Clarification from the agency

All groups of qualified individuals.

The position is located in the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) and reports to the Executive Director, Midwest District The responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

The Executive Director has full managerial responsibility for establishing policies and procedures, overseeing daily operations, delegating authority as appropriate to subordinate staff, directing program planning, and directing and participating in the execution of the annual budget.

The incumbent directs cemetery planning efforts covering administrative, burial, grounds, and equipment operations to determine resource requirements (payroll and non-payroll), modify and improve operations for effectiveness and efficiency, and identify and respond to trends in the utilization of burial and memorialization benefits.

The Executive Director executes the annual cemetery budget ensuring obligations and expenditures are in line with budget operating plans.

The Executive Director directs regular programs for Quality Control in cemetery operations. Appraises services furnished to assure conformance with the law, established policies, regulations, and other mandatory administrative issues. Analyzes and evaluates results and directs action planning to effect improvements.

The Executive Director administers a comprehensive public relations and outreach program to promote the cemetery and raise awareness of VA burial benefits to Veterans, their family members, and the funeral directors.

Acts as an advisor on operational policies and procedures to the Under Secretary and Principle Deputy Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, Deputy Under Secretary for Field Programs and Cemetery Operations, Executive Director, Cemetery Operations, District Director, and other members of NCA leadership concerning veterans burial benefit programs administered at the cemetery level.

Conditions of employment

• US citizenship is required.
• One year probationary period required for initial SES appointment.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Incumbents of this position will be subject to a background investigation commensurate with the risk and sensitivity level of the position.
• Successful completion of drug screening required.
• Public Financial Disclosure Report (SF-278) is required within 30 days of appointment.
• May be subject to reassignment geographically or organizationally.
• VA structures its SES positions into pay bands. This is a pay band 3 position and the salary range is $147,649-$204,000. Exceptions to the cap of the range may be considered in certain circumstances.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications, applicants must possess the following technical and executive core qualifications. These qualifications would typically be gained through progressively responsible management or executive level assignments such as director of a regional office, medical facility or program manager. An individual's total experience, education and volunteer work experience must demonstrate the ability to perform the duties of the position.

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.

MANDATORY EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): All applicants must submit a written narrative response to each of the following ECQs and include your name on each page. Your narrative must address each ECQ separately and demonstrate the underlying competencies in the narrative. Examples should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities; the scope and complexity of the programs, activities, or services you managed; program accomplishments; policy initiatives undertaken; level of contacts; the sensitivity and criticality of the issues you addressed; and the results of your actions. You should use action oriented leadership words to describe your experience and accomplishments and quantify your experience wherever possible to demonstrate your accomplishments (e.g., number of employees supervised; size of budget managed; amount of money saved, etc.). Applicants should use the Challenge, Context, Action and Results (CCAR) model below when responding to each ECQ:

• 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, etc).
• 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.

Your narrative response should not exceed 10 pages, be typed in 12 point font with one-inch margins. It is recommended that you include 2 recent (not older than 10 years) examples per ECQ and draft your ECQs in a Word document before uploading into the system to ensure these guidelines are met. Information that exceeds these guidelines will not be reviewed. Detailed information on each ECQ, the underlying and fundamental competencies, sample narratives and a tips sheet for writing effective ECQs are available in the "Guide To Senior Executive Service Qualifications" GUIDE (opm.gov) at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/executive-core-qualifications/.

1. Leading Change: 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. (Underlying Competencies: Creativity and Innovation, External Awareness, Flexibility, Resilience, Strategic Thinking, and Vision)

2. Leading People: The ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's 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. (Underlying Competencies: Conflict Management, Leveraging Diversity, Developing Others and Team Building)

3. Results Driven: 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. (Underlying Competencies: Accountability, Customer Service, Decisiveness, Entrepreneurship, Problem Solving and Technical Credibility)

4. Business Acumen: The ability to manage human, financial and information resources strategically. (Underlying Competencies: Financial Management, Human Capital Management and Technology Management)

5. Building Coalitions: 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. (Underlying Competencies: Partnering, Political Savvy and Influencing/Negotiation)

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION (TQ)s: In addition, all applicants must submit a written narrative response to the following specific TQ(s). Please label and include your name on each page. Please give examples and explain how often you used your skills, the complexity of the knowledge possessed, the level of people you interacted with, the sensitivity of the issues you handled managing a large public or private sector organization that administers complex, rules-based benefits or services, etc. It is recommended that you draft your TQ(s) in a word document and then upload into the system.

TQ1: Demonstrated experience in successfully leading and managing operations of a diverse and geographically dispersed workforce that administers complex, rules-based benefits and services for a large group of customers, particularly in the area of cemetery operations. Experience in employee engagement and relations, conflict resolution, team building, contract oversight, and accountability and personnel issues.

How you will be evaluated

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

Step 1: ECQ qualifications

Step 2: Technical Qualification(s)

Step 3: VA Executive Resources Board

Step 4: Nominating Organization may conduct interviews

Step 5: Approval by the Selecting Official (may include additional screening)

Step 6: OPM Qualifications Review Board certification