Clarification from the agency

Open to current and former Federal employees with competitive status, VEOA Applicants, AND All U.S. Citizens.

As a Program Specialist, you will:

• You will be under the direction of the Deputy General Counsel, the candidate will oversee all aspects of managing and tracking written communications prepared or reviewed by the OGC in response to congressional, state, local and private sector inquiries. 
• You will oversee the operation of the Electronic Document Management System or any successor system (EDMS) for OGC. Recommend new approaches so that information about preparation, review and coordination of correspondence is adequately recorded to provide information about status and location. 
• You will track incoming suspense correspondence by maintaining an accurate suspense status listing, utilizing EDMS.  Responds to routine inquiries on actions and their status. Assists in tracking and processing all Congressional Oversight requests. Attend and participate in meetings to discuss strategy for responding to oversight requests. Reviews all oversight packages for adherence to OGC style guide.
• Ensure timely completion of all controlled correspondence.  This include independent follow-up and contact with appropriate personnel to ensure completion of correspondence within assigned deadlines; and determining reasons for delay and granting extensions when justified.  Provide status reports, as necessary, on critical or sensitive correspondence and reports.
• Maintain continuing awareness of organizational arrangements, delegations of authority, functions, and responsibilities of OGC officials.  Ensure the proper coordination of actions within and outside of OGC.  Review documents, papers, and other communications submitted to the OGC to ensure completed staff work, including adequate coordination, cooperative operations, and activities.

The ideal candidate is a highly motivated, self-reliant, and skilled individual willing to work in a challenging and fast-paced environment with excellent communication skills; a working knowledge of administrative procedures; experience managing and tracking office correspondence to congressional, state, local, and private sector inquiries assigned to the office; and the ability to balance multiple tasks under time constraints, and strong organizational skills

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:

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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 probationary 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 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: Applicants may be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements.
• 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.
• DEU REQUIREMENTS: Applicants selected under delegated examining procedures may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).

Qualifications

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

To qualify for the Grade 12, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-11, it must include:

• Experience tracking and assigning office correspondence; applying policies and procedures for reviewing, editing, ensuring responsiveness, completeness, correct format, and grammar for correspondence, including daily interactions with members of the public, office stakeholders, and senior officials internal to the organization.
• Experience preparing and controlling correspondence such as draft letters, memoranda, and briefings, and reviews ongoing documents to ensure technical format, typographical correctness, and grammatical accuracy.

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 tracking and assigning offce correspondence, applying policies and procedures for reviewing, editing, ensuring responsiveness, completeness, correct format, and grammar for correspondence, including daily inteactions with members of the public, office stakeholders, and senior officials internal to the organization.
• Experience preparing correspondence such a draft letters, memoranda, and briefings, and reviews outgoing documents to ensure technical accuracy regarding format, typographical correctness, and grammatical accuracy.
• Experience utilizing automation software and correspondence tracking systems and working collaboratively to resolve common user-level problems.

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:

1.  . Technical Knowledge - Expert knowledge of Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) or other correspondence management system. Ability to analyze correspondence and ascertain the proper action required. Knowledge of the impact and ramifications concerning complex and extensive legislative changes sufficient to compose appropriate responses to inquiries.
2. .  Communication - Ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and concisely, both orally and in writing and understand directions. Skill in writing letters, memoranda, reports, and other documents; functional preparation of correspondence. Knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and required format. Ability to plan and carry out duties independently.
3.   Political Savvy- Identifies the internal and external politics that impact the work of the organization. Perceives organizational and political reality and acts accordingly. Substantial knowledge of Department-wide organization, substantive programs, major on-going issues, and areas of Departmental strategic interest. Knowledge of various federal departments and independent agencies and their relationships with the Department.

  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

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. 

All applicants:  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).