Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens

The Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR) contributes to the Agency's goal of protecting human health and the environment. A principal responsibility is to build a national waste management program, implemented through EPA Regional Offices and State Programs. The Office is responsible for promoting sustainability and safe materials management and fostering waste reduction and responsible management practices that will conserve natural resources, prevent future problems, and clean up problems from the past. ORCR implements this program through the promulgation of regulations, policies, and guidance that apply to facilities and persons generating, transporting, treating and disposing of hazardous and solid waste and by developing national policies; programs and partnerships with other governmental and non-governmental organizations, businesses, and other stakeholders to support resource conservation through pollution prevention and environmentally sound recycling. ORCR serves as the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) lead on issues related to homeland security dealing with identification, characterization, and disposal of wastes from natural disasters or other homeland security incidents. ORCR also implements the remediation and disposal portions of Toxic Substances Control Act related to polychlorinated biphenyls.

Specific duties of the director include:

- Serving as the principal advisor to the Director, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery on: hazardous waste characterization under Section 3001 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); data and waste assessment activities; regulations for special classes of generators or hazardous waste; analytical methods and risk assessment policy; waste export and import issues; and waste characterization research needs.

- Planning, developing, coordinating, implementing, and evaluating a national program to develop regulations under Section 3001 of RCRA to define hazardous wastes, developing waste testing protocols to sample and characterize wastes, conducting technical determinations and studies as to which should be listed as hazardous, and making recommendations as to those which should be listed or delisted.

- Directing and managing the programs, resources and staff assigned.

- Planning, coordinating, and directing EPA policy, legislation development, rule development, and guidelines regarding the import or export of hazardous and other wastes.

- Planning, coordinating, and directing the development and support of analytical methods for the activities of the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery and its national programs.

- Planning, coordinating, and directing the development and implementation of regulations for coal combustion residuals.

- Directing the planning, development, coordination, and conduct of studies, analyses, assessments, and surveys in support of Division programs.

- Directing the planning, coordination, and development of regulations for special classes of generators or hazardous wastes.

- Assuring the coordination and integration of Division activities within OLEM, the Office of Water, the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, and the Office of Research and Development.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen.
• You must submit resume and required documents (see How to Apply section).
• If you are selected, a pre-employment background check is required.
• You may be required to travel 1 to 5 days per month.

If you are selected, you must complete a 1-year SES probationary period, if not previously completed.

The Ethics in Government Act, P.L. 95-521, requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a financial disclosure statement, OGE-278, prior to assuming the SES position, annually, and upon termination of employment.

This position is designated as High Risk and requires a background investigation. Unless an appropriate background investigation is already on record with the Office of Personnel Management, you must undergo a background investigation.

 

 

Qualifications

The work of this position is classified in the Program Management, 0340 series where the qualifications include both general management skills and characteristics that are applicable to all SES positions and technical or program responsibilities specific to this position. Applicants must have substantive general experience which provides a good basic or general knowledge of the principles of organization, management and administration; and substantive specialized (operating administrative or managerial) experience in a type of work or a combination of functions directly related to this position.

All applicants must have one year of specialized experience at a level close to the work of this job that demonstrates the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform in this role. Typically this experience can be found in work within this field or a field that is closely related. 

As a basic requirement for entry into the Senior Executive Service, applicants must also provide evidence of progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under the Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below. 

A. Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) - Mandatory for competitive applicants - Failure to address these factors will result in your application being disqualified, unless you are a noncompetitive eligible applicant. 

ECQ 1 - LEADING CHANGE. Involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment. 
ECQ 2 - LEADING PEOPLE. Involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts. 
ECQ 3 - RESULTS DRIVEN. Involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks. 
ECQ 4 - BUSINESS ACUMEN. Involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.
ECQ 5 - BUILDING COALITIONS. Involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.

Your responses should be clear and concise and show a level of accomplishment and a degree of responsibility. Leadership competencies for each ECQ can be found at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/reference-materials/guidetosesquals_2012.pdf 

B. Technical Qualifications (TQs) - Mandatory for all applicants - Failure to address these factors will result in your application being disqualified.

TQ 1 - Demonstrated experience managing complex and controversial environmental policy issues of broad national importance.

TQ 2 - Demonstrated experience managing policy discussions within an organization, developing regulations and guidance as appropriate, and ensuring successful policy execution in leading a large, multi-disciplinary staff.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and required documents to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet basic qualification requirements, your application will be evaluated based on your narrative statements addressing the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Technical Qualifications (TQs). It will then be forwarded to a three member Rating Panel consisting of SES members for further review. The Rating Panel will decide which Best Qualified applicants will be issued to the Selecting Official by the Human Resources Office.