Forestry Office Manager

Job Summary

Minnesota DNR is currently seeking a Forestry Office Manager to work in Bemidji, MN. This position exists to administer key activities in area fiscal, budget management and procurement necessary to complete major functions of complex forestry programs, such as State Timber Program, Emergency Wildfire Suppression, Private Forest Management, Lands and Leases.  

This position independently administers diverse and multifaceted business, budgetary, and fiscal management procedures and supports purchasing for the Area to ensure compliance with State statute and purchasing policies.

Responsibilities:

• Travel as needed between area offices for trainings and meetings.
• Administer and reconcile all procurement activity for the Area operations each month so that purchase transactions and payments are in a timely manner and in accordance with Minnesota Statutes, Department of Finance and Materials Management policies and procedures.
• Oversee all timber contract financial guarantees and timber invoices.
• Track and administer cost accounting for fire suppression services.
• Collaborate with supervisor in calculating and preparing area annual budget requests.
• Provide technical knowledge and assistance to foresters.
• Provide policy and procedural information to Timber Contract Holders.
• Audit and enter scales from Timber Contracts to provide accurate accounting and records of timber volumes and species sold on each contract.
• Support Area Timber Program staff in operations relating to forest management activities.
• Manage administrative operations for the Area so that the goals and directions of the Division of Forestry are properly executed, and the public is well-served.
• Collaborate with Area Fire Program Forester with forest fire support services, communication, and customer education, so they are effectively and correctly maintained.
• Assist Silviculture Program Forester and Roads Program Forester with development and road maintenance issues and contracts within purchase authority.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Knowledge of general office equipment including two-way radio systems and pagers, copiers, phone system, personal computer, printers, scanners, postage machine, etc. sufficient to maintain and use and provide direction.
• Knowledge of procurement and invoicing processes and procedures.
• Knowledge of accounting, business principles and bookkeeping sufficient to monitor, collect and analyze data and reconcile errors.
• Mathematic and accounting skills sufficient to review, track, analyze, and prepare financial summaries and reports.
• Advanced word processing skills sufficient to carry out administrative tasks and ensure documents and records are complete, accurate, and current.
• Customer service and communication skills sufficient to respond promptly, professionally, and accurately with internal and external customers.
• Organizational and time management skills sufficient to prioritize workload, meet required deadlines, initiate and follow-up on activities independently.
• Interpersonal skills sufficient to work with a variety of internal and external customers on a broad range of tasks and responsibilities.
• Proofreading/editing skills sufficient to ensure accuracy of written materials.
• Spreadsheet and database skills sufficient to accurately enter data, retrieve information, manage data, and generate reports.
• Lead worker skills sufficient to provide direction in administrative procedures and/or office functions.
• Ability to work in demanding situations, such as fire.
• Ability to distinguish confidential information and maintain data privacy is required.
• Ability to analyze financial records, reports, locate errors, and recommend solutions to procedural and policy guidelines.
• Ability to understand and locate legal descriptions, reading maps and plat books.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Three or more years of general office experience.
• Experience using WORD, EXCEL, Microsoft Outlook, SWIFT, and TSM.
• Knowledge of the functions of each division of the DNR and their respective relationships to the general public.
• Knowledge of the fire billing procedures, Enforcement Manual and Fire Business Manual Chargeback procedures.
• Knowledge of the Incident Command System structure, basic processes, and Command positions sufficient to support and host Incident Management Teams when needed.
• Knowledge of state budgeting, procurement and invoicing processes and procedures sufficient to prepare and interpret fiscal records and reports, analyze account balances and budgets, receipt invoices.