Sheriff's Office Administrative Assistant - Confidential

Position Information

Salary Range

$31.99 - $38.88/Hourly

$2,567.96 - $3,121.05/Biweekly
$5,563.91 - $6,762.27/Monthly
$66,766.97 - $81,147.23/Annually

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office seeks a highly skilled Administrative Assistant to join their team!

Starting salary up to $38.88/hour ($81,147/year), an additional $1.50/hour Confidential Premium in addition to the hourly pay rate, and a competitive total compensation package!*

What We Offer

Working at the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office offers expansive opportunities for growth and development, the ability to be a part of a challenging and rewarding work environment, and the satisfaction of knowing you're working to better our communities. You can also look forward to flexible work arrangements and excellent benefits* including:

• Salary Advancement - A salary increase after 1,040 hours (6 months when working full-time) for good work performance; eligibility for a salary increase for good performance every year thereafter, until reaching the top of the salary range
• Paid Time Off - Competitive vacation and sick leave accruals, 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year
• County Paid Health Premium Contributions - 100% premium contribution for the majority of employee-only and employee + family health plan options
• Post-Retirement Health Reimbursement Arrangement - County contributions to help fund post-retirement health insurance/benefits
• Retirement - A pension fully integrated with Social Security
• Paid Parental Leave - May be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) after 12 months of County employment
• Additional Benefits: Excellent dental, vision, disability, life insurance, employee assistance program, professional development, and more
• Student Loan Debt Relief - County employees may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education

About the Position

The Sheriff's Office Administrative Assistant provides high-level administrative support to the Sheriff’s Office Executive Management Team. This position plays a critical role in coordinating executive schedules, managing Board-related documentation, and supporting leadership operations within a highly confidential environment. The role requires professionalism, discretion, independent judgment, and the ability to proactively manage daily administrative duties. This position is responsible for:

• Managing calendars for the Sheriff’s Office Executive Management Team
• Entering all Board items into the County of Sonoma Board system and coordinating the review process
• Coordinating printing and distribution of the Sheriff’s annual budget document
• Tracking office contracts and insurance certificates; maintaining contract databases and binders; conducting quarterly contract audits
• Attending meetings in support of management, which include scheduling, creating agendas, and minute-taking
• Serving as the backup to the Executive Assistant to the Sheriff as needed
• Exercising discretion when handling sensitive information
• Working independently with minimal supervision
• Taking initiative to complete tasks beyond routine day-to-day operations

The ideal candidate will possess many of the following:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, Outlook, and Excel
• Expert experience in meeting preparation, minute-taking, and drafting professional correspondence
• Experience remediating documents and a strong understanding of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance requirements related to office documents and correspondence
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to make independent decisions and exercise sound judgment
• Ability to analyze requests and determine urgency, sensitivity, and appropriate escalation to the executive team
• Demonstrated discretion and emotional intelligence when handling confidential and sensitive information
• Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships across all levels of the organization

About the Sheriff's Office

Serving the community since 1850, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office employs over 650 employees to protect and secure the half-million residents within the 1,768 square miles of Sonoma County. With more than 30 different highly trained and specialized units, you can be confident that a career with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office will be anything but monotonous.

The Sheriff's Office policy is that all employees, civilian and law enforcement, are required to successfully complete a thorough background investigation prior to employment. This policy is imperative in order to keep the Sheriff's Office employees and the public safe, and to maintain high standards in the law enforcement and detention community. For more details, see the background investigation section of this job announcement.

This recruitment is being conducted to fill a Sheriff's Office Administrative Assistant - Confidential position in the Sheriff's Office. This employment list may also be used to fill future full-time, part-time, or extra-help (temporary) positions as they occur during the active status of the list. Qualified County employees who wish to be considered for future positions should consider applying to this recruitment. The Civil Service title for this position is Secretary.

*Salary is negotiable within the established range. Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice. Additional information can be found in the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 Memorandum Of Understanding (SEIU MOU) and our Employee Benefits Directory .

Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire to be completed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: Any combination of education, vocational training and work experience which provides the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and abilities listed. Normally, formal coursework in secretarial skills and three or more years of general clerical work experience which includes working with personal computers will provide this opportunity.

