Senior Administrative Coordinator

About the Role

The Applied Decision Systems and Analytics Group within the Earth Systems Science Division seeks a highly motivated individual to support the team as part of our administrative staff. This role provides administrative support to scientific and engineering staff, as well as to non-staff and visitors. The position receives direction from the group leader and the division administrator. The ideal candidate shows strong customer service, teamwork, dependability, and integrity, supporting PNNL’s commitment to scientific excellence and national impact. Because close coordination, accessibility, and real-time partnership are central to the role, this position is expected to work primarily onsite, aligned with the Group Manager’s schedule and ADSA group support.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive and timely administrative support to managers, staff, and closely related groups.
• Provide guidance and support to team members on administrative processes and procedures.
• Work autonomously in a dynamic environment, managing and prioritizing multiple tasks within established procedures.
• Manage calendars across multiple time zones, anticipating scheduling needs for managers and team leaders.
• Manage large volumes of email with speed and accuracy.
• Support complex domestic and international travel requests, bookings, and expense reporting.
• Prepare, edit, format and maintain documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other program materials using Microsoft Office Suite.
• Coordinate interviews, hiring processes, onboarding, and related documentation for new hires.
• Provide responsive support for inventory management, purchasing needs and reconciling purchases in alignment with PNNL policies.
• Exercise discretion with sensitive or confidential information, applying sound judgment and escalating complex or non‑standard issues appropriately.
• Contribute to continuous process improvement by identifying and resolving administrative issues.
• Welcome, receive, and direct visitors professionally.
• Other duties as assigned.

This role is to be onsite at least 4 days a week, 5 as business needs require.

Qualifications

Minimum:

• High school diploma/GED and 8 years of relevant experience in an administrative environment OR AA degree or higher and 6 years of relevant experience in an administrative environment.
• Experience in planning meetings and coordinating travel.
• Experience with effectively managing large volumes of email with a high degree of speed and accuracy in a program with extensive travel and international coordination activity.
• Experience maintaining multiple calendars across time zones and anticipating scheduling needs for managers and staff.

Preferred:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneNote, Teams) with the ability to format presentations and documents for the program and closely related groups.
• Experience coordinating complex domestic and international travel itineraries, including familiarity with federal travel requirements and multi-destination logistics for programs with extensive global travel.
• Familiarity with PNNL internal software and lab business systems (e.g., PeopleSoft, B2B, EXPENSE, PCardPro) with the ability to resolve atypical system issues.
• Experience managing P-card purchases and processing procurement requests within departmental procedures.
• Ability to work autonomously, managing and prioritizing multiple tasks within established procedures in a dynamic program environment.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, with the ability to edit and draft content that may reach multiple organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise discretion and handle sensitive or confidential information in a security-focused environment, applying sound judgment within established protocols and escalating appropriately when issues fall outside standard procedures.
• Proven ability to provide guidance and support to team members on administrative processes and procedures.
• Experience working in a customer-service-oriented environment supporting staff, with the ability to impact the group and closely related groups through quality and timeliness of work.
• Proficiency in identifying and resolving administrative issues and contributing to continuous process improvement within the department.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise discretion and handle sensitive or confidential information in a security-focused environment, applying sound judgment within established procedures and gathering relevant information to escalate complex or ambiguous issues appropriately.

Additional Requirements

• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.
• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
• All Security Clearance positions are Testing Designated Positions, subject to pre-employment and post-employment random drug testing. Applicants must be able to demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the requisite Questionnaire for National Security Positions (QNSP). Applicants will be considered ineligible for security clearance processing by the U.S. Department of Energy if non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for 12 months cannot be demonstrated.
• This position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). The candidate selected will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing for illegal drugs, including marijuana, consistent with the Controlled Substances Act and the PNNL Workplace Substance Abuse Program.

This response is AI-generated, for reference only.