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Grants Management Specialist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
Office of Grants and Agreements (G&A)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located with the Forest Service, Washington Office, Office of Grants and Agreements.

This position serves as a Grants and Agreements Specialist responsible for all aspects of awarding, administering, and managing grants and agreements.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Colleen Murphy at colleen.murphy2@usda.gov.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
12/30/2024 to 01/06/2025
Salary
$49,025 to - $94,317 per year

Salary wage as shown is for Rest of the U.S. For more information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management, Salary and Wages web page.

Pay scale & grade
GS 7 - 11
Location
FEW vacancies in the following location:
Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job)
Remote job
Yes
Telework eligible
Not applicable, this is a remote position.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel 1 or 2 times per year for trainings and/or project work.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
Yes
Announcement number
25-EHT-PPS-FS2529-7911FS-MB
Control number
826006200

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 assigned to a Washington Office (WO) unit. Those units are: Office of the Chief, Business Operations, National Forest System, State, Private and Tribal Forestry; Chief Financial Officer, Law Enforcement and Investigations and the Work Environment and Performance Office; Land Management eligibles whose last appointment was with a FS WO unit; and CTAP/RPL eligible candidates.

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Duties

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  • Duties are listed at full performance.
  • Performs a variety of standard tasks related to the administrative aspects of partnership agreements
  • Processes a full range of grant and agreement applications used to determine the selection of grants and agreements.
  • Negotiates grants and agreements within the limits of delegated authority, reviews all reimbursement requests for appropriateness, and processes payments.
  • Provides interpretation of laws and regulations concerning use of Federal funds and qualifying program expenditures.
  • Examines appropriate legislative and program authority prior to execution of each grant or agreement.
  • Approves all grants and agreements for the unit, as well as notification(s) of funding availability within the limits of delegated authority.
  • Develops instruments within the delegated authority, circularizes request for proposals for grants and agreements.
  • Participates in the establishment of internal administrative and financial controls or systems.
  • Participates in the review of the effect of changes in laws, regulations and policies pertaining to grants and agreements, administration and management, and performance reporting.
  • Provides interpretation of requirements, regulations and guidelines to management. Stays abreast of changes in policies, regulations, and legal authorities affecting grants and agreements.
  • Disseminates grant and agreement request for proposals; reviews and analyzes responses; and makes or recommends acceptance by higher authority as appropriate.

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, 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 remote 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.

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.

Note on Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.

Specialized Experience Requirement:
For the GS-07 Level: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level. Specialized experience is defined as two or more of the following: Participated in reviewing grants and agreements to ensure alignment with statutes, regulations and agency policies; and/or provided support in the execution, administration, or management of grants or agreements, or acquisitions/contracts; and/or under the supervision of a higher level approver, conducted closeout of grants, agreements, and/or contacts/acquisitions including reconciliation of expended funds; and/or assisted with developing or reviewing statements of work and financial plans to determine appropriate instrument and applicable provisions; and/or Assisted with writing or editing grants, agreements, or other related official documents. OR One full year of graduate level education OR An appropriate combination of graduate level education and specialized experience OR Superior Academic Achievement (to determine if you are eligible, go to: http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/policy/ApplicationOfStds-04.asp). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

For the GS-09 Level: Applicants must have one 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Review grants and agreements and/or acquisition proposals to ensure alignment with statutes, regulations and agency policies; and/or provide support in the execution and administration of grants, agreements, or acquisitions/contracts; and/or assist in the closeout of grants, agreements, and/or contacts/acquisitions including reconciliation of expended funds; and/or review statements of work and financial plans to determine appropriate instrument and applicable provisions. OR A master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D OR An appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants

For the GS-11 Level: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal service or equivalent private sector experience. Specialized Experience is defined as three or more of the following: Monitored conventional grant and/or cooperative agreements to assess compliance with regulatory, policy, and reporting requirements, such as monitoring grants or agreements to ensure compliance with award provisions and to track financial and performance monitoring requirements; and/or Performed standard grants or agreement administration tasks, such as independently conducting standard grant close-out processes, including the preparation of final assessments of compliance with statutory and agency requirements for disposition of property, financial and accounting reconciliation, and resolution of any adverse audit findings; and/or Applied new or modified work methods in performing conventional grant; and/or agreement pre-award tasks, such as generating templets and proposals, identifying potential negotiation strategies, and making recommendations to resolve problems; and/or Maintained awareness of changes in policies, regulations, and legal authorities affecting grants and agreements in order to provide advice and assistance to appropriate program staff and partners. OR A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.M., if related. The education must be directly related to the position and demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work; such as: contracting, financial management, business administration, public administration, or any other related field. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. OR An appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.).


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.

To receive consideration for this position, you must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

See above for qualifying education in lieu of specialized experience.

Additional information

This position is remote eligible. Remote work employees are expected to work at an approved remote worksite, typically the employee's residence, on a regular and continuing basis.

This position may be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.


Final determination of the duty station will be made by the selecting official at the time of the job offer. Pay rates vary depending on location, the salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates.

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 a Forest Service Washington Office unit. 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.

If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.

This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

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
  • Oral Communication
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Reasoning
  • Technical Competence


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/12656050

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