Clarification from the agency

All U.S. citizens. Applicants with status should apply under 2020-CEPMP-B0001. However, if you desire consideration also under this announcement, you must apply to both.

Financial Institution Specialists receive on-the-job and formal classroom training designed to provide practical experience in the compliance function of the FDIC. 

Financial Institution Specialists participate in the assessment of financial institutions to ensure consumers and depositors are treated fairly and operate in compliance with federal consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and community reinvestment laws; and promoting economic inclusion by helping to build and strengthen positive connections between insured financial institutions and consumers, depositors, small businesses, and communities. Financial Institution Specialists also:

• Evaluate compliance with applicable consumer protection, fair lending and civil rights laws and regulations, Community Reinvestment Act, and related enforcement responsibilities, through targeted compliance examination reviews.
• Research, compile, manipulate, and/or evaluate data to prepare a variety of documents, management reports and presentations.
• Identify and report unusual transactions, irregularities, weaknesses or deficiencies to a higher-graded specialist/examiner and/or supervisor.
• Utilize computer software programs to perform analysis and generate applicable reports and documents.
• Attend meetings with FDIC officials, attorneys, representatives of financial institutions or other private sector representatives, and/or other federal and state regulatory agency officials to discuss issues of mutual concern when applicable, and under the guidance of higher-graded specialists/examiners and/or supervisors.
• Meet with and conduct interviews of institution personnel of various levels to determine their awareness of current laws and regulations, obtain information and documents, and provide feedback regarding examination activities.
• Prepare examination reports and related documents (examination scope memoranda, work papers, compliance examination reports, CRA performance evaluations, visitation reports, and consultation memoranda when applicable).
• Participate as members of the compliance examination team by ensuring that their portion of an examination is completed timely; communication with co-workers regarding work performed on an examination; and, sharing information with co-workers.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship
• Very frequent overnight travel, up to 3 weeks per month (most locations).
• MUST be available for assessments April 1-3, 2020, in Arlington, VA.
• Pass automated writing assessment - see Qualifications/Evaluations Sections
• Subject to relocation to any duty location to meet management needs.
• Examiners are subject to credit limitations - see "Other Information

Must complete all training benchmarks and obtain a commission in Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection in order to be promoted to the CG-11 level.  Those who do not complete these requirements within 3 and a half years (42 months) will be separated from employment.

Moderate Risk Position--Minimum Background Investigation (MBI) Required.

Registration with the Selective Service http://www.sss.gov

Qualifications

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the Private or public sector. 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.

Applicants may qualify based on education, work experience, or a combination of both, as defined below: 

CG-7 Education-Based Qualifications Requirements: (Note: Applicants may substitute quarter or other credit hour equivalents for the semester hour requirements indicated.) 

To qualify based on education, candidates must meet one of the following two requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 

1. Completion of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university that included the following: (a) completion of a major course of study in accounting, banking, business administration, commercial or banking law, economics, finance, marketing or other related fields; (b) completion of at least 24 semester hours of combined coursework in business administration, accounting, finance, marketing, mathematics, statistics, or economics that included at least 6 semester hours in accounting; and (c) fulfillment of one or more of the requirements listed below for Superior Academic Achievement (SAA). 

Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): 

To qualify for SAA, applicants must have met one of the following: 

a. A grade-point average of "B" (a GPA of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. 
b. A grade-point average of "B+" (a GPA of 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. 
c. Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, University or major subdivision. 
d. Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.

OR

2. Completion of one academic year of graduate study at an accredited college or university in accounting, banking, business administration, commercial or banking law, economics, finance, marketing or other related fields. In addition, completion of at least 24 semester hours of combined undergraduate and graduate coursework at accredited colleges or universities in business administration, accounting, finance, marketing, mathematics, statistics, or economics that included at least 6 semester hours in accounting. 
 
OR

CG-7 Experience-Based Qualification Requirements: To qualify based on experience, candidates must have one year of experience which demonstrated skill in gathering and analyzing financial data; interpreting balance sheets and income statements. To be creditable, experience must be at the next lower grade, i.e. at the CG-5 for the CG-7.

OR

Combinations of successfully completed education and experience may be used to meet the full qualification requirements for the CG-7, as long as the education and experience demonstrates skill in gathering and analyzing financial data; interpreting balance sheets and income statements. 

The competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) you will be assessed on are listed below:

1. Knowledge of banking theory, banking operations, banking and commercial law, economics, business administration, accounting, and the functions, procedures and practices of financial institutions sufficient to permit independent performance of recurring assignments.
2. Skill in fact-finding, analysis, and problem solving.
3. Ability to communicate orally.
4. Ability to communicate in writing to prepare a variety of reports.
5. Ability to effectively deal with institution representatives, co-workers, and the general public.

You do not need to respond separately to these KSAs.  Your answers to the online questionnaire and resume will serve as responses to the KSAs.

AND

SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR:  In addition to meeting the qualification requirements as described above, this position has the following Selective Placement Factor:

Ability to effectively communicate in writing as evidenced by using proper grammar to compose written documents which are clear, concise, thorough, and free of spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors.  

Automated Writing Assessment:  Candidates must demonstrate that they meet the Selective Placement Factor by passing an automated writing assessment. Candidates who self-assess at 85 or above on the vacancy announcement assessment questionnaire will receive notification with a link via e-mail within two weeks from the closing date of the announcement to take the automated writing assessment. Candidates will be allotted 25 minutes to complete the assessment after clicking on the “Begin Assessment” button.  Candidates will have three days to complete the assessment.  The completion deadline will be indicated in the notification e-mail. Candidates must complete and pass the automated writing assessment in order to receive further consideration for this position. Candidates who fail will be deemed not qualified for failure to meet the Selective Placement Factor and will receive no further consideration for this position.

Your automated writing assessment results, whether pass or fail, are valid for 12 months for the entry-level FIS position within the FDIC only.  You will not be able to retake the assessment for a period of 12 months from the date you complete the assessment. You will be notified of your assessment results and your assessment retake eligibility date.  Your assessment results will be used for this entry-level FIS placement opportunity and reused for future entry-level FIS job opportunities for 12 months should you elect to apply for those opportunities.  Disclaimer: This does not restrict your ability to apply to other FDIC entry-level FIS job opportunity announcements within this 12 month window; however, if you previously failed the assessment you will be found ineligible.

For this job opportunity announcement:  If you previously completed the automated writing assessment see "Other Information". 

 
Tablet/phone mobile devices do not support all features for the assessment; therefore, it is recommended that you use a desktop/laptop to complete the assessment.  If you have questions about the computer requirements please contact PFhelpdesk@PDRI.com.  If you wish to request a reasonable accommodation for the automated writing assessment, you must email us at  cephrb@fdic.gov by the closing date of this announcement.  If your reasonable accommodation request is submitted after the closing date of the announcement, it will be considered on a case-by-case basis as there may not be adequate time to process your request.

How you will be evaluated

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

You must demonstrate that you meet the Selective Placement Factor by completing and passing an automated writing assessment in order to receive further consideration for this position.  If you self-assess at 85 or above on the vacancy announcement assessment questionnaire, you will receive notification with a link to the automated writing assessment.  (Refer to Qualifications Section - Selective Placement Factor).

If you pass the automated writing assessment, your resume will be reviewed, including the vacancy announcement assessment questionnaire, to determine whether you meet the remaining qualification requirements outlined in this announcement. Therefore, it is imperative that your resume contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make the qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, duties performed, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, the position series and grade level. If you rate yourself higher on the questionnaire than what is supported by your resume, your overall qualifications assessment may be adversely affected. This could mean that you pass the automated writing assessment, thereby demonstrating that you meet the Selective Placement Factor, but are later deemed to be "not qualified" for failure to meet the remaining qualification requirements. 

If you are found qualified, you will be placed in one of several categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, Well Qualified, Fully Qualified, or Qualified, based upon the degree to which your background and responses to the assessment questions match the qualification requirements of the position. Within these categories, candidates eligible for veterans' preference will receive selection priority over non-veterans. The highest-ranked candidates for each location may be invited to Arlington, VA to participate in a 3-day assessment process from April 1-3, 2020, at the FDIC’s expense. If invited, attendance will be required to receive further employment consideration. During the event, candidates are assessed on several job-related factors by means of taking the following assessments: a math assessment, a persuasive oral presentation assessment, a teamwork assessment, and a structured interview. The assessments and the interview are governed by a set of benchmarks. Hiring decisions are made based on governing regulations and the candidate’s performance against the benchmarks of each assessment.

FDIC provides reasonable accommodations to candidates with disabilities. If invited and you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the event (including for the series of assessments), we ask that you notify us within three days of receiving the invitation to allow us adequate time to consider the request; however, you can make a request at any time once invited. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis. 

Applicants who are selected to participate in the hiring event will receive an invitation no earlier than two weeks prior to the event.