Position: Executive Assistant to the Clerk of Court

Vacancy: 25-02

Position Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Anticipated Starting Salary:

CL 26, $55,665-$90,449 (depending on qualifications)

CL 27, $61,138- $99,408 (depending on qualifications)

Appointment at CL 26 has future promotion potential to CL 27 without further advertisement.

Application Deadline: Open until filled. Preference will be given to those applications received by May 25, 2025.

Overview

The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania is seeking a highly organized and detail-oriented Executive Assistant to the Clerk of Court. The incumbent performs and coordinates administrative, technical, and professional work related to multiple administrative functions and ensures compliance with court policies. The incumbent supports the Clerk of Court and Chief Deputy in correspondence, filings, scheduling and public-relations efforts. The incumbent serves as the Court’s central resource for executive action items and meeting coordination. The incumbent is responsible for the planning and coordination of court sponsored events, ceremonies and clerk’s office events.

Representative Duties

Liaison and Communication: Serves as a liaison on behalf of the Clerk of Court with judges, chambers, other court units, Administrative Office and related justice agencies. Assists in the preparing and distribution of general orders, press releases, policies, and other correspondence. Maintains confidentiality of sensitive court matters. Disseminates communications to managers, executives, and peers, ensuring follow-ups on action items.

Executive Support: Provides professional administrative support to the Clerk and the Chief Deputy Clerk. Receives, screens, and refers telephone callers. Routes mail and answers general inquiries on behalf of the Clerk and Chief Deputy. Proofreads all documents and materials for errors, appropriate format, proper syntax, grammar, spelling and typographical errors, to ensure accuracy prior to the Clerk or Chief Deputy’s review. Maintains the calendar and sets appointments for the Clerk and Chief Deputy.

Court Related Events: Plans and coordinates court related events such as civics events, attorney ceremonies and investitures and judicial ceremonies, special office events and meetings. Primarily responsible for event logistics including catering and security arrangements. Assists with preparing programming, agendas and minutes. Maintains calendar for courtroom sharing and conference room coordination. Oversees logistics for court conferences, including site planning, security, and hospitality. May include travel for conferences.

Public Inquiries: Responds to public and media inquiries or directs inquiries to appropriate parties. Conducts research and drafts responses for the Clerk as needed.

Operations and Records Management: Establishes and maintains Clerk’s records and files including standing orders, court policies and administrative files. Conducts research and analysis on procedural matters. Writes, edits, and revises policies, procedures, guides, and manuals. Prepares and manages statistical and operational reports. Assists in maintaining court directories and official documents.

Travel Coordination: Arranges travel itineraries for the Clerk and Chief Deputy, ensuring compliance with judiciary policies. Prepares and audits travel vouchers for reimbursement.

Attorney Admissions: Reviews and processes attorney admission applications. Coordinates attorney admission ceremonies and maintains attorney admission databases. Assists with attorney discipline and admissions committee matters.

Administrative Support: Maintains and coordinates updates to the Court’s website, ensuring accurate content and design. Assists in maintaining and updating official forms and templates and presentations in Microsoft Office Adobe PDF, and PowerPoint. Manages workflow efficiency by developing administrative procedures and project management systems. Assists Human Resources with recruitment efforts. Also assists in magistrate judge reappointments, recruitments, and surveys.

Additional Duties: Participates in special projects related to the administrative functions of the Clerk of Court and performs other duties as assigned. Maintains confidentiality of sensitive matters.

Qualification Requirements

• Applicant must have significant experience in an administrative support capacity position.
• Applicant must have at least one year of Specialized Experience*
• Strong knowledge and skills in use of personal computers and software applications to prepare reports, correspondence and presentations. Expert Excel and PowerPoint skills are required.
• Attention to Detail: Demonstrated attention to detail is essential for ensuring accuracy in all aspects of work, including data entry, document review, and compliance with established procedures. The ability to identify errors, inconsistencies, or anomalies and take corrective action is critical. Successful candidates must consistently produce high‑quality work with minimal oversight.
• Resilience: Effectively deals with work related problems, pressure, and stress in a professional and positive manner. Demonstrates emotional maturity.
• Interpersonal Communication Skills: Strong ability to communicate effectively (orally and in writing) with individuals of diverse backgrounds inside and outside of the Clerk’s Office and gather information from a variety of individuals and groups, including judges, lawyers, court unit executives, managers and co-workers.
• Discretion: Recognizes the sensitivity of information and strong ability to maintain confidentiality.