Performance Skills: The ability to type accurately at the rate of 45 words per minute is required.

License: Possession of a valid driver's license at the appropriate level including special endorsements, as required by the State of California, may be required depending upon assignment to perform the essential job functions of the position.

The position advertised on this announcement does not require possession of a valid California Driver’s License.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Considerable knowledge of: the organization, services, programs and functions of the agency in order to plan, evaluate, coordinate and perform clerical support and minor administrative functions; departmental and general clerical work practices from reference materials, procedures, guidelines, written formats, and timetables to schedule events; compile, consolidate and summarize information; authorize and/or submit claims, requisitions, payroll time reports; and answer a variety of information such as work progress, routings, application of procedures to specific situations, agendas, status of accounts, location of materials, and coordination of clerical support and administrative functions; English grammar, spelling, written format and punctuation; the functions, timetables, workload, and priority of the administrative and professional positions served; the procedures, work practices, format and routines associated with secretarial responsibilities to one or more commissions or boards if such work has been assigned.

Working knowledge of: the principles of supervision and office practices to instruct and provide training to secretarial and general clerical positions; office equipment and filing systems, including personal computers and/or terminals, as well as business software programs generally used by County departments.

Knowledge of: the principal administrative employee's style of writing and thinking in order to compose routine correspondence in his or her absence and to clarify wordage or sentence structure not necessitating review.

Ability to: select, understand and apply regulations, rules, procedures, office routine and work practices related to a variety of clerical support and minor administrative work functions in the department or division located; exercise discretion and good judgment in coordinating and performing work assigned; independently initiate, prioritize, perform or solve problems related to deviations in work assigned in order to meet fixed or fluctuating deadlines and achieve work objectives; coordinate the submittal of a variety of information such as resolutions, reports and appeals to be heard by commission or board members and to prioritize subject matter to be heard by content and implication as well as structural format; summarize motions, divisions, appeals, and actions presented before or taken by commission or board members and to organize and transcribe such into minutes of meetings when such work has been assigned; take verbatim dictation during board or commission meetings; instruct or advise co-workers in the proper routines, procedures, office practice, or step-by-step sequence to properly compile and summarize data in order to consolidate fiscal, statistical or informational data for the use of the supervisor or to comply with procedural or administrative requirements; screen and prioritize correspondence, phone calls or visitors seeking the personal attention of the supervisor and to refer matters which may be adequately handled by someone other than the supervisor to the appropriate person or department section; select, extract and organize a variety of information related to different department programs, services, or functions for the use of the supervisor in answering complaints, inquiries or preparing administrative reports; answer procedural, factual and semi-technical questions related to department services, programs, or functions; schedule appointments, maintain supervisor's calendar and coordinate calendared events with other departments, agencies, private concerns and affected individuals; compose correspondence in answer to routine inquiries or complaints; recognize and know the purpose of standardized forms related to department services, functions and programs; deal with the general public and co-workers in a tactful, courteous and effective manner; safeguard classified materials or contents of closed or sealed meetings; independently set-up, prepare and summarize control records such as department, division or sectional budget, expenditures, fund, or revenue records, personnel, time and leave records, production output, census and statistical records, and purchasing and inventory control records.

Selection Procedure & Some Helpful Tips When Applying

• Your application information and your responses to the supplemental questions are evaluated and taken into consideration throughout the entire selection process.
• You should list all employers and positions held within the last ten years in the work history section of your application. Be as thorough as possible when responding to the supplemental questions.
• You may include history beyond ten years if related to the position for which you are applying. If you held multiple positions with one employer, list out each position separately.
• Failure to follow these instructions may impact your competitiveness in this process or may result in disqualification.

Please visit Getting a Job with the County of Sonoma to review more detailed information about the application, examination, and department selection processes.

Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire to be completed. Responses to supplemental questions will be scored using position-specific criteria. Please provide specific and detailed responses of a reasonable length to allow for a thorough assessment of your qualifications. Responses that state "See Resume" or "See Application" may be considered insufficient and therefore may not be scored.
The selection procedure will consist of the following examination:

An Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination (weight 100%) will be conducted to evaluate each applicant's application and supplemental questionnaire for satisfaction of minimum qualifications (pass/not pass); and for educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge, and abilities which relate to this position. Personally identifiable information (PII) is removed from the standard application fields and applicable attachments. This PII blind screening practice redacts a candidate’s personal information that could potentially influence or bias the scoring process. Personal information includes the applicant’s name, former last name, address, phone number, email, driver's license number, school name, education start and end dates, age, date of birth, gender, and race. This PII blind screening practice helps contribute to a fair and equitable examination process.

