Executive Secretary

State of Connecticut • Middletown, CT

2d • Onsite

About The Position

Are you an organized, proactive administrative professional? Bring your skills to a vital role supporting executive leadership at Whiting Forensic Hospital! The State of Connecticut, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) is seeking an Executive Secretary to join the Whiting Forensic Hospital (WFH) leadership team. In this essential role, you will provide advanced administrative and secretarial support within a fast-paced executive environment, ensuring seamless office operations and supporting effective decision-making across the hospital. This position plays a key part in maintaining operational integrity, supporting executive communications, and enabling a collaborative, mission-driven clinical and administrative workforce.

Requirements

• Considerable knowledge of office administration and management; functions, procedures, programs and regulations of relevant organizational unit; English grammar, spelling and punctuation; Considerable interpersonal skills; Ability to interact effectively with supervisor, co-workers and general public; work independently on administrative tasks and make decisions within framework of departmental policies; follow complex instructions; take accurate and complex dictation; Supervisory ability.

Nice To Haves

• Three or more years of experience providing direct administrative support to an agency head, commissioner, president, CEO, or other C-suite executive, including experience in a hospital, health system, medical group, or healthcare organization
• Experience independently managing executive office operations, including calendars, correspondence, records, executive requests, and follow-up activities
• Experience preparing, formatting, and proofreading confidential executive correspondence, reports, board materials, and regulatory documents in a healthcare organization
• Experience coordinating executive leadership, board, governance, or regulatory meetings, including preparing agendas and materials, recording formal minutes, and tracking decisions and action items
• Experience coordinating conferences, site visits, or executive events involving multiple participants, locations, resources, and schedules
• Experience coordinating administrative activities related to Joint Commission accreditation, regulatory surveys, healthcare compliance reviews, or corrective action activities
• Experience building relationships and serving as a point of coordination between executive leadership and department heads, government officials, regulatory agencies, or external stakeholders, including transmitting requests and tracking responses
• Experience using Microsoft Outlook to manage executive calendars and email inboxes and to coordinate meetings involving multiple internal and external participants
• Experience using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint to prepare executive-level materials and Microsoft Excel to produce reports and manage data using formulas and pivot tables
• Experience independently managing multiple concurrent executive assignments with competing deadlines and tracking assignments through completion while producing error-free work

Responsibilities

• Provide high-level administrative support to executive leadership, ensuring efficient daily operations
• Plan, organize, and coordinate a wide range of office functions, including complex meetings, executive calendars, and multi-department communications
• Prepare, draft, and manage non-routine executive correspondence and documentation
• Serve as a key point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, interpreting and explaining departmental procedures, policies, and services
• Oversee and support clerical staff, ensuring smooth workflow and consistent office standards
• Make administrative decisions and exercise independent judgment to resolve issues and improve operational processes
• Review office systems, procedures, and workflows and recommend enhancements for efficiency and compliance
• Utilize advanced proficiency in computers, office software, and automated systems to support executive operations
• Acts as personal secretary and provides office management to the administrative head and/or to each undersecretary or deputy to such head of a department or institution as authorized by Section 5-198(11) of the Connecticut General Statutes.
• Acts as confidential secretary to an executive; Relieves superior of administrative details through interaction with the public and routine contacts with other state executives; Complies and coordinates data for action by superior; Takes and transcribes confidential correspondence from supervisor or at meetings and/or hearings; Types a wide variety of correspondence, notes, memorandums, drafts, transcripts, charts and forms following proper format; Prepares own letters or reports and advises superior of appropriate action taken on routine matters; Schedules appointments and arranges meetings; Acts as receptionist; Maintains and checks records and files; Performs special assignments, studies and routine administrative functions as specifically directed; Screens incoming correspondence, refers to appropriate staff and follows up to insure timely response; May supervise a clerical staff assigning work and following up to insure completion; May transmit to or request information from agency staff for agency head; Performs related duties as required.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits - visit the State Employee Benefits Overview page to learn more
• Opportunities for professional growth and development
• A supportive environment that values collaboration, compassion, and work/life balance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed