Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open to current or former federal employees and/or current employees of the federal Judiciary (AO or U.S. Courts) nationwide.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) seeks an experienced professional to serve as a Budget Policy Analyst on the Financial Liaison and Analysis Staff (FLAS). The Budget Policy Analyst serves as a Judiciary liaison to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittees with jurisdiction over Judiciary funding. This position reports to the FLAS Chief.

The FLAS office has periodic interaction with other government entities on issues related to Judiciary funding, such as the Office of Management and Budget, Congressional Budget Office, and Congressional Research Service. The FLAS office works exclusively with the Appropriations Committees in Congress and is a separate office from the AO's Office of Legislative Affairs, which works with congressional authorizing committees.

The Budget Policy Analyst under the direction of the FLAS Chief, the AO Director, and the Judicial Conference's Budget Committee, supports the Judiciary's efforts on Capitol Hill to justify and advance the Judiciary's annual budget request totaling more than $9.0 billion in discretionary appropriations, as well as for periodic supplemental appropriations requests and continuing resolution anomalies.

The ideal candidate should have extensive experience working in the congressional appropriations process, including direct experience working on the House or Senate Appropriations Committees or serving as an appropriations liaison to Congress for a federal agency.

The duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

1. Advising AO leadership on congressional appropriations issues.
2. Overseeing and monitoring the congressional appropriations process for the Judiciary.
3. Serving as an advisor to the AO Director, Deputy Director, and the Judicial Conference of the United States and its committees on appropriations matters impacting the Judiciary.
4. Interacting with congressional appropriations staff to justify and advance the Judiciary's annual budget requests, supplemental requests, and continuing resolution anomalies; briefing appropriations staff on Judiciary funding issues; and coordinating with AO offices on responses to congressional inquiries or requests for programmatic briefings.
5. Drafting appropriations bill and report language and related justifications for Hill consideration, including for the annual budget request, supplemental appropriations requests, and continuing resolution anomalies.
6. Preparing for congressional appropriations hearings, including drafting written testimony and oral remarks, developing hearing briefing book materials, conducting hearing preparation sessions, and coordinating responses to post-hearing questions for the record.
7. Providing direct staff support to the Judicial Conference's Budget Committee, including preparing and presenting agenda items on appropriations issues, arranging meetings with key appropriators in Congress, and drafting remarks and talking points in preparation for Hill meetings.
8. Developing strategies for federal courts to interact with local congressional delegations to improve understanding of the breadth and scope of the federal courts and how federal courts serve their constituents.
9. Providing oral briefings to AO leadership, Judicial Conference committees, and court groups on the status of Judiciary appropriations, including explaining complex congressional dynamics to facilitate understanding of the appropriations process.
10. Interacting with the Office of Management and Budget, Congressional Budget Office, and Congressional Research Service as needed on Judiciary funding issues.

Conditions of employment

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

1. All information is subject to verification. Applicants are advised that false answers or omissions of information on application materials or inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.
2. Selection for this position is contingent upon completion of OF-306, Declaration of Federal Employment during the pre-employment process and proof of U.S. citizenship for competitive status positions or conversion to a competitive status position with the AO. If non-citizens are considered for hire into a temporary or any other position with non-competitive status or when it is confirmed by the AO Human Resources Office there are no qualified U.S. citizens for a competitive status position (unless prohibited by a law or statue), non-citizens must provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. and proof of entitlement to receive compensation. Additional information on the employment of non-citizens can be found at USAJOBS Help Center | Employment of non-citizens/. For a list of documents that may be used to provide proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, please refer to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
3. All new AO employees will be required to complete an FBI fingerprint-based national criminal database and records check and pass a public trust suitability check.
4. New employees to the AO will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights/responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
5. All new AO employees are required to identify a financial institution for direct deposit of pay before appointment.
6. You will be required to serve a trial period if selected for a first-time appointment to the Federal government, transferring from another Federal agency, or serving as a first-time supervisor. Failure to successfully complete the trial period may result in termination of employment.
7. If appointed to a temporary position, management may have the discretion of converting the position to permanent depending upon funding and staffing allocation.

Qualifications

Applicants must have demonstrated experience as listed below. This requirement is according to the AO Classification, Compensation, and Recruitment Systems which include interpretive guidance and reference to the OPM Operating Manual for Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions.

Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one full year (52 weeks) (preferably three years) of specialized experience which is in or directly related to the line of work of this position. Specialized experience must demonstrate experience in ALL areas defined below:

• Working on the House or Senate Appropriations Committees or serving as an appropriations liaison to Congress for a federal agency.
• Working with members of Congress and their staff to justify and advance agency budget requests.
• Communicating effectively with executive-level personnel, both orally and in writing, to explain complex appropriations issues and concepts in accessible language.
• Collaborating and coordinating productively across an organization to craft joint work products and meet common goals.

• Extensive experience with the congressional appropriations process.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation and compare this information to your responses on the occupational questionnaire to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. If you meet the minimum qualifications for this job, we will evaluate your application package, to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education as they relate to the requirements listed in this vacancy announcement.

You should be aware that your ratings are subject to evaluation and verification. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume and/or narrative responses, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Failure to submit the mandatory narrative responses will result in not receiving full consideration and/or rating credit. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you, withdrawing an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.