains employee performance documents for the office/program unit.
• Processes awards, maintains awards database, and ensures proper routing of awards for the office/program unit.
• Maintains administrative and program files in accordance with Federal records management policies, procedures, schedules and guidelines, APHIS policies, and the WS File Plan.
• Responds to routine correspondence on own initiative.
• Reviews and edits correspondence for grammatical correctness, typographical accuracy, and/or spelling.
• Performs other related administrative duties as assigned.

Position Start Date

11/04/2026

Position Close Date

11/10/2026

Salary Offered

40736 - 52957 USD Per Year

You can make a difference! The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP) needs bright, energetic and committed professionals to facilitate the domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products and to protect the health and care of animals and plants in the United States. We operate in domestic and global markets. Be part of an organization that protects the health and agriculture of the American people. Join our team! To learn more about what it's like to work at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, what the agency does, and the types of careers, please visit the APHIS careers site. APHIS is an emergency response agency. This means that all Agency employees may be asked or assigned to participate in rotating temporary duty assignments to support emergency programs at some time during their careers with APHIS. For details click: APHIS Emergency Response.