Purchasing Assistant

The City of Alexandria is located in Northern Virginia and is bordered by the District of Columbia (Potomac River), Arlington, and Fairfax counties. With a population of approximately 150,000 and a land area of 15.75 square miles, Alexandria is the seventh largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Alexandria has a vibrant waterfront and is a unique and historic place to live and work. About one-quarter of the City's square miles have been designated as a national or local historic district. We proudly embrace our racially and culturally diverse community. If you are interested in working for the progressive City of Alexandria, we invite qualified candidates to apply for the Purchasing Assistant position.

An Overview

The City of Alexandria’s Finance Department is looking for a friendly, collaborative, and detail-oriented Purchasing Assistant to join our team. As a member of the Purchasing Division, the Purchasing Assistant supports the City’s procurement operations by facilitating incoming communication, helping to administer departmental programs, verifying and updating vendor information, and performing other administrative tasks. The Purchasing Assistant performs a variety of administrative functions, such as fielding telephone calls, distributing internal mail, scheduling calendar events, and assisting with project deliverables. A significant amount of this work involves the use of Microsoft Office (e.g., Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Publisher), Adobe Acrobat, and the City’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, Munis. The Purchasing Assistant provides quality customer service to all internal and external stakeholders under the general supervision of the Deputy Purchasing Agent.

What You Should Bring

The ideal candidate is a clear and effective communicator who can multitask in a fast-paced environment and is willing to build and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and customers.

Additional skills and abilities include:

• Excellent customer service skills;
• Basic knowledge of public purchasing or local government;
• Skill in Microsoft Office (e.g., Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Publisher) and Adobe Acrobat; and
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.

The Opportunity - Examples of Work

• Assisting with the City’s Purchase Card program, including facilitating the timely submission of monthly reports from departments and conducting transaction audits;
• Assisting internal and external customers of the City’s surplus property program;
• Facilitating registration and recordkeeping for the City’s employee purchasing training program;
• Fielding and routing incoming telephone calls, emails, and mail;
• Creating and updating division meeting schedules;
• Facilitating responses to division FOIA requests, including routing requests to appropriate staff and compiling documents;
• Maintaining the vendor database in Munis, the City’s ERP system, and assisting vendors in using the Vendor Self-Service online system;
• Performing general administrative work on special projects, including reviewing, proofreading, and formatting documents; and
• Performing related work as required.

About the Department

The City of Alexandria's Finance Department is a fast-paced, diverse, and customer service focused operation that is responsible for the assessment, collection, and enforcement of all City taxes, the management of cash flow and investments, accounting for and reporting the City’s financial position, processing payroll, executing a fair and competitive procurement environment, assessing all real and personal property in the City, managing the City’s risk and safety programs, and managing the City’s pension plans. The Finance Department has seven divisions and in fiscal year 2022 is operating with a total budget of $13.6 million and 107.25 FTE positions.

The goal of the Finance Department is to treat all employees, citizens, and business owners professionally, with fairness and compassion.

Minimum & Additional Requirements

High school diploma; at least one (1) year of procurement clerical experience at a level equivalent to an Account Clerk III; completion of college-level work in business and/or procurement principles and techniques; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in a public purchasing environment; intermediate skill in Microsoft Office (e.g., scheduling Outlook meetings, facilitating Teams virtual meetings, basic Excel functions, use of Publisher); four-year degree in business, finance, public administration, or a related field.

Notes

This position requires the successful completion of pre-employment background checks including but not limited to a criminal background check. The selection process for this position may include a phone or virtual interview, in-person interview, and/or written examination.

The starting salary range for this position is $39,239.98 to $52,565.24 (midpoint of grade), based on qualifications and experience. This range will increase by 4.5% effective June 25, 2022 (before a successful candidate starts).