Skip to main content
U.S. flag
Back to results

Certified Deaf Interpreter Technical Specialist

Department of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency
This job announcement has closed

Summary

When disaster strikes, America looks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Now FEMA looks to you. Join our team and use your talent to support Americans in their times of greatest need. FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages Federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. We foster innovation, reward performance and creativity, and provide challenges on a routine basis with a well-skilled, knowledgeable, high performance workforce. Please visit www.fema.gov for additional information.

A Certified Deaf Interpreter Technical Specialist provides American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation to meet the communications requirements of disaster survivors and the general public throughout emergency operations, programs and services while deployed to disasters and other emergency management events. The salary for this position is $41.18 per hour. Apply for this exciting opportunity to become a member of the Disability Integration team within FEMA.

EMERGENCY ASSIGNMENT: Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

This position is being announced under FEMA's Reservist Program. This is a temporary appointment in the Excepted Service, not to exceed 2 years. Employment is on an intermittent basis. Veterans’ preference does not apply to the reservist program selection process.

STAFFORD ACT EXCEPTED SERVICE APPOINTMENTS: The Reservist Program is an appointment type granted under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Section 306 (b), which authorizes FEMA to appoint such temporary employees as necessary to accomplish work authorized under the Act. Appointments under this authority within FEMA are made to the excepted service and are nonpermanent in nature.

Overview

Help
Job canceled
Open & closing dates
06/23/2017 to 07/06/2017
Salary
$41.18 to - $41.18 per hour
Pay scale & grade
IM 00
Location
Location Negotiable After Selection, United States
MANY vacancies
Travel Required
75% or less - In addition to frequent travel related to deployment(s), occasional non-emergency travel may also be required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Term - Intermittent employment not to exceed 2 years.
Work schedule
Full-time - Temporary
Service
Promotion potential
00
Supervisory status
No
Announcement number
FEMA-17-KML-167967-RSV
Control number
472804100

This job is open to

Help

Duties

Help

As a Certified Deaf Interpreter Technical Specialist in FEMA's Reservist Program, some of the duties you will be responsible for include:

  • Providing interpreting, translation, and transliteration services in American Sign Language and other visual and tactual communication forms used by individuals who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deaf-blind.
  • Delivering translation services for all FEMA programs and services during response and recovery for disasters to ensure programs and services are integrated and fully accessible to survivors with disabilities and other individuals with access and functional needs.
  • Engaging and facilitating the active involvement of local and state disability services agencies and organizations and advocacy groups.
  • Providing guidance and technical assistance regarding transcribing speech to text in meetings, conference calls and other event settings.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen to be considered for this position.
  • You must successfully pass a background investigation.
  • Travel will be required.
  • You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
  • Selective service registration is required for males born after 12/31/59.
  • Please review "Other Information" section for additional key requirements.

To qualify for this position, you must possess ALL of the following:

  • Minimum three (3) years of experience providing American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting for the disability community and service delivery programs; and
  • Active and valid Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) certification by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID).
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 provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Your application must show that you meet all requirements for this position. You may be found "not qualified" if you do not possess the minimum competencies required for the position.

Qualifications

NOTE: Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume. For a brief video on How to Create a Federal Resume, click here.

Current or former FEMA Reservists/DAE employees: To accurately credit your experience for these intermittent positions, make sure to list the dates (from MM/YY to MM/YY) of each deployment, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment. Failure to provide this information may result in disqualification.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Additional information

  • If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.
  • To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully pass a background investigation for Public Trust as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined (Mythbuster), review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs. For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit the OPM website at https://www.opm.gov/investigations/background-investigations/.
  • DHS uses E-verify, an internet based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.
  • This announcement may be used to fill one or more vacancies.
  • All candidates must be able to deploy with little or no advance notice to anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period of time. Deployments may include working in excess of eight hours a day, or in excess of 40 hours in a given week, including weekends and holidays, and under stressful, physically demanding, and austere conditions. When activated and deployed, you serve in a federal travel status and are entitled to lodging, transportation and per diem reimbursements for authorized expenses in accordance with federal travel regulations.
  • All candidates must be available to deploy at all times during the term of this appointment unless pre-approved through authorized Reservist leave. Reservists may take up to 90 days of unpaid Reservist Leave per year.
  • FEMA Reservist employees must maintain an address of primary residency (which will serve as the official duty station of the employee), in a Stafford Act “State”, as defined by Section 102(4) of the Stafford Act.
  • If selected for this position you will be required to attend a two week Emergency Manager Orientation (EMO) in Anniston, AL or Emmitsburg, MD. Travel is at FEMA’s expense and will occur from Sunday to Friday.

How you will be evaluated

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

To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. If you are qualified, you will be referred to a selection panel for consideration.

We recommend that you preview the online questions for this announcement before you start the application process.


To preview questions please click here.

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.