CDA-Animal Health Administrative Assistant (Administrative Assistant II)

Full Job Description

Agriculture is a part of all our lives. When you eat, put on clothes, or care for an animal--your life is touched by agriculture.

Colorado's food and agriculture industry generated $47 billion of economic activity in 2019 and supports nearly 5% of the state's workforce. CDA is proud to be a part of such an important industry.

Mission:

The CDA's mission is to strengthen and advance Colorado's agriculture; promote a safe and high-quality food supply; protect consumers; and foster responsible stewardship of the environment.

CDA Wildly Important Goals:

To accomplish our mission, CDA focuses on four “wildly important goals:”

• Goal 1: Advancing Local Food Access

• Goal 2: Expanding Water-Resilient Agriculture

• Goal 3: Supporting the Next Generation in Agriculture

• Goal 4: Advancing Animal Health and Welfare

We use these goals to focus and align the daily work of our staff in support of Colorado farmers and ranchers. Learn more about our Department and our wildly important goals in our performance plan on our website.

• Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits including aPERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan plus optional 401(k) and 457 plans (www.copera.org)
• Medical and dental health plans (https://stateofcoloradobenefits.com/)
• Employer supplemented Health Savings Account ($60 per month)
• Paid life insurance, plus additional optional life insurance options
• Paid Short Term Disability and optional Long Term Disability coverage
• 11 paid holidays per year plus generous vacation and sick leave accruals
• BenefitHub state employee discount program
• Employee Wellness program State of Health
• Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, remote work opportunities, free parking, professional development and more!

To learn about the total compensation package for State government employment visit: https://www.colorado.gov/dhr/totalcompensation

Requirements

Organizational Purpose

• Detect, diagnose, control, and prevent infectious and contagious diseases impacting the health of Colorado livestock, including leading disease response and emergency efforts in cooperation with partner agencies.
• Establish and maintain comprehensive traceability systems for livestock locations and movements to protect herd health and ensure the marketability of Colorado livestock. This includes promoting adoption and utilization of electronic CVIs and RFID livestock identification.
• Work in close cooperation and collaboration with the livestock industry, veterinarians, veterinary medical organizations, and other state and federal agencies to achieve shared health and welfare goals, standardized health requirements, and surveillance strategies.
• Provide direct support and partnership to the Animal Health Lab to optimize diagnostic services to benefit veterinarians, producers, and the broader livestock industry.
• To provide essential logistical and administrative support necessary for the execution of all regulatory programs.
• Provide an emergency management team to maintain readiness, develop response plans, and ensure operational coordination with internal and external partners during animal health emergencies, disasters, and disease outbreaks.
• Lead Colorado’s Wild Horse Program to ensure the long-term sustainability of Colorado’s wild horse herds and rangelands.
• Implement and coordinate the non-lethal wolf conflict reduction measures across the state, including securing and distributing funding, providing specialized training and educational resources, and providing preventative support to help producers implement non-lethal depredation deterrents to prepare for successful coexistence with wolves.

Monitor chronic wasting disease (CWD) and tuberculosis (TB) in alternative livestock (captive elk and fallow deer), as well as review and approve animal movement requests.

License aquaculture facilities and liaise with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to maintain appropriate regulations and promote the aquaculture industry.

Major Objectives of the Position

Provide office support to the Division of Animal Health Industry by providing high level administrative work to the animal health and disease control programs, and animal protection program. Duties include:

• Providing quality customer service via phone and email. Serves as the primary office point of contact, directing incoming calls to the appropriate division personnel, providing guidance on livestock entry requirements, and issuing permits.
• Manages and updates the division’s voicemail weekly to accurately reflect the Veterinarian on-call rotation and announce other necessary operational changes.
• Processing health certificates/Certificate of Veterinary Inspections (CVI), which involves processing electronic CVIs in the division's database, assessing compliance, and scanning and entering the paper health certificates.
• Assists the Program Coordinator with the organization and execution of divisional meetings and functions.
• Filing and completing appropriate paperwork.
• Processing mail when in the office.
• Assists the Program Coordinator with the organization and execution of divisional meetings and functions.
• Supports the Program Coordinator in maintaining office supply inventory.




