Administrative Coordinator

What is an Administrative Coordinator?

An administrative coordinator is an employee who coordinates, oversees, performs or manages a wide variety of administrative and office support activities for their employers. These workers also serve as a link between departments, vendors, employees, clients and other relevant parties. Other titles for people working in this capacity may include administrative officers, administrative directors, office managers or administrative managers in the workplace.

Job Responsibilities

Administrative coordinators work to implement administrative and office systems, procedures and policies to ensure the smooth, coordinated function of office support services. In serving this function, these employees are responsible for a wide variety of job duties, depending on the different employment settings. These commonly include:

• Plan, implement and manage administrative/office activities and workflow
• Maintain efficient administrative/office workflow by analyzing work methods and making or recommending changes as necessary to streamline operations and/or cut costs
• Manage the use and organization of office space
• Provide support to administrative/office staff
• Recruit, train and supervise administrative/office staff
• Create and maintain employee schedules and work assignments
• Employee evaluations
• Create and maintain employee records
• Create and manage organization’s records and filing systems
• Act as a liaison between administrative management and staff
• Prepare or review charts, spreadsheets, reports, correspondence and other documents
• Coordinate meetings and conferences for office personnel, other employees, managers and executives
• Make travel arrangements for employees, managers and executives
• Manage telephony duties as needed
• Coordinate incoming and outgoing organizational mail, electronic and traditional 
• Perform basic clerical, administrative, executive and bookkeeping support tasks as necessary
• Manage organizational spending and budgets as needed
• Keep an inventory of and purchase office supplies and equipment
• Coordinate with vendors, contractors and clients
• Supervise facility’s cleaning and maintenance scheduling as needed

Common Employment Settings for Administrative Coordinators

Just as varied, are the different settings and industries where Administrative Coordinators can find gainful employment. These include:

• Small and Large Businesses
• Corporations
• Manufacturing Establishments
• Transportation Companies
• Medical Offices
• Hospitals and other medical institutions
• K-12 Schools
• Colleges
• Local, State and Federal Governmental Agencies
• Non-Profit Organizations

Basically, any establishment in any industry that uses clerical and/or office staff in their day-to-day operations may employ Administrative Coordinators to oversee and coordinate the activities of staff.

Becoming an Administrative Coordinator: Education

Virtually all employers prefer to hire candidates for Administrative Coordinator positions who have a high school diploma or equivalent and have pursued an education in business administration. Typically, this means earning a degree in the field, such as an Office Management associate degree from Bryant & Stratton College.

Additional Training/Requirements

Many employers require that candidates for Administrative Coordinator positions have a significant amount of work experience in this role with another employer or in a closely related field – generally a minimum of 5 years. Getting into this field also requires a solid working knowledge of today’s office and administrative technology, including computer hardware and software, modern commercial telephone systems and office equipment, such as copiers, printers and fax machines, for example. Solid communication skills are a must, as are good management, organizational, supervisory and interpersonal skills.

Some employers may prefer to hire Administrative Coordinators who have earned professional certifications – especially employers in the healthcare or financial industries. These are generally available via professional associations and earning them usually means meeting educational and work experience requirements set forth by these organizations and passing an exam administered by them.