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Program Analyst - SME

Department of Transportation
Office of the Secretary of Transportation

Summary

This position is in the Office of the Secretary, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance. You will serve as the policy and technical drug and alcohol program advisor.  You will develop and write policies/regulations and provide guidance, oversight, and monitor the DOT operating administrations’ (OA) program and those of their respective industries.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
12/08/2025 to 12/12/2025
Salary
$120,579 to - $156,755 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington, DC
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—This position may be eligible for situational telework. Telework approval will be determined by your immediate supervisor or manager following the agency’s telework policy and guidance. If participating in the telework program, you will be required to sign a telework agreement detailing agency telework policy requirements, working conditions, and expectations for the position.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Some travel will be required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
14
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
OST.DA-2026-0002
Control number
851798500

Duties

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The Program Analyst:

  • Drafts policies and procedures, and assists with drafting regulations related to the implementation of the drug and alcohol testing requirements mandated by Congressional statute (Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991) across the whole transportation industry at the national and international level.
  • Provides assistance to and interacts with the OAs, other OST offices, government agencies, the transportation industry, and other business entities supporting national and international drug and alcohol testing and prevention programs and efforts, as appropriate.
  • Assists with providing technical and program training and seminars at the national level to specific audiences, including DOT agencies, physicians, industry representatives, substance abuse professionals, collection site personnel, laboratory representatives, and consortia/third party administrators.
  • Serves as a technical Drug and Alcohol policy advisor in dealing with government officials, modal administrators, officials, and representatives of private transportation industries, members of professional associations, labor unions, and academia, and the public in the areas of federal laws and regulations, Departmental procedures and requirements, and the procedures utilized in effective substance abuse deterrence and detection programs.
  • Stays current on the Department of Health and Human Services Mandatory Guidelines for urine and oral fluid, including any subsequent updates.

The ideal candidate is a highly motivated and innovative candidate with a background in regulatory work, and/or public policy.  You must have excellent writing skills for authoring regulations, policies, and advisory documents.  You must also possess strong verbal abilities to explain everything from basic to complex topics.  You must be able to work cooperatively as part of a team of experts and communicate well.  Knowledge of Federal drug and alcohol testing regulations is required.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S.Citizen and eligible for consideration.
  • You must meet specialized experience to qualify.
  • Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  • SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
  • GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.  A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
  • PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the competitive or excepted service in the executive branch to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the specialized experience requirements.

To qualify for the Grade 13, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-12, it must include:

  • Experience in urine specimen collections, specimen testing process, verification of the results of the urinalysis, and alcohol testing process in order to administer, evaluate, and/or audit a drug/alcohol testing program (e.g., Federal-employee or Federally-regulated transportation industry drug /alcohol testing program).
  • Experience in reading/analyzing Federal rule-making documents, including regulatory language, preamble language, and economic analyses. 
  • Experience in attending meetings, training seminars, exchanging of information sessions, interacting with other Federal agencies, and defending your agency's position related to deterring drug use and alcohol misuse in the Federal and/or transportation sector workplace. 

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

  • Compliance:  Knowledge of procedures for assessing, evaluating, and monitoring programs or projects for compliance with Federal laws, regulations, and guidance.
  • Reading: Understands and interprets written material, including technical material, rules, regulations, instructions, reports, charts, graphs, or tables; applies what is learned from written material to specific situations.
  • Oral Communication: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.

For all types of consideration, 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.

For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link:  https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Transportation and its Operating Administrations from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to the Department of Transportation by email at, FairChanceAct@dot.gov. To learn more, please visit our page at: The Fair Chance to Compete Act | US Department of Transportation

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level. 

Your application will be reviewed in two phases determine how you move forward in the hiring process.  Phase I: Your resume will be reviewed to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. ONLY two (2) pages of your resume will be reviewed. Additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume) will not be reviewed.  Applicants passing “Phase I” will move on to the “Phase II” of the assessment process where your application will be reviewed and rated based on the KSAs/Competencies listed in the vacancy announcement by a Subject Matter Expert (SME).


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