Administrative Assistant

Location: Wisconsin-based, with a strong preference for candidates in Northeast Wisconsin (Green Bay, Fox Valley and surrounding areas).

About Optimal

Optimal Digital Marketing is a results-driven digital marketing agency with a simple goal: helping great companies create tangible growth. Over the last three years, we've generated $131 million in attributed growth for our clients, and our moonshot is one billion dollars in real, measurable business impact.

Our values guide our decisions, especially the hard ones, and they're where we put our time and resources. We believe everyone here is a leader, and we invest in helping our people grow their skills. We’re a small team headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin (you can meet everyone on our team page), and we run on clear systems and async communication.

About the role

This is a part-time administrative assistant role supporting Optimal's leadership team and the wider team on the administrative side of running a business. Your time will be split between finance and HR admin and the recurring work that keeps operations running, so you’ll work across both sides of the business. It isn't all behind the scenes, though. You'll be in regular contact with clients, contractors and vendors. You'll report to our Finance & HR Manager and work closely with them day to day, so we're looking for someone who enjoys a steady, collaborative working relationship. You'll also work with our CEO, Head of Operations and Onboarding Lead.

You'll work alongside us with a shared vision of where the company is going. We’re looking for someone who takes initiative, owns their work from start to finish and is reliable enough that we never have to wonder whether it got done. Clear communication matters a lot here, especially written and async. On a team our size, every role has a real impact, and this one touches almost everything behind the scenes. We invest in the people we hire, and we're looking for someone who wants to grow with us for the long term.

You'll also be a go-to for the team on smaller admin needs. You won't own anyone's calendar, though you may help coordinate schedules and move meetings around when things shift.

A big part of this role is finding better ways to work, so more of your time goes to what moves the company forward. We use Claude across our internal work. You'll learn our processes hands-on first, then we'll automate the repetitive parts together and hand those workflows off to you. You don't need to have built automations before, but you should already use AI tools as a regular part of your work, for more than quick questions or drafting an email. We're looking for someone curious enough to keep learning on their own.

You may not enjoy this role if you

• Don't enjoy detail work, like checking invoices against time records and following up on numbers that don't match.
• Prefer to talk most things through in meetings. We work mostly in writing through Slack, ClickUp and Loom, and save meetings for deeper conversations and bigger decisions.
• Aren't interested in working in Claude regularly or digging in when a tool or automation isn't working.

What you’ll work on

The work is a mix of recurring jobs that keep the business running every month and projects that come up along the way.

Contractor operations and resourcing

• Run the monthly contractor invoice cycle. Collect invoices, enter them into a payment processor, reconcile them against Harvest time and resource budgets and follow up on anything that doesn't match.
• Keep resourcing tools, contractor budgets and the monthly utilization report current, working closely with our Head of Operations.
• Support contractor vetting and setup, including collecting paperwork and communicating with new contractors.
• Be the main point of contact for contractors on resourcing, invoicing and payment questions.

Finance support

• Handle month-end inputs on time and correctly, including coding transactions in QuickBooks Online, sharing updates with our accounting partner and data entry for reporting.
• Prep recurring client invoices in QuickBooks Online ahead of each billing cycle.
• Pay contractor and vendor bills through Bill.com as part of our weekly cash flow cycle.
• Calculate bonus cycles and referral partner payments, and keep the team's bonus documentation up to date.

Client and team admin

• Work with the sales team to prep and send client agreements, follow up on signatures and file signed copies.
• Work with our Onboarding Lead on the admin side of client onboarding, including setting up new clients in our systems and sending kickoff and access emails. Handle offboarding when a client leaves.
• Handle team onboarding and offboarding logistics, including equipment, software access and offboarding checklists.
• When we're hiring, run the logistics: responding to applicants, scheduling interviews, first-pass resume review and keeping the process moving to the end.
• Run logistics for review cycles (with our Head of Operations), quarterly leadership meetings, team surveys and retention tracking.
• Work with the Finance & HR Manager to plan and run team-building activities, gifts and get-togethers that enrich Optimal's workplace culture.

