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Trade Specialist

Department of Transportation
Maritime Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the Office of Cargo and Commercial Sealift, Office of the Deputy Associate Administrator for Commercial Sealift, Office of the Associate Administrator for Strategic Sealift, Maritime Administration (MARAD).

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
06/30/2023 to 10/02/2023
Salary
$64,957 to - $122,459 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 09 - 12
Location
4 vacancies in the following location:
Washington, DC
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - Some travel will be required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
MARAD.HQ-2023-0068
Control number
734572100

Duties

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As the Trade Specialist, you will:

  • Explain and interpret regulations as they pertain to government agencies' current programs as well as new and changed programs; address questions surfaced by shippers for both operational and logistical challenges and reporting requirements under cargo preference regulations.
  • Maintain a monitoring and surveillance system to ensure that each shipper provides hard or electronic copies of bills of lading for each ocean shipment under its jurisdiction, and, when required, provide periodic reports detailing its ocean shipment plan and non-US flag offers.
  • Develop a personal liaison with division or office level managers to assure effective interface in programs involving utilization of US-flag ships and to promote their use over and above the legal minimum.
  • Determine the specific information needed to maintain adequate surveillance of shipments; availability of source data; type and frequency of reports to be received; and a system for identifying shipments.
  • Work with external federal agencies, such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Census, with access to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Trade Reports, to export and import records and identify shipments/shippers circumventing Cargo Preference requirements on government impelled cargoes.

The ideal candidate is experienced in international maritime trade, international programs, or the promotion or administration of international transportation services. Candidates with experience with or within the maritime industry, or ocean transportation shipments, are ideally suited.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S.Citizen and eligible for consideration.
  • You must meet specialized experience to qualify.
  • Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  • SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
  • GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.  A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
  • PCS/RELOCATION/RECRUITMENT: Permanent Change of Station (PCS), Relocation, and Recruitment Incentive authorization varies by position/selection.
  • PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the competitive or excepted service in the executive branch to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
  • DEU REQUIREMENTS: Applicants selected under delegated examining procedures may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • DRUG TEST: Tentatively selected candidates are required to undergo urinalysis in accordance with DOT 3910.1D entitled "Drug and Alcohol-Free Departmental Workplace", which includes testing for marijuana. Marijuana is legal in some states, however it’s still illegal at the federal level. Therefore, if selected for the position you will be required to submit to a pre-employment/pre-appointment drug test, you will also be subject to Random Drug Testing. Failure or refusal to take a drug test may result in disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must (1) meet the Education Requirement for the series, (2) provide a copy of transcripts for verification, AND (3) meet either the education or specialized experience requirements for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.

To qualify for the GS-09 on Experience, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-07 it must include:

  • Experience in tracking projects, communicating guidance, and/or performing data analysis on shipping records (i.e., import and export) for an organization.

To qualify for the GS-09 on Education alone, you must have:

2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or have been awarded a master's or equivalent graduate degree. You can also qualify based on a combination of graduate education and experience. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.


To qualify for the GS-11 on Experience, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-09 it must include:

  • Experience in collecting and reporting on cargo shipping data, working with external organizations to access import and export shipping records, and/or providing guidance on regulatory shipping requirements. (Examples may include but are not limited to work experience in shipping, supply-chain, logistics, freight forwarding, steamship company or port operations).

To qualify for the GS-11 on Education alone, you must have:

3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
You can also qualify based on a combination of higher level graduate education and experience. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.

To qualify for the GS-12 on Experience, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-11 it must include:

  • Experience working with external government agencies, organizations, or contractors/sub-contractors to access their import and export shipping records, ensuring regulatory compliance, and serving as a point-of-contact, or liaison, to internal and external stakeholders. (Examples may include but are not limited to senior journeyman level work experience in shipping, supply-chain, logistics, or experience gained in several years of freight forwarding, steamship company or port operations.)

You cannot qualify on education at the GS-12 level; you must have experience.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

  • Technical competence - Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on-the-job experience to perform one's job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.
  • Manages and Organizes Information - Identifies a need; gathers, organizes, and maintains information; determines its importance and accuracy, and communicates it by a variety of methods.



For all types of consideration, 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

For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

Students enrolled in a qualifying degree program can apply if the anticipated graduation date is within six months of closing date of the announcement. Graduation transcript must be received before start date.

Other applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

Individual Occupational Requirements:

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- marketing, business administration, political science, public administration, history, business or commercial law, economics, finance, international trade, or international relations.

Additional information

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

How you will be evaluated

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

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a 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, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level. 

To compete with U.S. Citizens:  If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be placed in one of two categories: Qualified and Well Qualified which is based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference that have provided supporting documents will receive selection priority over non-veterans. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position.

To compete with other competitive status government employees: If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be scored based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review.

Eligible Federal employees also seeking consideration for noncompetitive reassignment for this position must indicate interest in the assessment. Noncompetitive federal candidates must have competitive status on a SF-50, meet minimum qualifications, have served at the same grade or higher, and held or exceeded the promotion potential of this position.

All applicants:  Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package.  If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be updated on your behalf or you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers. The Automated Staffing Office is ultimately responsible for determining your final rating.


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