Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from all qualified candidates.

• As the alter ego of the COO, Deputy COO supervises the Office of the CEO, the Office of the CIO, Office of the CFO, the Procurement Management Office, Human Resources Office, and the Servicing Office, all within the Business Center.
• Through subordinate executives and managers, the Deputy COO provides leadership to the organization of over 550 professional, technical, and administrative personnel. The Deputy COO reports directly to the COO, RD.
• Is responsible for ensuring that the RD Mission Area develops and adheres to a strategic plan, creating and applying a documented process for rapid, but fully coordinated and vetted, policy formulation.
• Is responsible for improving communication within the Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Utilities Service, and the State Operations Office to provide them with timely and thorough information.
• Oversees the daily priorities of the Mission Area to accomplish a variety of complex and important assignments. Ensures that priority projects are given special consideration.
• Serves as RD’s liaison with other USDA Mission Areas, Federal agencies, and private industry to establish a collaborative effort to address the broad issues and problems that the Mission Area confronts.
• Provides oversight over the Mission Area’s administrative and management areas focusing on improving performance, daily coordination and liaison activities, management controls, communication, and efficiency of operations within the Mission Area.

Conditions of employment

• Veterans Preference is not applicable in the Senior Executive Service.
• Initial appointments are required to serve a 1-year probationary period.
• Narrative Statements for the ECQs must not exceed 10 pages.
• Background Investigation required.

Qualifications

YOU MUST UPLOAD YOUR RESPONSES TO THE EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs) AND TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs).

As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible executive leadership and supervisory experience that is indicative of senior executive level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below. Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-14/15 grade level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector. As such, your resume should demonstrate that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully fulfill responsibilities inherent in most SES positions such as:

- Directing the work of an organizational unit- Ensuring the success of one or more specific major programs or projects;
- Monitoring progress toward strategic organizational goals, evaluating organizational performance and taking action to improve performance; and
- Supervising the work of employees; and exercising important policy-making, policy determining, or other executive functions.

Failure to meet the basic qualification requirement and address all Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors will result in your application being disqualified. EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): The ECQs were designed to assess executive experience and potential not technical expertise. They measure whether an individual has the broad executive skills needed to succeed in a variety of SES positions. All applicants must submit a written narrative to address the ECQs. Your narrative must address each ECQ separately and should contain at least two examples per ECQ describing your experiences and accomplishments/results. The narrative should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities, scope and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments, policy Initiatives undertaken and the results of your actions. Applicants should not enter "Refer to Resume" to explain your answer.

The narrative must not exceed 10 pages. NOTE: Current career SES members, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility, and SES Candidate Development Program graduates who have been certified by OPM do NOT need to address the ECQs.

1. Leading Change: This core qualification 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. (Competencies: creativity and innovation, external awareness, flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking, vision)

2. Leading People: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organizations 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. (Competencies: conflict management, leveraging diversity, developing others, team building)

3. Results Driven: This core qualification 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. (Competencies: accountability, customer service, decisiveness, entrepreneurship, problem solving, technical credibility)

4. Business Acumen: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. (Competencies: financial management, human capital management, technology management)

5. Building Coalitions: This core qualification 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. (Competencies: partnering, political savvy, influencing/negotiating)

Fundamental Competencies: These competencies are the foundation for success in each of the Executive Core Qualifications: Interpersonal Skills, Oral Communication, Continual Learning, Written Communication, Integrity/Honesty, Public Service Motivation. The Fundamental Competencies are crosscutting; and should be addressed over the course of each ECQ narratives. It is not necessary for you to address the Fundamental Competencies directly as long as the narrative, in its totality, shows mastery of these competencies on the whole.

Applicants are encouraged to follow the Challenge, Context, Action and Result (C-C-A-R) model outlined in the guide.

Challenge- Describe a specific problem or goal.

Context - Describe the individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked, to address a particular challenge (e.g., clients, co-workers, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale).

Action - Discuss the specific actions you took to address a challenge.

Result - Give specific examples of measures/outcomes that had some impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills.

Additional information about the SES and Executive Core Qualifications can be found on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) SES Website. You are strongly encouraged to review OPMs Guide to SES Qualifications for specific examples and guidance on writing effective ECQ narrative statements.


MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (TQs): All applicants must submit a written narrative response to the following TQs. You must address each TQ separately. Each TQ narratives must not exceed two (2) pages. Please give examples and explain the complexity of the knowledge possessed and the sensitivity of the issued you handled.

• The incumbent must have demonstrated experience leading a multi-functional organization, with multiple decentralized components that include federal and non-federal employees and a full spectrum of financial management, human capital, information technology, risk, civil rights, procurement and administrative support services to meet the needs of a geographically dispersed, complex nation-wide mission.

• The incumbent must have demonstrated experience in policy development and delivery to improve communication, outreach, ensure performance accountability and enhance customer experience.

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 on the quality and extent of your total accomplishments, experience, and education (if applicable). Your application will be rated and ranked by an Executive Resources Board (ERB) Panel, using only the information submitted within the application package. Applicants who do not demonstrate in their application sufficient possession of the ECQs & MTQs will be determined ineligible for further consideration. Unless you have already been certified by a Qualifications Review Board (QRB) in the past, your ECQs must be certified by a QRB after selection and before appointment can occur.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12161269