Systems and projects

• Turn repeat work into systems (trackers, templates, SOPs or automations, including Claude workflows where they make sense).
• Own the automated workflows we hand off to you, including keeping them updated and fixing them when the output isn't right.
• Check shared inboxes and virtual mail and route what needs action.
• Manage shared access to team software, set up new tools and troubleshoot tool issues.
• Research questions for leadership and run periodic audits of expenses, software and subscriptions.
• Handle occasional projects and logistics requests from our CEO.

What success looks like

• Your support helps leadership spend more time growing the business and less time working in operations.
• We trust that the work is done, and done right. What you own gets finished properly without reminders or follow-ups. When something repeats, there's a system behind it.
• Everyone knows where things stand. Your updates are clear and async, so leaders know what's done, what's next and what has to wait without having to ask.
• You become a thinking partner. You bring ideas to improve how the business runs behind the scenes, so our operations and sales teams are supported well enough to do reliable, great work for our clients.

How you work

These are our values and what they look like in this role. We hire for them first.

• Lead With Intention - You take ownership and don't wait to be told what to do. You share what you intend to do, with the full context behind it, and then you follow through.
• Simplify To Amplify - You decide what your week is for at the start of it, and you keep track of your projects without anyone checking in. When priorities shift, you re-plan quickly, and when something isn't working, you stop and change course instead of pushing through. You build the simplest thing that solves the problem, and when something keeps breaking, you fix the process.
• Teach What You Learn - You learn a little every day, not only when there's time blocked for it. When you don't know something, you dig in and come back with an answer. Then you document it and share it.
• Be Clear, Be Kind - You ask questions instead of following blindly, set clear and kind expectations and raise problems early, with care for the person on the other side.
• Win As One - You understand how your work affects the team and the company, and you give more than you take.

Skills and experience

Required

• 2+ years of experience in administrative support, operations, bookkeeping support, project coordination or a similar role
• Associate degree in business, administrative professional studies or a related field, or equivalent experience
• Strong organization and time management across recurring deadlines and multiple projects
• Strong attention to detail
• You already use AI tools like Claude regularly in your work, beyond basic tasks like drafting emails, and you've taught yourself a new tool or system before
• Basic bookkeeping knowledge, including how invoices, bills and payments flow through a system like QuickBooks Online
• Clear, professional written communication with the team and with people outside the company
• Comfortable working async (written updates, Looms, documentation)
• Comfortable in spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel or Coda)
• Sound judgment with confidential information.
• Reliable high-speed internet and a quiet, private workspace for focused and confidential work

Nice to have

• Agency or professional services experience
• QuickBooks Online, Bill.com, Harvest or similar finance and time tracking tools
• ClickUp, Coda, Notion, Front or similar project management and communication tools
• Experience reconciling accounts or preparing cash flow reports
• Experience with Gusto or other cloud-based payroll software
• Experience setting up state payroll or tax registrations
• Experience with HR admin, like coordinating hiring, onboarding and offboarding, or keeping employee records
• Experience with Claude, or setting up and maintaining automations in AI platforms

Additional Benefits

• Annual merit increase opportunity
• Regular performance reviews based on a scorecard
• Paid continuing education opportunities
• Company-provided equipment includes: Apple MacBook laptop, Headphones, keyboard, mouse
• 8 paid holidays
• Bereavement pay
• 401k with company match
• Employee recognition and reward program
• Inclusive in-person and virtual team-building events and activities

*Optimal is an equal opportunity employer.*

If you'd like to apply directly, please visit our Website: https://optimal.marketing/careers/

Pay: $22.00 - $26.00 per hour

Expected hours: 29.0 per week

Benefits

• 401(k) matching
• Flexible schedule
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Referral program

Application Question(s)

• Tell us about a process you improved or automated. What was broken, what did you change, what tools did you use, and what happened when you got stuck?
• What bookkeeping tasks have you done, and in what system?

Experience

* Administrative: 2 years (Required)

Work Location: Remote