Clarification from the agency

Current NRC employees on a permanent appointment or NRC competitive TERM appointment; Permanent Federal employees who have completed a probationary period and reinstatement eligible; Applicants under the Schedule A Appointment Authority; and Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the Armed forces under honorable conditions after 3 years or more of continuous active service may apply.

As the Office of Enforcement's Agency Allegation Advisor, you will provide authoritative policy and program advice and assistance to the Executive Director for Operations (EDO), Program Office Directors, and Regional Administrators as a Senior Level Advisor, on a broad variety of allegation matters related to nuclear reactor and materials facilities. You will serve as the agency's expert on allegation policy and coordinate all agency level allegation issues.

Duties may include, but are not limited to:

1. Serves as the agency expert on allegations and safety conscious work environment (SCWE). Is responsible for the planning, design, maintenance, implementation, and oversight of the allegation program. Advises senior management on highly sensitive and safety-related allegation issues. Helps develop strategies for dealing with licensees having significant retaliation allegation history.
2. Provides authoritative consultation, guidance, assistance, and recommendations to office management and staff, other NRC offices, and Commission members and their staffs on allegation-related matters, as well as their relationship to the SCWE and Safety Culture agency policies. Applies appropriate controls in coordination of matters frequently of a sensitive nature. Performs independent studies of or leads and directs teams charged with resolving significant and complex issues associated with allegations.
3. Independently manages the resolution of allegation issues that involve coordination with agency groups. Develops changes to the program database and software for tracking and monitoring allegations.
4. Independently authors or significantly contributes expertise to the development of agency policies and regulations in the specialty area. Consults with the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) regarding compatibility of policy and program initiatives with statutory obligations, and interacts at  policy level with officials of central management agencies on  NRC authorities and flexibilities for the  allegation program.
5. Revises, manages, monitors and assesses the implementation of the agency allegation program codified in Management Directive (MD) 8.8, including review of the scope and depth of the staff assessments to ensure that safety and employee retaliation issues are adequately resolved. Develops and maintains high level policy guidance on handling and review of allegations. Defines responsibilities and achieves inter-office consistency on Allegation Review Board, allegation response times, licensee requests for information (RFI), confidentiality policy, and other documentation.
6. Conducts periodic audits of regional and headquarters offices to ensure consistent implementation of MD 8.8. Provides periodic input on each Office Allegation Coordinator and regional/program office performance in handling allegations. Provides an annual report that assesses trends in allegations.
7. Serves as the point of focus for allegation related issues that involve multiple offices or regions. Plans, hosts, and oversees periodic counterpart meetings and conference calls. Identifies opportunities and requirements for NRC studies and research on allegation related issues.
8. Represents the Office/Commission at government, academic, and industry conferences, seminars and meetings. Serves as central point of contact for public, alleger groups, and the media.
9. Serves as an in-house consultant to managers, support staffs,  other entities, and individuals for all problems or questions relevant to the specialty discipline.
10. Develops and maintains guidance for tracking and review of Department of Labor (DOL) investigations, hearings, and Administrative Review Board decisions, and maintains a liaison with the DOL. In coordination with OGC, handle requests for agency witnesses or other input to DOL proceedings. Assists offices in developing strategies to deal with licensees having significant allegation histories or allegations of chilled work environments.
11. Reviews NRC and industry policy and technical issuances in allegation management and identifies those with potential significant impact . Independently consults with senior agency management and staff regarding issues identified, develops authoritative analyses and recommendations, and counsels senior agency management regarding needed changes in activities, priorities, or resource allocations.  Identifies and leads innovative enhancements to the program.
12. Serves as regional and program office trainer and mentor for staff for allegation policy, procedures, and guidance, develops, conducts, and/or supervises periodic training on allegation handling and sensitivity. Maintains his/her expertise in allegations at a high level.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship Required
• This is a drug testing position
• Background investigation leading to a clearance is required for new hires.

List of supplemental material that may be applicable:

If you are a NRC employee you are required to submit your most recent Rating of Record (Performance Appraisal) or a statement saying that one is not available along with a current SF50 Personnel Action showing your grade, step, pay and official title.

If you are a current/reinstatement eligible Federal employee with status (Tenure Group 1 or 2), you will be considered under our merit promotion procedures and must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) to verify competitive status or reinstatement eligibility. The SF50 must show your current grade, step, pay and official title.

Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable (e.g. DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; Current Active-Duty members must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter.)  You can find additional information about Veterans' Preference at http://www.fedshirevets.gov/.

If you are applying for a position that requires a college degree, you must submit your College Transcripts.

All supplemental documents will now be collected electronically and should be submitted before the closing date of this vacancy announcement.  You have two choices for submitting your supplemental documents:

1.  Use the "USAJoBs" feature to download documents from your USAJOBs portfolio; or
2.  use the "Upload" feature to upload documents directly from your computer.  The following types of documents can be uploaded:  .gif, .jpeg, .png, .rtf, .pdf, and .doc; or

