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Program Specialist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

These positions assist the Eastern Planning Service Group with a remote duty location of anywhere within the geographic footprint of US Forest Service Regions 8 or 9. See the Qualification Section for more location information.

Assignments involve the initiation, formulation, planning, execution, and control of major special studies or continuing projects.

For additional information about the duties of this position contact Carrie Saunders at carrie.saunders@usda.gov or 740-270-0973.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
05/10/2023 to 05/16/2023
Salary
$82,830 to - $128,043 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 12 - 13
Location
Many vacancies in the following location:
Location Negotiable After Selection
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position with overnight lodging for meetings, trainings, and project work.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
23-R9EPSG-11955035-G-SH
Control number
724703800

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Duties

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  • Duties listed are at the full performance GS-13 level.
  • Coordinate important and complex unit segments of technical and administrative work.
  • Provide staff leadership in the integration of the resource program with the programs of other resource staffs.
  • Serve as a professional staff contact of the resource program by maintaining close liaison and working relationships with staff assistants and officials of the Agency.
  • Prepare comprehensive briefs of action taken to keep leadership apprised of such matters.
  • Prepare or direct the preparation of written and oral presentation materials on programs and matters of interest.
  • Receive and prepare replies to various forms of communications of an official and/or personal nature addressed to a higher-level official.

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

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. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

Specialized Experience Requirement:
GS-301:
For the GS12: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as the following:

  • Worked as a program analyst/specialist, or directly related position with responsibility for analyzing program data and information, preparing management reports, and coordinating a variety of administrative projects;
  • Wrote, prepare, and evaluate formal and informal correspondence, reports, statistics, and analytical documents for agency officials;
  • Worked with program managers in carrying out a variety of administrative functions and business requirements;
  • Provided expert analytical and technical advice and recommendations on matters pertaining to organizational processes, procedures, and policies.

For the GS-13: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as the following:
  • Worked as a program analyst/specialist, or directly related position with responsibility in working with analytical and evaluative methods for complex programs for the agency;
  • Worked with high priority special projects, studies, and initiatives encompassing difficult and diverse functions or issues that affect critical aspects of major agency planning programs;
  • Managed or led programs/projects using effective program/project management approaches to ensure timelines were met, senior level officials were informed, and milestones were tracked/reported.
  • Wrote, prepared, and evaluated formal and informal correspondence, reports, statistics, and analytical documents for senior level officials;
  • Coordinated the development of spending proposals, justifications and grants and agreements;
  • Provided expert analytical and technical advice and recommendations on matters pertaining to organizational processes, procedures, and policies.
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.

LOCATION INFORMATION:
The duty station may report to any Forest Service office or be remote within the geographic boundary of Region 8 or Region 9.
Region 8: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Region 9: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP 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/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after three years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary or term employees of federal land management agencies 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. 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.

Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period.

For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as Schedule A Disabled, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website.

PROMOTION POTENTIAL: If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied or guaranteed.


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 bargaining unit position and is represented by either NFFE, AFGE, or NAGE.



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
  • Information Management
  • Oral Communication


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/11955035

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