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Director of Admissions - SME

Department of Transportation
Maritime Administration

Summary

The Director of Admissions will provide for the admittance of Midshipmen to the Academy in accordance with criteria approved by the Secretary of Transportation, conducting studies of the validity of existing criteria for admission and recommending revisions of such criteria, when appropriate. Plans, administers, and conducts evaluations of the admissions and financial aid programs. 
 

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
01/14/2026 to 01/21/2026
Salary
$172,621 to - $195,200 per year

Salaries for all areas are available on the OPM website at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2026/general-schedule/

Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Kings Point, NY
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
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
15
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
Yes - The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) within 30 days of appointment and annually thereafter.
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
MARAD.MMA-2026-0021
Control number
854382900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This position is in the Excepted Service. For information on the Excepted Service, please visit: Excepted Service Appointing Authorities@ https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/excepted-service/

Duties

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As the Director of Admissions, you will be responsible for planning, prioritizing, and assigning work; collaborating with peers and subordinates to assure effective advisory services; and otherwise ensuring continuous progress toward stated goals.

Developing administrative policies and procedures, counsels candidates, reviews and edits publications and informational materials, and interprets admissions criteria and policies.

Planning, developing, and implementing appropriate systems to support a nationwide recruiting program, and supervising the evaluation and selection of candidates for admission to the Academy. Ensuring that the content of existing publications and informational material such as the Academy catalog and various bulletins is current, accurate, and effective, and initiates appropriate changes when necessary. Ensuring that digital content, such as the online application and website, is current, accurate and effective, and initiates appropriate changes when necessary. Partnering with the Academy’s Director of Information Technology and Director of External Affairs to produce content to keep the Academy’s website fresh and updated to attract viewership. Ensuring the proper design, development, production, and distribution of Admissions materials.

Developing and implementing administrative policies and procedures to facilitate timely and effective processing of candidates; recommending and implementing changes in policies to foresee and address problems and requirements. Establishing with other administrators and staff, the Academy's academic requirements and applying that information to admissions policies. Initiating communication with persons interested in admissions, and providing academic counseling, advice, interpretations, and information to prospective candidates, parents, secondary school administrators, Academy and alumni personnel, government agencies, Congressional staff members, etc.

The ideal candidate for this position will be a professional with proven experience managing a college and/or university Admissions program providing for admittance in accordance with unique criteria, administering a Financial Aid program, and implementing appropriate systems to support a nationwide recruitment program.

Highly Desirable: A professional with proven experience managing an Admissions program that involves conducting studies of the validity of existing criteria for admission and recommending revisions of such criteria; planning, administering, and conducting evaluations of the admissions and financial aid programs; developing administrative policies and procedures; counseling candidates; reviews and edits publications and informational materials; and interprets admissions criteria and policies.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.
  • This is an Internal MARAD.MMA Excepted Service position.
  • Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: 

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

  • your performance and conduct;
  • the needs and interests of the agency;
  • whether your continued employment would advance the organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
  • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

  • SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • TRIAL PERIOD: This is an Excepted Service position. This job will be filled by an alternative hiring process and is not in the competitive service. Applicants selected for an excepted service position may be subject to a two-year trial period.
  • 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 15, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equal or equivalent to the GS-14, it must include:

  • Experience managing and evaluating large-scale recruitment and admissions programs for a college or university with a student regiment that involve developing and implementing nationwide outreach systems, supervising candidate evaluation boards, and ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory admissions criteria.
  • Experience representing an institution to senior leadership, government officials, and external stakeholders, providing authoritative policy interpretation, negotiating agreements, and presenting recommendations on admissions and financial aid programs that impact institutional mission, student outcomes, and external relations.

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:

  • Strategic Thinking (‡) - Formulates objectives and priorities, and implements plans consistent with the long-term interests of the organization in a global environment. Capitalizes on opportunities and manages risks.
  • External Awareness (*) - Identifies and understands economic, political, and social trends that affect the organization.
  • Leadership - Influences, motivates, and challenges others; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations.
  • Decision Making - Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.

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

For this announcement, all applicants will be reviewed to determine if they meet the basic qualifications for this position, specifically the educational and specialized experience requirements.

Applicants will not be rated or ranked.

All applications that are verified to meet the basic qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.

The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package.  If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers.


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