Administrative and office duties form the operational backbone of any organisation. This hub is the central resource for administrative and office support roles, whether you are a job seeker tailoring your CV, an employer drafting a vacancy, or an employee checking what a title is actually expected to deliver.
Administrative functions are universal across industries, from healthcare and education to finance and legal services, but the exact scope of a role depends heavily on the employer and the setting. Each role below links to a dedicated page with full duties, daily tasks and CV wording. For the framework behind all workplace roles, see the parent job duties guide.
Browse Admin & Office Job Duties by Role
Admin titles overlap heavily between employers. Browse by the function you perform rather than by the wording on your contract.
Reception and Front Office
Front-office roles manage the physical and digital threshold of the business: visitors, calls, bookings and the visitor register.
- Receptionist duties and responsibilities
- Office Assistant duties and responsibilities
- Hotel Receptionist duties and responsibilities
- Switchboard Operator duties and responsibilities
Administrative Support and Assistants
Support roles work to someone else’s diary and priorities. The step up from assistant to officer or administrator is usually the point at which you own a process rather than execute one.
- Administrative Assistant duties and responsibilities
- Personal Assistant duties and responsibilities
- Secretary duties and responsibilities
- Administrator duties and responsibilities
- Administrative Officer duties and responsibilities
- Administration Officer duties and responsibilities
- Project Administrator duties and responsibilities
- Sales Administrator duties and responsibilities
- Legal Secretary duties and responsibilities
- Company Secretary duties and responsibilities
Clerical, Records and Data Capture
Clerical roles focus on fast, accurate handling of documents and data. Accuracy is the accountability, not speed alone.
- Receiving Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Dispatch Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Inventory Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Administration Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Registry Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Data Capturer duties and responsibilities
- School Admin Clerk duties and responsibilities
Finance Administration
These roles sit between administration and finance. They handle money-related documents without carrying the accounting sign-off.
- Creditors Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Debtors Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Payroll Administrator duties and responsibilities
- Finance Clerk duties and responsibilities
- Finance Administrator duties and responsibilities
- Financial Administrator duties and responsibilities
Office Management and Specialist Admin
- Office Administrator duties and responsibilities
- School Administrator duties and responsibilities
- Office Manager duties and responsibilities
- Human Resources Administrator duties and responsibilities
- Office Cleaner duties and responsibilities
Common Duties Across Admin & Office Roles
Whatever the title, administrative roles are built from the same six accountabilities.
- Communication handling: managing calls, email, correspondence and enquiries, and routing them to the right person.
- Diary and scheduling: booking meetings, managing calendars, arranging travel and preventing clashes.
- Document and records control: filing, archiving, version control and retrieval of physical and digital records.
- Data accuracy: capturing and verifying information so downstream reports and payments are correct.
- Office resources: ordering supplies, managing suppliers and keeping spend within budget.
- Confidentiality: handling personnel, client and financial information under a clear duty of care.
How Duties Change by Seniority and Workplace
Seniority Changes What You Decide
Entry-level clerical positions focus on foundational execution and data integrity: capturing records, filing, verifying batches. Mid-to-senior positions require independent decision-making, project coordination and supervisory capability. For senior support staff, executive assistance adds complex schedule management and confidential document handling.
Sector Changes the Compliance Load
A legal administrative role requires strict adherence to court deadlines and filing rules. A medical receptionist handles patient information under privacy obligations that an office receptionist does not. A school administrator works to departmental reporting cycles. The core admin skill set is the same; the regulatory overlay is not.
Organisation Size Changes the Spread
In a small business, one administrator often covers reception, filing, invoicing, payroll input and supplier orders. In a large organisation each of those sits with a different role. When writing a CV, list what you actually did rather than relying on the title.
Popular Role Guides
- Receptionist duties and responsibilities: front desk, switchboard, visitor management and administrative support.
- Office Administrator duties and responsibilities: office operations, suppliers, records and coordination across departments.
- Administrative Assistant duties and responsibilities: diary, correspondence, documentation and meeting support.
- Personal Assistant duties and responsibilities: executive diary, travel, confidential documents and gatekeeping.
- Payroll Administrator duties and responsibilities: payroll input, deductions, statutory submissions and payslip queries.
Duties for CVs
Generic one-word duties such as “admin” or “filing” fail to demonstrate impact. Use action-oriented phrasing that shows efficiency, volume and system proficiency. The duties for a CV guide covers the method; the wording below shows the level of detail that works.
- Managed a multi-line switchboard, routing incoming calls, greeting clients and maintaining a professional reception environment.
- Coordinated daily office supply inventory, placing reorders and managing vendor relationships within budget.
- Streamlined executive travel itineraries and expense reporting for a leadership team of five, reducing processing delays by 25%.
- Maintained confidential personnel files and onboarding records in line with labour legislation.
Job Description and Employer Guidance
When drafting an administrative job description, keep the wording aligned with the real scope of the role. Two rules prevent most problems. Tailor by seniority, so junior roles do not absorb strategic oversight tasks and senior listings reflect genuine decision-making autonomy. And set the industry context explicitly, because a legal, medical or school administrator carries compliance duties a general office role does not.
Start from the structure in the job description duties and responsibilities guide, then take role-specific content from the pages above. Duties vary by employer, so treat every list here as a starting point rather than a template to copy unchanged.
Related Work Areas
- IT, finance, HR and professional duties: for bookkeeping, HR officer and analyst roles above administrative level.
- General work, warehouse and logistics duties: for stores, dispatch and receiving roles.
- Management and leadership duties: for office manager and supervisory positions.
- Job duties: the parent guide to duties, responsibilities and job descriptions.
How to Use These Duties Guides
Find your function in the directory above and read that role page in full. If your title is not listed, choose the closest role by accountability rather than by name: an “administrator” in one company is an “administrative officer” in another, and the duty list will tell you far more than the label.
Duties vary by employer, sector and organisation size. Where a role handles personal, medical or legal information, follow your employer’s privacy and records policy rather than a general guide.
Last reviewed: 1 September 2026