Primary Duties

Animal Health Administrative Duties

Brief Duty Description:

As the front line person to answer all incoming calls to the Animal Health Division, this position is responsible for answering the phone in a timely, friendly and competent manner.

Once the caller has stated their purpose, this position will make the determination through analysis of what actions need to be taken including:

• Providing import requirements to callers.
• Determining if a permit is required based on the online import requirements.
• If a permit is required, issuing that permit through our database CoreOne by obtaining all necessary information from the caller.
• If the caller has further questions, the position transfers the call to the proper staff member to answer their questions.
• If the position notices inconsistencies in the import requirements or recurring questions that cannot be answered regarding the import requirements, they bring this to their supervisor’s attention for further assessment.

Determining if another division, department, or agency, is better suited to provide assistance to the caller.

This requires the position to have knowledge of the proper department, division, or external agency (i.e. PACFA, BAP or USDA) to further assist.

If direction is uncertain, assistance should be sought from the Veterinarian on-call.




Animal Health Mail, Digital Filing, Attachment of Electronic CVIs, Small Animal CVIs

Brief Duty Description:

• Responsible for processing mail when in the office.
  • Majority of the mail received is health certificates both interstate and intrastate.
  • This position will open, sort and scan mailed health certificates
  • This position assists the admin data specialist positions in processing electronic health certificates in our database. Part of this processing can include determining completeness and accuracy based on the necessary criteria for each species listed on the certificate.
  • The position will contact the issuing veterinarian to obtain any missing information and clarify any questions about the health certificate.
  • If there are problems obtaining missing information, this position will work with Data Specialist position 013 or the Program Veterinarian for follow up.
• This position is responsible for processing digital CVIs.
  • Electronic CVIs require processing from CVICentral to the division’s CoreOne database. This position will serve a tertiary data processing role to the two admin data specialist positions.
  • If any CVIs have incomplete information, this position will contact the issuing veterinarian to obtain the missing information. The file will be edited to include all necessary information.
  • If there are problems obtaining missing information, this position will work with Data Specialist position 013 or the Program Veterinarian for follow up.
• This position will work with the program coordinator and other admin team members to determine other priorities for data entry. These may vary depending on time of year, current events or incidents, CORA requests, among others.




Other Administrative Duties, After Hours and On Call Phone Messages

• This position is responsible for maintaining and updating the on-call veterinarian schedule on the division’s calendar.
• As the primary phone position, this position is responsible for updating all after hours messages with current vet on call information as well managing phones for division meetings and holidays.
• This position will assist with any other administrative office duties as assigned on an as needed basis.




Qualifications

This position is in person and not eligible for remote work; hybrid schedules may be offered based on departmental needs.

Residency Requirement:
This posting is only open to residents of Colorado at the time of application.

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This position is advertised in line with the Governor’s executive order focused on skills-based hiring practices that focuses on the knowledge, skills, and abilities specific to the job and aligns the hiring process accordingly. Skills-based hiring reduces potential barriers for applicants and allows for reduced bias in the hiring process by providing a direct description of skills that are unique to the duties assigned to the position with a recognition that the applicant may have developed these skills through education, training, or past experiences.

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Salary:

Hourly: $19.16 - $22.99

Annually: $39,852.00 - $47,820.00

Minimum Qualification:Proven Experience, Knowledge, Skills:
• Two (2) years of experience as administrative support in an office setting
OR

Education and Experience:
• A combination of education and experience as administrative support equal to two (2) years of experience
Preferred Qualifications:

• Relevant experience working for the State of Colorado.
Conditions of Employment:
• Must be a resident of the state of Colorado at the time of application.
Required Competencies (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities):


• Knowledge of the Administrative Support practices

• Knowledge of computer applications (Word, Excel, Goggle) and databases.

