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Chief of Staff

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Two positions being filled in Missoula, MT and Albuquerque, NM. POSITIONS ARE NOT REMOTE!

The incumbent serves as the Chief of Staff to the Regional Officer and Deputy Regional Forester(s) in a key advisory role on administrative activities affecting the organization and those activities that have a broad impact across the Forest Service

Missoula, MT: Contact Daniel McKeague at daniel.mckeague@usda.gov.
Albuquerque, NM: Contact Sherri Schwenke at sherri.schwenke@usda.gov

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/18/2023 to 08/22/2023
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$116,393 to - $151,308 per year

Salary wage as shown is for Rest of the U.S. For more information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management, Salary and Wages web page.

Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Locations
2 vacancies in the following locations:
Missoula, MT
Albuquerque, NM
Location Negotiable After Selection,
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Travel may be required for training, meetings, field work, and site visits.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
23-R1GV-12095280-FS-DC
Control number
744152500

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Duties

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  • Consultant and advisor to the Regional Forester providing high level leadership, representation, consultation, liaison, and coordination to support a broad scope of the agency mission and related special program responsibilities.
  • Initiates, coordinates, and oversees intensive studies, analysis, or other matters related to Regional programs, policies, or relationships and activities requiring the special attention of the Regional Forester.
  • Monitors major projects within the Region, continuously observes progress, resolves problems as they arise and keeps the Regional Forester informed.
  • Consults with subject matter and program specialists within FS, USDA, and other Federal agencies to negotiate support for significant policy decisions and management initiatives affecting the human resources community, vendors, and FS employees.
  • Represents the Regional Forester at high-level meetings, conferences, and committees.
  • Defines, establishes, and directs the coordination and support on priority issues and agendas that cross organizational boundaries and promulgates solutions to issues raised in the process.
  • Tasks senior employees to research and resolve sensitive problems/issues; items of congressional interest; and issues raised by the Department, customers, contractors, and other senior federal/non-federal employees.
  • Assists, or takes the lead, in development and strategic management programs and organizational issues that require decision or other action by the Regional Forester.
  • Defines, integrates, and implements strategic direction for resolution of critical problems.
  • Initiates, coordinates, and/or prepares agency response to sensitive and complex inquiries from the Administration, Members of Congress, and a wide variety of external partners.
  • Develops long-range plans that may include new programmatic efforts, changing and establishing priorities, and eliminating or modifying programs.
  • Performs supervisory duties 20% or less of the time.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
  • New supervisor training must be completed within your first year.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements.

Specialized Experience Requirement:
For the GS-14: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as performing one or more of the following duties:

  • Develop long- and short-range plans to include programming, budgeting, integrating, and evaluating complex programs for the agency;
  • Initiate and lead high priority special projects, studies, and initiatives encompassing difficult and diverse functions or issues that affect critical aspects of major agency programs; and/or
  • Recommend the revision of programs and procedures to facilitate operations in the face of technical or administrative obstacles.
Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

There is no substitution of education for specialized experience.

Additional information

This announcement may be used to fill future positions within Region 1. By selecting the option "Location Negotiable" your application package will be reviewed for eligibility and possible submission on a certificate for consideration if additional positions need to be filled at a later date. Please select all duty locations for which you wish to considered

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary and term employees the opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years and the last temporary or term appointment must have been with the Forest Service. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met.

This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position.

This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.
The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional information is available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-and-leave-flexibilities-for-recruitment-and-retention/

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Forest Service daycare facilities may be available.

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

PLEASE NOTE:This vacancy is limited to the first 50 applications received and will close at 11:59 pm ET on the closing date identified above or the day we receive the 50th application, whichever occurs first.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below:

  • Administration and Management
  • Managing Human Resources
  • Oral Communication
  • Supervision
  • Technical Competence
  • Workforce Environment
  • Writing


Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position.

If you meet the qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified, you will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities must meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12095280

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