WikiJournal User Group/Administrative officer
Administrative officer supports the day-to-day organizational and administrative work of WikiJournal, including financial administration, contractor coordination, grant reporting, and other operational tasks. The role is intended to provide continuity for work that can otherwise be difficult to sustain through volunteer effort alone.
The administrative officer primarily reports to and takes direction from the Administrative Board, but may also carry out administrative tasks requested by the editorial boards of individual WikiJournals when those tasks are within the scope of the journal and within established WikiJournal policies and budget.
Administrative officer
- Current administrative officer to be listed here when appointed.
Role details
Main tasks
[edit | edit source]The tasks of the administrative officer are primarily organizational, financial, personnel-related and operational. This allows editorial board members and other contributors, who are largely unpaid volunteers, to focus on editorial decisions, peer review, strategy and scholarly contributions.
Such tasks may include:
- Financial administration, payroll and grant support
- Assisting with grant applications, grant administration, budget tracking and required grant reporting.
- Helping prepare annual and other periodic financial or activity reports for review and approval by the appropriate board members.
- Setting up and administering a payroll or contractor-payment system for WikiJournal.
- Using the system to collect and track contractor hours, agreed rates, work limits, approvals and payments.
- Reviewing submitted contractor hours for completeness and consistency with agreed roles and authorized work limits.
- Processing payments to contractors based on approved hours and rates, and helping resolve delayed, failed or incorrect payments.
- Maintaining payment records and collecting required contractor, banking and tax documentation.
- Organizing documentation for expenses, reimbursements, contractor payments, tax filings and other financial records.
- Alerting the Administrative Board to anticipated budget overruns, unspent funds, or administrative expenses requiring decisions.
- Personnel and contractor administration
- Coordinating contracting, onboarding and offboarding of paid contractors, including technical editors.
- Setting up contractors in the approved payroll or contractor-payment system and deactivating their access when their work ends.
- Maintaining contractor documentation and records of agreed roles, rates, work limits, payment schedules, approval arrangements and reporting requirements.
- Providing contractors with instructions for recording and submitting their hours.
- Reviewing submitted time records and following up on missing or inconsistent entries.
- Using approved time records and agreed rates to prepare and issue contractor payments.
- Reconciling payment records with approved hours, agreed rates and available budgets.
- Helping resolve administrative issues affecting contractors, including problems with contracts, documentation, timekeeping or payments.
- Supporting recruitment logistics, including posting openings, organizing applications, scheduling interviews and maintaining records of selection decisions.
- Administrative coordination
- Setting up and maintaining an overview of open administrative tasks, deadlines and recurring obligations.
- Following up on action items from Administrative Board meetings and helping ensure that agreed actions are completed.
Relationship to editorial work
[edit | edit source]The administrative officer does not replace the editorial boards, editors-in-chief, handling editors, peer-review coordinators or technical editors.
Publication decisions and other editorial judgments remain with the relevant editorial bodies. The administrative officer may support these processes administratively, for example through tracking, reminders, documentation or coordination, but should not independently make editorial decisions unless separately serving in an authorized editorial role.
Relationship to technical editors
[edit | edit source]The administrative officer may coordinate the contracting, onboarding, documentation, timekeeping and payment of technical editors. This may include setting technical editors up in the approved payroll or contractor-payment system, monitoring reported hours against agreed limits, and issuing payments based on approved hours and rates.
Technical editors continue to perform technical and article-processing work under their own role description. Where useful, existing technical-editor documentation, onboarding materials, contractor templates, task logs and reimbursement procedures may be adapted for use by the administrative officer.
Recordkeeping and reporting
[edit | edit source]The administrative officer should keep a record of paid work performed and how much time was used for each task. The administrative officer should also maintain appropriate records of contractor hours, approvals, rates, payments and remaining authorized work limits.
A brief report should normally be presented about monthly to the Administrative Board. This may include:
- Hours worked and major tasks completed.
- Contractor hours submitted, approved and paid during the reporting period.
- Contractor hours or expenditures approaching authorized limits.
- Outstanding, delayed, failed or disputed contractor payments.
- Open or delayed tasks requiring board attention.
- Contractor or personnel matters requiring decisions.
- Budget or reimbursement items requiring review.
- Upcoming reporting, filing, renewal or grant deadlines.
- Work performed directly for individual WikiJournal editorial boards.
Additional tasks
[edit | edit source]Depending on the experience of the person selected and the needs of WikiJournal, the administrative officer may also assist with:
- Drafting or updating standard operating procedures and onboarding checklists.
