What does a Department Administrator do?
Department administrators are professionals who are responsible for performing administrative and clerical tasks for a specific department within an organization. These administrators are required to prepare financial statements for clients while evaluating revisions through feedback with stakeholders. They must work with the human resources department to recruit and identify workers for retraining and skill upgrades. Department administrators must also develop and streamline departmental policies and processes so that they can ensure efficiency, productivity, and accountability.
Department administrator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real department administrator resumes:
- Manage calendars, correspondence, logs, reports and maintain documentation in Prolog.
- Lead implementation of local area network and upgrade of scheduling, billing and A/R software.
- Manage patient records ensuring confidentiality and compliance with all HIPAA regulations.
- Initiate and manage the implementation of facilities management oversight of external properties.
- Direct Medicaid health plan management division activities (manage care program operations, quality improvement, and contract administration).
- Verify vendor quotes and resolve invoice discrepancies.
- Process all information and submit to ADP.
- Project lead for modernizing practices to EMR systems.
- Log and track project submittals and RFI's.
- Coordinate employee moves, new hire account login requests and desktop installations.
- Coordinate bid package management, including bid reviews, RFP's, & RFI's.
- Create all department PowerPoint presentations.
- Prepare out of state Medicaid provider enrollment applications.
- Integrate SharePoint system for increase collaboration in maintaining data for processes.
- Initiate on-line visit and the efficient and timely admission/registration of all patients.
Department administrator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Department Administrators are proficient in Patient Care, Patients, and Financial Reports. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Multitasking skills.
We break down the percentage of Department Administrators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patient Care, 10%
Provide ambulatory patient care planning, development and implementation and the evaluation of strategic and regional initiatives.
- Patients, 10%
Assisted with preparation of meals for Medical Center patients ensuring all dietary requirements and food safety requirements met.
- Financial Reports, 7%
Prepare and analyze operational and financial reports for upper management on an ongoing basis.
- Human Resources, 6%
Administered faculty compensation, human resources and practice operations of clinical practice.
- Payroll, 6%
Maintained timekeeping system and payroll information on all employees and answered questions pertaining to benefits and vacations.
- Departmental Policies, 5%
Developed and streamlined all departmental policies and processes to ensure efficiency, productivity, compliance and accountability.
Most department administrators use their skills in "patient care," "patients," and "financial reports" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential department administrator responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a department administrator to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "administrators need to evaluate networks and systems to make sure that they perform reliably and to anticipate new requirements as customers’ needs change." Additionally, a department administrator resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "used laptop for various applications such as word processing, database management and spreadsheets. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform department administrator duties is communication skills. Department administrators responsibilities require that "administrators must describe problems and their solutions to non-it workers." Department administrators also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "managed the training tracking process including data entry, progress reports, communication and certification to recipients, and attendance. "
Multitasking skills. department administrators are also known for multitasking skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to department administrator responsibilities, because "administrators may have to work on many problems and tasks at the same time." A department administrator resume example shows how multitasking skills is used in the workplace: "leverage strong multitasking skills to manage customer service, data entry, invoicing, inventory control, and purchasing. "
Problem-solving skills. For certain department administrator responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a department administrator rely on this skill, as "administrators must quickly resolve problems that arise with computer networks." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what department administrators do: "delegated employee responsibilities attended meetings and trainings for professional growth balanced / reconciled cash drawers data entry experience problem resolution abilities. "
The three companies that hire the most department administrators are:
- Cleveland Clinic17 department administrators jobs
- Penske Automotive Group4 department administrators jobs
- Columbia University in the City of New York4 department administrators jobs
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Compare different department administrators
Department administrator vs. Administrative analyst
An administrative analyst specializes in analyzing the company's processes and operations to come up with the best practices for the business. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting research and analysis through site inspections, surveys, interviews, and assessments. They must also coordinate with different department personnel to gather and examine data, ensuring that all processes are profitable and efficient. Furthermore, as an administrative analyst, it is essential to present findings and progress reports in adherence to the company's policies and regulations.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a department administrator are more likely to require skills like "patient care," "departmental policies," "financial management," and "staff development." On the other hand, a job as an administrative analyst requires skills like "customer service," "windows," "lease management," and "project management." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Administrative analysts tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $73,935. In contrast, department administrators make the biggest average salary, $64,581, in the energy industry.administrative analysts tend to reach similar levels of education than department administrators. In fact, administrative analysts are 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Department administrator vs. Administrator secretary
Administrator secretaries are assistants to managers or higher officers in charge of administrative tasks. Their responsibilities include liaising with an organization's internal departments and in communicating with the general public. They make arrangements and scheduling of meetings, events, and appointments. Sometimes, they assume tasks in clerical and administrative nature. It is also part of their job to work hand-in-hand with executives, managers, and any other personnel in corporations.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that department administrator responsibilities requires skills like "patient care," "human resources," "departmental policies," and "financial management." But an administrator secretary might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "routine correspondence," "customer service," "office procedures," and "scheduling appointments."
Administrator secretaries may earn a lower salary than department administrators, but administrator secretaries earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $36,398. On the other hand, department administrators receive higher pay in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $64,581.administrator secretaries earn lower levels of education than department administrators in general. They're 10.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Department Administrators in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Richard Huff Ph.D.
Assistant professor, assistant chair, Virginia Commonwealth University
As custodians of sensitive data, in many cases, there is a demand for a high level of trustworthiness to be earned by public officials. I would expect agencies will need to set a high bar for ethical standards and communicate them consistently. This will be particularly true for developing and using artificial intelligence (AI). While the future public servant will need a grounding in understanding, interpreting, and using data in meaningful ways, there will continue to be a critical need for ethical sensitivity and reasoning to ensure public policies and programs heed increasing demands for social equity and justice. Technology advancements are unavoidable for the foreseeable future and need to be harnessed and applied appropriately by professional, principled, and ethical public servants.
Department administrator vs. Department secretary
A department secretary is responsible for providing administrative and clerical support to a specific department, ensuring smooth operations to maintain high-quality services to the customers and business partners. Department secretaries should have excellent knowledge of office management principles, especially on data processing procedures and customer service processes. They handle the scheduling of meetings and conferences, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, directing visitors to the appropriate personnel and department, sorting files, and submitting business transactions and financial reports. A department secretary also recommends strategic procedures to generate more revenues and increase the company's profitability.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from department administrator resumes include skills like "financial reports," "human resources," "departmental policies," and "financial management," whereas a department secretary is more likely to list skills in "customer service," "medical terminology," "secretarial support," and "meeting minutes. "
Department secretaries earn the best pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $36,935. Department administrators earn the highest pay from the energy industry, with an average salary of $64,581.Most department secretaries achieve a lower degree level compared to department administrators. For example, they're 10.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Department administrator vs. Assistant systems administrator
Assistant systems administrators are responsible for supporting a team with their day-to-day operations of a company's computer systems and networks. They perform varied tasks, including monitoring, maintaining, and testing internet performance, ensuring the availability of computer networks for all users, and troubleshooting system failures and computer hardware and software issues. Assistant systems administrators may conduct training and support other network users within the organization. Additional tasks also include monitoring and evaluating the efficiency of operations and preparing systems and software documentation.
Types of department administrator
Updated January 8, 2025