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, you must have at least 7 to 10 years of specialized experience. (1) Expert knowledge and skills for this position go beyond the standard normally associated with a senior line position. Must have knowledge of nuclear safety and safety culture attributes which encourage employee participation in effective problem identification and resolution and support a respectful work environment and healthy questioning attitude. (2) Expert knowledge of the principles, concepts, theories, and methods of an established professional or administrative discipline and their relationship to programs and work environments which encourage employee participation in effective problem identification and resolution. (3) Ability to recognize and identify industry-wide significant safety issues from information contained in allegations. Knowledge is not limited to agency activities but includes activities within the national and international community. Incumbent is expected to cultivate ties to other U S. government agencies and the nuclear national and international community in the matter of allegations. (4) Broad and in-depth knowledge of computer software used for management and analysis of data should be demonstrated. (5) Demonstrated ability to apply the above knowledge and experience in the management of the formulation of sound technical judgments on the adequacy of the resolution of safety issues for design and proposed systems, components, and equipment to ensure safe nuclear facility operation under normal conditions and safe plant shutdown under transient or accident conditions to minimize or eliminate any adverse impact upon public health and safety and the environment. (6) Advanced skills in oral and written communications sufficient to effectively convey complex recommendations to management and to discuss varied and complex policy issues with representatives of other NRC offices and divisions, other government agencies, national laboratories, industrial representatives, and members of the public. (7) Demonstrated ability to establish effective work relationships with individuals at all levels, both within and outside the parent organization.

A detailed description of how you possess the specialized experience as well as how you meet the qualifications desired in an ideal candidate; including types and complexity of projects or work assignments you have undertaken and your specific role (e.g., lead, contributor, etc.) that demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the area, should be addressed in your resume and additional space provided for supplemental response.

The Ideal Candidate for this position will have: 

1. Demonstrated in depth knowledge in the area of nuclear safety and the conditions of licensee work environment which encourages employee participation in effective problem identification and resolution. Ability to recognize and identify significant safety issues and trends contained in allegations.

(EXAMPLE:  Describe specific experience defining, developing, and/or implementing a nuclear safety corrective action, allegation, or employee concern resolution program. What was your role? Describe the scope and complexity of the program(s) and the size of the organization(s) involved. Describe your experience analyzing effectiveness of existing programs and policies, and identifying, developing, and establishing requirements for a new program to ensure application of best practices. Describe your experience providing expert advice and assistance to senior management officials in the areas of nuclear safety and work environment.)

2. Demonstrated knowledge of the theory, principles, and practices in the field of nuclear application, as evidenced by work experience within the agency or its regulated communities. Ability to independently manage internal and external interactions associated with the resolution of allegations relating to nuclear safety, discrimination against individuals for raising safety concerns, and chilled work environments.

(EXAMPLE: Describe your specific work experience, education, training and developmental assignments that demonstrate your knowledge and ability to interact with internal and external organizations in resolving technical and/or policy issues as associated with nuclear safety and work environment related issues. Describe the scope and complexity of the topics involved and your specific role (i.e., lead, contributor, etc.). Provide specific examples and accomplishments.)

3. Demonstrated ability to establish program goals; develop associated implementation plans, evaluation methods, and communication tools; and effectively conduct resource planning and program management functions.  Demonstrated ability to lead changes and improvements through successful approaches to problem solving, conflict resolution, and use of data and information, in coordination with various stakeholders.

(EXAMPLE: Describe your specific work experience(s) that demonstrate(s) your ability to establish program goals and develop implementation plans, identify resource needs, and conduct methods to measure the success of plans in achieving the desired goals.  Describe how you communicated the plans, resource needs, and performance measure to senior management, staff, and external organizations.  In addition, provide examples which required you to understand, evaluate, and negotiate change and improvement efforts. For each example, describe the significance or complexity of the issue, the role you played, e.g., lead, principal contributor, team member, etc., and the results or outcomes of your actions. Provide specific examples and accomplishments)

4. Demonstrated advanced oral and written communication skills, and experience effectively conveying and presenting complex and detailed information of a technical and/or policy nature to colleagues, peers, senior management officials, and representatives of other institutions, agencies, or organizations.

(Describe the kinds of oral presentations or briefings you have made, and the audience levels and groups involved.  Describe the nature, scope and complexity of the issues and topics involved. Describe your most difficult or challenging writing assignments.  Describe your contributions to reports, papers, or other written products. Describe your experience participating on panels or at professional meetings and conferences.  Describe your experience in mentoring and developing the technical skills of junior personnel. Provide specific examples and accomplishments which describe the impact you have had as a result of your communication skills.)

5. Demonstrated ability to function as an organization representative and liaison on substantive technical and policy issues, to establish effective work relationships with individuals at all levels, internally and externally to the organization, and to achieve cooperation and consensus among parties engaged in joint or parallel efforts.

(Describe the various types and levels of individuals you routinely interact with and for what purposes. Describe your experience representing your organization before a variety of individuals and your success in achieving organizational goals and objectives. Describe your experience interacting with external entities, both government and non-governmental (e.g., industry, intervener) organizations. Describe your accomplishments in identifying the internal and external policies that impact the work of the organization and developing and implementing successful approaches to discuss and resolve sensitive or adversarial situations/issues. Provide specific examples of developing professional networks with other organizations and situations which required you to use tact, diplomacy and negotiation skills to achieve cooperation and develop consensus, and your accomplishments in building coalitions and effective work relationships. Describe any experience you have at the international level.)

How you will be evaluated

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

When the application process is complete, your application will be reviewed to determine if you meet the job requirements. If you meet the minimum requirements your application will be referred to a rating official or panel. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume and vacancy responses to determine your level of knowledge, skill and ability related to the job requirements. Rating panel recommendations will be forwarded to the NRC's Executive Resources Board Staffing and Development Committee who will review and endorse the panel recommendations. If you are among the best qualified candidates for this position, your application will be referred to the selecting official.