Administrative Officer

Overview

The Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of California is hiring an Administrative Officer, a full-time permanent high-level position that reports directly to the Federal Defender and plays a critical role in the office’s mission of providing top-tier legal services to its clients. The Administrative Officer manages the administration and operations in support of both office locations (Sacramento and Fresno), 75+ staff and interns, and our mission of providing diligent, zealous, holistic criminal defense representation by playing a central leadership role in advancing that mission.

The Administrative Officer is a one-of-a-kind position. We are looking for a leader who can work cooperatively and act independently, manage finite resources effectively, and understand the relationship between our office and the federal court system. The Administrative Officer directly supervises at least eight staff members with administrative, financial, or information technology responsibilities, while also helping supervise office-wide operations and serving as a key executive advisor to the Federal Defender.

General administration, management, and supervision:

• Directly assists with day-to-day operations, process improvement, policy development, and short- and long-term strategic planning.
• Supervises and directs administrative, financial, human resources (in conjunction with our Personnel Administrator), and IT functions.
• Works to recognize issues and improve office management, efficiency, and effectiveness.
• Develops and maintains internal controls to ensure adequate separation of duties exists for financial, procurement, property management, and human resource functions.

• Manages financial operations, develops spending plans, and oversees accounting functions, including the disbursement of appropriate funds.
• Formulates the annual budget, develops caseload projections, analyzes staffing needs and resource allocation, and prepares hiring plans.
• Prepares monthly variance reports, status of funds reports, and workload reports for review and approval by the Federal Defender.

• Advises on hiring, staffing, position classification and compensation, employee performance and evaluation, dispute resolution, benefits administration, and personnel policies.
• Develops strategies to recruit and retain a diverse workforce.
• Collaborates on planning and implementing staff training and development.
• Collaborates on a comprehensive onboarding program for all new employees and interns and facilitates offboarding and exit interviews.
• Conducts performance evaluations for administrative staff.

• Determines the need for, and directs procurement of, supplies, equipment, furnishings, and professional services in compliance with judiciary procurement policy.
• Trains and supervises employees responsible for various procurement duties.

Collaborates with case management, custodial, disposal, and procurement administrators to manage records storage systems and accountable property inventories.

The Administrative Officer also helps ensure employees are adequately trained to perform their assigned duties. The position requires occasional travel between the Sacramento and Fresno offices and occasional out-of-district travel for attendance at administrative, case management, and/or financial conferences.