• Knowledge and Experience in customer service roles

• Professional interpersonal relationship skills

• Excellent customer service skills, in person and over the phone

• Excellent communication skills; able to communicate effectively and articulately in writing and orally with diverse communities in all corners of the state.

Important Information:
Part of, or the entire selection process for this position will involve a review of the information you submit in your application materials. Therefore, it is paramount that in the experience portion of your application, you describe the extent that you possess the education, experience and competencies outlined in the job announcement as well as the special and/or preferred qualifications. Failure to include adequate information or follow instructions may prevent you from competing in subsequent measures used to arrive at a top group of applicants.


Please submit the following:
• Online application (completed fully) describing how you meet the minimum qualifications

OR If you are not able to submit an online application, a paper application is available at this link: PDF State Paper Application.

Paper applications must be received (either by US mail or email to mary.hunt@state.co.us by the closing date and time of the application period listed on this announcement.

• DD214 (if applicable)
• Unofficial copy of transcripts (if applicable)
Factors that will be assessed:
• Technical Competence – Technical experience as it relates to the duties outlined in this job announcement.
• Depth and Breadth of Experience – Experience that covers multiple areas outlined in this job announcement. Experience should be varied and not one dimensional and demonstrate a wide range of community involvement.
• Job Fit – Experience will be evaluated to determine how well your past experience aligns with and meets the business needs of this position. Current experience is preferred.
APPEAL RIGHTS:If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for this position, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board or request a review by the State Personnel Director.
An appeal or review must be submitted on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative. This form must be delivered to the State Personnel Board by email (dpa_state.personnelboard@state.co.us), postmarked in US Mail or hand delivered (1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver CO 80203), or faxed (303.866.5038) within ten (10) calendar days from your receipt of notice or acknowledgement of the department’s action.
For more information about the appeals process, the official appeal form, and how to deliver it to the State Personnel Board; go to spb.colorado.gov; contact the State Personnel Board for assistance at (303) 866-3300; or refer to 4 Colorado Code of Regulations (CCR) 801-1, State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, Chapter 8, Resolution of Appeals and Disputes, at spb.colorado.gov under Rules.

Additional Information

Important Information:
Part of, or the entire exam for this position will involve a review of the information you submit in your application material. Applications are considered complete and accurate at the time of submission. Therefore, additional information may not be solicited or accepted after your application has been received. Therefore, it is very important that you clearly describe all of your relevant experience on the application itself. Applications left blank or marked "SEE RESUME" will not be considered.
All applications that are received by the closing date of this announcement will be reviewed against the Minimum Qualifications in this announcement by a Human Resources Specialist. Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications may proceed to the next step. Colorado Revised Statutes require that state employees are hired and promoted based on merit and fitness through a comparative analysis process.

ADAAA Accommodations:
Any person with a disability as defined by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) may be provided a reasonable accommodation upon request to enable the person to complete an employment assessment. To request an accommodation, please contact by phone or email at least five business days before the assessment date to allow us to evaluate your request and prepare for the accommodation. You may be asked to provide additional information, including medical documentation, regarding functional limitations and type of accommodation needed. Please ensure that you have this information available well in advance of the assessment date.

The Department of Agriculture is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to Mary Hunt, at mary.hunt@state.co.us or call 303-869-9006.


E-Verify
CDA uses e-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.

Toll Free Applicant Technical Support: If you experience technical difficulty with the NEOGOV system (e.g. uploading or attaching documents to your online application) call NEOGOV technical support at 855-524-5627 Mon-Fri between 6 am and 6 pm (Pacific Time). Helpful hints: if you are having difficulty uploading or attaching documents to your application first, ensure your documents are PDF or Microsoft Word files and second, close the document before you attempt upload (attach) it.