Job Announcement

Elected member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors seeks a highly motivated individual for the position of Staff Aide. The Staff Aide supports the Board of Supervisors Member’s efforts to serve as an advocate for the jurisdiction’s neighborhoods, solve problems for constituents, develop policy initiatives, and effectively manage county government.

Helps constituents by facilitating their access to services, ensuring that issues are resolved by the appropriate office, acting as a liaison to government offices and organizations, or locating requested information. This position will include a focus on environmental, climate change and parks issues.

Responsibilities include responding to constituent requests, managing a portfolio of issue areas, interacting with state and county agencies and organizations, and more. Ability to listen to constituents’ concerns and ascertain their needs, and to work diligently to resolve issues, is essential.

Environmental work associated with this position will include, but not be limited to the following areas:

• County environmental policy research and development
• Parks and trails
• Streams, lakes, and watersheds; water quality
• Climate change
• Tree issues
• Environmental protection

Additional responsibilities of this position may include outreach to communities throughout the Supervisor District. The Staff Aide will also develop relationships with entities such as government offices, nonprofit organizations, and other community groups.

Illustrative Duties

• Responds to constituent concerns by connecting constituent with the appropriate office or resource;
• Builds and maintains relationships with neighborhood and community organizations as well as county staff;
• Provides administrative and technical support to board member and staff;
• Researches, organizes and maintains legislative and other materials for board member and staff;
• Drafts and/or edits written materials, such as correspondence and summaries of information for public dissemination;
• Assists in planning various aspects of special projects and essential programs, to include coordinating meetings;
• Sets up, monitors, records, and provides staff assistance for meetings, including some evening and weekend meetings;
• Tracks issues of concern and provides updates to board member and staff.

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of techniques and practices of research methodology, data collection, and preliminary analysis; report and memorandum writing; application and use of basic statistics; and interview techniques sufficient to obtain information related to administrative matters.
• Must demonstrate interpersonal skills.
• Ability to collect, compile and analyze data; understand and explain laws, regulations and policies governing program operations; communicate effectively orally and in writing; establish and maintain effective working relationships with management, staff, and constituents; understand program objectives in relation to departmental goals and procedures; organize and prioritize work assignments; use and understand common database, spreadsheet and word processing applications.

Employment Standards

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Any combination of education, experience, and training equivalent to a bachelor's degree in political science, public policy, public administration, environmental science, energy management, business administration, English, communications, or a related field.

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:

• Must possess, or be able to obtain, a Virginia driver's license.
• Must possess, or be able to obtain, a notary public license from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• The successful candidate must be familiar with local government and the legislative process and possess exceptional written and verbal communications skills.
• Experience with public service, to include work in the community.
• Demonstrated experience in public advocacy for topical areas such as environmental, climate change, natural resources, and/or parks issues.
• Ties to Fairfax County, highly desirable.
• Ability to multitask, work independently and quickly change priorities.
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Office Suite applications, to include Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Due to the scope and responsibilities associated with the position, the appointee must be willing and able to work occasional evening and weekend hours.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
This position is primarily sedentary; may require lifting up to 15 pounds. All duties performed with or without reasonable accommodations.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview.

TO APPLY:
Please send your resume and cover letter outlining your education, experience, and availability to novagovtjob@gmail.com and include "22-02574 Staff Aide" in the subject line.

This job announcement is listed as "Open Continuous". Interested applicants are advised to submit their applications as soon as possible. Applications will be reviewed and qualified applicants will be referred until the position(s) have been filled or when a sufficient number of qualified applications have been received. If your application is received later in the recruitment process, it may not be reviewed or considered.

The population of Fairfax County is very diverse where 39.8% of residents speak a language other than English at home (Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and others) and we encourage candidates bilingual in English and a foreign language to apply to this opportunity.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Contact 703-324-4900 for assistance. TTY 703-222-7314. EEO/AA/TTY.