Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from all qualified candidates.

• The duties may include, but are not limited to:
• Determines program goals and develops plans for the office to meet those goals.
• Determines resources needs, allocates resources, and accounts for their effective use.
• Coordinates activities with those of headquarters and the other regional offices.
• Recommends to higher management changes in program emphasis and operating guidelines.
• Deals with general personnel management policy matters affecting the regional office and with personnel actions affecting key employees, or those involving serious repercussion.
• Delegates authority to subordinate supervisors and holds them responsible for the performance of their staff functions.
• Assigns appeals cases to administrative judges capable of issuing quality decisions that are consistent with controlling law, rules and regulations.
• Trains and develops administrative judges to reach the full performance level.
• Is responsible for the timely processing of all appeals received by the regional office in accordance with time standards established by the Board.
• Is responsible for carrying out an affirmative action/equal employment opportunity program within the regional office, assuring that the fundamental purposes and objectives of the Board's action plan are met to the fullest extent possible.
• Supervises a GS-12 supervisory paralegal and supervises the activities of GS-13 through GS-15 administrative judges, who conduct formal administrative hearings.
• The selectee will manage the Chicago, IL office.

Conditions of employment

• US Citizenship is required.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Complete, if selected, an Executive Personnel Financial Disclosure (SF-278).
• A one-year SES probationary period may be required.
• 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.
• You MUST be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of a state, Territory, or the District of Columbia.
• Must be an active member of the bar in good standing.

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 (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 narrative must not exceed two (2) pages. Please give examples and explain the complexity of the knowledge possessed and the sensitivity of the issue you handled.

NOTE: You must address each TQ separately. You are required to respond to all TQs. If you fail to do so, you will be rated as 'ineligible'.

1. Extensive knowledge of and experience in Federal employment law applicable to Federal employees and agencies.
2. Experience in litigation or adjudication in quasi-judicial or administrative forums, and a demonstrated skill and proficiency in legal analysis and writing.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants who meet the mandatory requirements in the ECQs and MTQs above will be considered qualified for this position. Rating and ranking to determine the "best qualified" will be conducted by a panel of experts and will be based upon consideration of the degree to which applicants meet the mandatory knowledge, skills, and abilities described in the qualification sections on ECQs and MTQs. Interviews and qualifications inquiries may be required. The ECQs of the selectee are subject to prior approval by the OPM Qualifications Review Board (QRB). When reviewing ECQs statements, the QRB is looking for specific challenges, actions, and results.

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 the agency's Executive Resources Board (ERB), using only the information submitted within the application package.
• Applicants who do not demonstrate in their application sufficient possession of the ECQs and MTQs will be determined ineligible for further consideration.
• Unless you have already been certified by a QRB in the past, your ECQs must be certified by a QRB after selection and before appointment can occur.

• Resume: Resume that includes the following information: 1) personal information; 2) education; 3) work experience including the work schedule and hours worked per week as well as dates of employment; and title, series and grade if applicable; 4) supervisor's phone number and e-mail address for each work period listed and whether or not we may contact them for reference checks; and, 5) other qualifications.
• Responses to the ECQs
• Responses to the MTQs