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Administrative Operations Specialist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located at a Forest Service Nursery in Boise, ID, Central Point, or Watersmeet, MI.

You will be responsible for administrative and support services functions for Nursery programs and activities, including program evaluation, budget analysis, and records management.

For additional information about the duties of these positions, please contact Kayla Herriman by email at kayla.herriman@usda.gov.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
06/20/2023 to 06/26/2023
Salary
$57,118 to - $74,250 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9
Locations
Few vacancies in the following locations:
Boise, ID
Watersmeet, MI
Central Point, OR
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Travel may be required for site visits or meeting/training attendance.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
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-EHT-NUR-FS3403-9G-SH
Control number
732302200

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Duties

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  • Review document packages such as applications or proposals to verify compliance with program guidelines or requirements.
  • Review requests for expenditures against a unit budget and resolve discrepancies
  • Review files for accuracy and complete any close out actions upon completion of work
  • Monitor staffing or financial processes to ensure that funds are approved and compliant with organizations policies and procedures
  • Maintain tracking systems (electronic and hard copy) for multi-step actions or projects
  • Provide administrative advice, information, or feedback, and respond to questions from employees or customers
  • Supervise up to 20% of the time - plan the work to be accomplished by the unit, assign work to employees, and establish production or quality standards for the units work.

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
  • The employee is responsible for ensuring their telework worksite provides an adequate work environment with regards to connectivity and technology, and for providing internet service and other general utility costs at their own expense.
  • Adequate connectivity includes having reliable telephone and internet service, including meeting any agency internet provider requirements.
  • Employees are required to wear personal protective equipment while performing duties associated with their field of work.
  • Occasional visits to Nursery work sites may require walking over uneven ground, standing, bending, reaching, or similar activities.

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.

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.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

GS-09: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the 07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Participating in the management and preparation of an annual budget; and/or Monitoring day-to-day budget activities in a nursery or business office setting; and/or Maintaining budget-related documents and historical records for use in quality control reviews; and/or Preparing client billings and ensure income is inappropriate cost center accounts and/or Using automated systems to carry out administrative functions on behalf an organization or business e.g., word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, email, scheduling, travel, budget or other comparable software and systems; and/or Reviewing and analyzing administrative procedures for an organization or business and recommended changes to improve administrative effectiveness.

OR

A master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related;

OR

An appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

To receive consideration for this position, you must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

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

See above for education that may be qualifying for this position.


HIRING EVENT INFORMATION:
This National Nursery and Genetics hiring effort is critical to accomplishing reforestation needs and successfully implementing the REPLANT Act across the National Forest System. This includes positions for multiple components of the reforestation pipeline. Positions filled through this event will contribute to reforestation and restoration work directly related to the agency's mission, working to promote healthy, diverse, and productive forests and grasslands across the nation.

Additional information

Final determination of duty station will be made by the selecting official at the time of job offer.

Salary range as shown is the locality pay area of Rest of U.S. (RUS). Pay rates vary depending on location and may be higher or lower than the amount shown. Please visit the
Office of Personnel Management's website for 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 the certain military spouses, Schedule A Disabled, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website.

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.

New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required new supervisory training program within one year of entry into a supervisory position.

The regular work of the position is performed in an office environment and involves sitting at a desk and operating standard office equipment and keyboards.

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

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
  • 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/11987655

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