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Staff Assistant

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The position is assigned to the USDA-Forest Service Office of the Chief and located in the Washington Office (WO). Incumbent reports to the Chief of Staff and provides coordination, leadership, and staffing support on priority issues and agenda of the Chief of Staff.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Jaelith Hall-Rivera at jaelith.hall-rivera@usda.gov or 202-821-3452.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Posted 12/09/24
Location
Work site options
Telework eligible
Not applicable, this is a remote position.
Remote job
Yes
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$143,736 - $189,854 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
25% or less - Required to travel to Washington DC
Appointment type
Permanent
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
25-WO-OC-12631293-FS-RS
Control number
822539300

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted only from current permanent Forest Service (FS) employees with competitive status; Land Management eligible candidates whose last appointment was with the FS; and CTAP/RPL eligible candidates.

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Duties

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  • Provides leadership, expertise, and advice to the Chief of Staff on diverse matters of national significance.
  • Serves as a liaison between the Chief of Staff and other WO and field-level executives for both program and administrative issues.
  • Represents the Chief of Staff on matters related to Forest Service programs, policies, or relationships and activities requiring the special attention of the Chief of Staff.
  • Coordinates leadership and staff support on a wide variety of program and administrative matters, priority issues and high level agenda items on behalf of the Chief of Staff.
  • Provides advice and counsel to the Chief of Staff on a wide range of issues and proposals to ensure consistency and continuity across Forest Service and related policy making processes.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit e-verify.gov.
  • This position is remote eligible. You will be required to sign a remote work agreement and be responsible for ensuring the approved worksite has adequate internet service, connectivity, and other general utility costs at your own expense.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

For the GS-15: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as meeting at least four or more of the following: providing coordination, and staffing support on priority issues and agenda to senior leadership; and/or analyzing and evaluating programs and issues related to implementing the departmental mission to provide leadership, expertise, and advice to senior leadership on diverse matters of national significance; and/or applying knowledge of laws, policies, regulations, and precedents applicable to identifying issue background, current status, and positions of department and recipient audience; and/or facilitating the agency to administer critical Federal programs in regards to program goals, objectives, relationships with related programs and policies of other agencies and outside organizations, and methods for measuring program resources and evaluating program accomplishments; and/or participating in determining long-range plans for the agency that may include initiating new programmatic efforts, changing and establishing priorities, and eliminating or modifying programs.

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.

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

There are no education requirements for this position.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary and term employees the opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years and the last temporary or term appointment must have been with the Forest Service. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met.

This position is not eligible for telework.

The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional Information is available on the OPM Website.

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.

Government Housing is not available.

Flexibility to work remotely in a virtual posture may be considered, however, final determination of the duty station for this position will be made by the selecting official at the time of job offer.

Pay rates vary depending on location, the salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See Salaries & Wages for additional information on pay rates.

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 based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below:

  • Administration and Management
  • Decision Making
  • Oral Communication
  • Writing


Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position.

If you meet the qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified, you will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities must meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12631293

Forest Service

A career with the Forest Service will challenge you to manage and care for more than 193 million acres of our nation's most magnificent lands, conduct research through a network of forest and range experiment stations and the Forest Products Laboratory, and provide assistance to State and private forestry agencies.

It's an awesome responsibility - but the rewards are as limitless as the views.

Agency contact information

HRM Contact Center
Phone
1-877-372-7248 X2
Email
HRM_Contact_Center@usda.gov
Address
USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
US

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