- Maintaining organizational calendars and recurring-deadline lists.
- Supporting grant metrics and impact reporting.
- Coordinating with bookkeeping, tax, banking, insurance, payment or contracting services.
- Helping evaluate lower-cost administrative or contractor-management tools.
- Supporting external communications, partnerships, conference administration or similar organizational projects when assigned.
The administrative officer should act in accordance with the policies of WikiJournal, including the Bylaws and Ethics statement, as well as applicable grant and contractual requirements.
Potential conflicts of interest, suspected misconduct, legal concerns or matters outside the officer's authority should be referred to the appropriate board rather than decided independently.
Admin details
Schedule
[edit | edit source]The position is intended as a part-time and flexibly scheduled role rather than a fixed daily shift.
The expected workload is approximately 6 hours per week on average, although workload may vary depending on grant deadlines, reporting periods, contracting, onboarding and other time-sensitive needs.
- Most work may be performed asynchronously and remotely.
- The administrative officer should normally review WikiJournal administrative communications regularly during the work week.
- Attendance at monthly general WikiJournal meetings should be expected when reasonably possible and counted as paid working time.
- Meetings with the Administrative Board, individual editorial boards, contractors or other WikiJournal participants may also be counted as paid working time when related to the role.
- The Administrative Board may authorize additional or redistributed hours for defined projects, provided funding remains available within the approved budget.
Budget and reimbursement
[edit | edit source]Approximately US$8,000 is allocated to the administrative officer role for the year, while retaining additional grant funding for technical editor work and other WikiJournal activities.
The proposed rate is US$25 per hour, with payment based on actual documented hours worked. An annual allocation of US$8,000 provides for up to approximately 320 hours per year, corresponding to an average of approximately 6 hours per week.
The Administrative Board may adjust the distribution of hours during the year according to workload and available funding.
Reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred specifically for WikiJournal work may be reimbursed when approved in advance by an authorized Administrative Board member or under a standing Board-approved policy. Such expenses should be documented with receipts or equivalent records.
Examples may include:
- Required software or service fees.
- Postage or administrative filing costs.
- Approved travel or other project-specific expenses.
Personal equipment and ordinary home internet or workspace expenses would not normally be reimbursed unless specifically authorized.
Location and international contracting
[edit | edit source]The administrative officer position may be open to applicants internationally, provided that WikiJournal is able to establish a practical and legally appropriate method for contracting and paying the selected applicant in their country of residence.
WikiJournal should confirm the available payment method and any required contractor or tax documentation before paid work begins. Applicants should therefore not necessarily be excluded solely because they reside outside the United States, but appointment may depend on WikiJournal being able to make payments reliably and at reasonable administrative cost.
Where possible, the same hourly rate should apply irrespective of the contractor's country of residence.
Hiring process
[edit | edit source]If or when the WikiJournal User Group has an open administrative officer position, the hiring process may consist of:
- First contacting current or previous technical editors and other experienced WikiJournal participants who may already be familiar with WikiJournal workflows and documentation.
- Opening the position to suitable applicants internationally where practical payment and contracting arrangements are available.
- If this does not identify a suitable candidate, advertising the position more broadly within Wikimedia, open-access, academic-publishing and nonprofit communities.
- Requesting a concise application describing relevant administrative, nonprofit, financial, human-resources, contractor-management, Wikimedia or scholarly-publishing experience.
- Confirming that WikiJournal can establish an appropriate contracting and payment arrangement in the shortlisted applicant's country before appointment.
- Verifying the identity of shortlisted applicants before contracting.
- Preferably having approximately 2–3 WikiJournal participants review or interview shortlisted applicants.
- Providing a summary of shortlisted candidates to the Administrative Board.
- Selecting the contractor by consensus of the Administrative Board.
Desirable experience
[edit | edit source]Useful qualifications may include:
- Reliable administrative organization and follow-through.
- Experience with contractor administration, human resources, bookkeeping, grants, nonprofits or project administration.
- Clear written communication and comfort working asynchronously with an international volunteer community.
- Fluency in written and spoken English sufficient for professional communication, meetings, administrative documentation and correspondence.
- Ability to maintain accurate records and appropriately handle confidential administrative information.
- Familiarity with Wikimedia projects, WikiJournal, academic publishing or open-access communities.
- Previous WikiJournal technical-editor or other WikiJournal experience, particularly because existing documentation and workflows may be adapted for this role.