This is a complicated situation, so bear with me. Last year we got a new director. Shortly after that, I learned that my boss, who I adored, was retiring. Her position was to administer a federal grant (assure policies are up to date, enforce policies, review expenditures, assure programming matched funding, etc). I never dreamed of applying for the position, but soon after the announcement I was bombarded with encouragement from multiple sources to apply for the job. Slowly and rather reluctantly to be honest, I applied.

The position was not even posted until my boss left. I was now supervised by the director. To make a long story short, HR came back and said I did not have the necessary experience to even be considered for the job, and refused to allow me to interview. Which is a bit ridiculous considering I did have the required experience, they were just misunderstanding my previous positions/education.

Fast forward six months. I have been acting as the grant administrator the whole time without additional pay (since I wasn't qualified for the job). I have completed the reports, enforced policies, built a strong relationship with our state office, and generally done nearly all of the functions of the job. By now, my director and I have built a pretty solid relationship. Right before I leave for vacation (and my wedding), he informs me that they have decided to hire this woman from another department. I told him that before she started, I would like an updated job description so that I can know what I will still be responsible for, what she is responsible for, and what I needed to prepare to hand over.

She starts. She seems nice enough. I was expected to train her.... yes, I was training my new boss. I spent hours upon hours training her, and then we had our first tiff. It was regarding our funding source, something easily looked up and verified. I pointed out that she had told a group the wrong thing about our funding, and she fundamentally disagreed with me. This was a black and white issue, not something open to interpretation. Soon, this was happening more and more. Very black and white issues, things I sent her from the state and federal offices to verify what I told her, she insisted on arguing about. She would come into my office and start hitting my desk while driving her point home.

I am writing this six months after her hire. My director is my supervisor again, because he knows that she cannot supervise me. By now she has alienated the entire office largely because of her combative and "I'm always right and the administrator" attitude. No one trusts her answers, they all still come to me. She has still not picked up her duties except for the budget portion of the job. She has embarrassed us at events with her argumentative nature. My director is unhappy with her and always happy to tell me how unhappy he is with her, but he does nothing. He keeps calling me in on management meetings because he knows that she does not know what she is doing, but I'm just a worker ant. I'm beginning to resent being treated like an administrator when I get none of the benefits associated with the position. But then when I am asked to give up certain responsibilities, I find myself being resentful because I do not trust her ability to do them. I still feel obligated to ensure that things are done correctly, something she could care less about. She wants to do things HER way, whether or not it is within the guidelines of the grant.

It is to the point now that I cannot sleep at night. I do not like who I am becoming--Resentful all the time, frustrated, over-worked, etc. I've tried talking to my director, but he already knows how I feel and continues to do nothing. I find myself, a generally even-keeled person, feeling my blood boil on a daily basis. The administrator won't listen to the things I tell her on how to do her job, she's rude and demeaning, and is going to mess up the duties I hand over to her. My director loves me, but won't do anything about the situation. How do I deal when I have no support? What do I do with this situation?