Each applicant will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Relevance of work history, related experience, and achieved level of education and/or training as described in the application and responses to the supplemental questions.

Candidates demonstrating possession of the minimum qualifications will be placed on an employment list in order of most qualified to least qualified based on the achieved score received in the Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination, which evaluates the education, training, experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, and other qualifications that you demonstrate in your application and/or response to the supplemental questionnaire. Please be aware that resumes and cover letters are not typically evaluated in the Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination. Scores may be adjusted based on such factors as the number of candidates, anticipated vacancies, past practice, and natural breaks in the scores achieved by this group of candidates.

Additional Information

Being part of the Sheriff's Office and being expected to keep the public safe requires a thorough background investigation process. This process includes an assessment of prior work history, verifying educational experiences, court reports, public records searches, and understanding past patterns relating to drug usage, financial patterns, etc. This entails gathering a significant amount of information from job candidates and speaking to former employers, friends, family members, etc. Polygraphs, drug tests, and medical and physical examinations are also part of this process. Candidates must be honest and forthcoming about information that may arise during the background process. Deception during any portion of this process is grounds for disqualification, even after employment. This process can take anywhere from 3-5 months. Many factors are taken into consideration and one should not assume a credit issue or prior drug use is automatically disqualifying. Candidates will be given the opportunity to present mitigating information they feel should be considered. You are encouraged to be as responsive as possible while this process is taking place to help expedite the timeline, and we encourage you to stay patient and interested in this great career opportunity while this process is taking place.

You may also review the Job Classification Screening Schedule to determine the requirements for this position.

Please read the Sheriff's Office Pre-Employment Drug Use Guidelines for further information.

How to Apply
Applications are accepted online at: www.yourpath2sonomacounty.org . Paper applications may be submitted by person, fax (707-565-3770), email, or through the mail. All applications and appropriate supplemental information as outlined in the job bulletin must be RECEIVED by the time and date specified on the first page of this job announcement. Applications received after the recruitment closes will not be accepted.

The County of Sonoma values diversity and is dedicated to creating a workplace environment that provides individuals with a sense of belonging. We are committed to having a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. The County is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer where all aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance, and business need.

HR Analyst: KK
HR Tech: VH

Important Note: Benefits described herein do not apply to Extra Help positions.

County of Sonoma Benefits: General*

These are some of the excellent benefits the County offers:

Paid Time Off: Competitive vacation accrual and sick leave accruals; additional management leave annually; 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year; and may be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) of Paid Parental Leave after 12 months of County employment.

Health Plan: Choose from nine health plans (three HMOs, three deductible HMOs, and three HSA-qualifying plans) with a generous County contribution to the premium (the contribution amount varies by bargaining unit). For more information, please see the appropriate MOU.

Retirement: Fully integrated with Social Security. For more information regarding eligibility, retirement contributions, and reciprocity with prior public service, please visit https://scretire.org/active-/-deferred/when-you-are-hired .

IRS 457 Plan: Pre-tax employee contribution up to the IRS annual maximum.

Retiree Medical: County contribution to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement to help fund post-retirement employee health insurance/benefits.

Student Loan Debt Relief: County employees may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education.

Plus, excellent dental, vision, disability, life insurance, professional development, and more.

For answers to specific questions regarding the employment process and more details about benefits or retirement, please contact Human Resources at (707) 565-2331. Additional details about benefit and compensation packages can be found in the MOUs located at Labor Agreements & Salary Resolution . For specific information about health and welfare benefits, including plan options, coverage, and premium amounts, go to Human Resources or contact the Human Resources' Risk Management-Benefits Office at benefits@sonomacounty.gov or (707) 565-2900.

*Important Notes: Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice.

Closing Date/Time: 1/29/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

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• County of Sonoma

• 707-565-8059

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