*Specialized Experience means progressively responsible clerical or administrative experience that is in, or closely related to, the work of the position and which has demonstrated the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of project management and executive assistant work.

Preferred Qualifications/Court Preferred Skills

• Bachelor’s degree or above from an accredited college or university.
• Decisive Judgment: Ability to consistently demonstrate sound ethics and judgment in a timely and confident manner.
• Adaptable Work Style: Quickly restructures tasks and priorities as the needs of the Clerk’s Office change; anticipates turns of events and proactively takes action to avoid any negative consequences.
• Organizational Skills: Organizes and plans work according to meet the needs of the Clerk by defining objectives and anticipating needs and priorities to meet established deadlines. Skill in administrative matters such as event planning, file maintenance, record keeping and reporting.
• Productiveness: Maintains a high level of commitment to personal performance. Takes initiative developing and managing projects with varying priorities and deadlines and can undertake new programs and projects to meet critical needs. Ability to work independently and coordinate the work of others.
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Effectively works and collaborates with others toward a common goal.
• Analytical Thinking: Works to understand complex situations, issues, and problems by breaking them down into smaller pieces. Follows a step-by-step approach while anticipating implications or consequences of a decision or problems that might occur.

Benefits

Employees are eligible for a full range of benefits to include retirement, health and life insurance, flexible benefits, paid holidays, and annual and sick leave accrual. Go to https://www.uscourts.gov/careers/benefits for additional information.

Telework

This position requires work to be performed in the office. Telework may be permitted after six months on a limited basis.

Conditions of Employment

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens or eligible to work in the United States. (See Citizenship Requirements for Employment in the Judiciary for additional information.)
• Judiciary employees serve under excepted appointments. Judiciary employees are considered “at will” and are not covered by federal civil service classifications or regulations.
• This position is subject to mandatory electronic funds transfer (direct deposit) for payment of federal wages.
• The U.S. Courts require employees to adhere to the Code of Conduct - https://www.uscourts.gov/administration-policies/judiciary-policies/ethics-policies/code-conduct-judicial-employees

Background Investigation

This position is classified as a sensitive position which requires the selected candidate to submit to a background clearance, which will include a criminal history, credit and FBI fingerprint check as a condition of employment and may be subject to periodic updates. The selected candidate will be hired provisionally pending the successful completion of the required background check and favorable employment suitability determination. A negative finding from the background check may result in termination of employment.

Applicant Information

The court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, to withdraw the job announcement, and/or to commence interviews immediately, any of which may occur without prior written or other notice. In the event a position becomes vacant in a similar classification within a reasonable time from the original announcement, the Court may select an appointee from the candidates who responded to the initial announcement without re-posting the vacancy. Applicants are advised that false statements or omission(s) of information on any application materials may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment or dismissal after being employed.

How to Apply

Apply only through the court’s online application tracking system which is accessed at the Employment Section (Court Info) of the Western District of Pennsylvania website: https://www.pawd.uscourts.gov/employment

Please submit the following:

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Completed Application for Judicial Branch Federal Employment, AO78, which can be downloaded when applying or at https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/forms/application-judicial-branch-federal-employment

Applicants will receive an email confirmation upon receipt. Incomplete applications may not be considered. Only candidates selected for testing and interview will be notified and must travel at their own expense. Relocation expenses will not be reimbursed.

District Overview

The District’s jurisdiction encompasses the 25 western counties of Pennsylvania, with courthouses located in Erie, Johnstown and Pittsburgh. The District is comprised of United States District Judges, United States Senior District Judges, United States Magistrate Judges and approximately 165 employees.

The United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, is an

Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity in the workplace.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $55,665.00 - $99,408.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply

Work Location: In person