Clarification from the agency

Your application will be considered if you are a: GSA employee (must be employed in Federal Acquisition Service(FAS)) GSA surplus or displaced employee in the local commuting area who qualify for the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) You must be serving on career or career-conditional appointment, or under a noncompetitive Special Appointing Authority which provides for conversion to a permanent position in the Competitive Service.

The duty location will be determined at the time of selection in one of the following locations: Washington, DC; Kansas City, MO; Fort Worth, TX; Lakewood, CO; Tacoma, WA; Atlanta, GA; New York, NY; Boston, MA; San Francisco, CA; Philadelphia, PA; or Chicago, IL.

The Office of Business Optimization, or Optimize, serves as the “dot connector” for the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), translating vision into operational reality. Our office drives acquisition excellence through enterprise-wide operational improvement, proactive customer engagement, and investment in a top-tier workforce. Optimize is responsible for strategy development, procedure optimization, supply chain risk management, and data analytics to inform smart business decisions. 

The Office of Customer Partnerships and Support acts as the central coordination hub for all strategic customer and stakeholder interactions across FAS business areas. Our mission is to facilitate a unified and professional agency experience by spearheading the design of overarching account management strategies and utilizing multifaceted customer intelligence to cultivate enduring partnerships. 

Additionally, this office is responsible for the stewardship of outreach efforts and training curricula, including high-level national events and digital content, to foster organizational alignment and champion the objectives of our partner agencies.

You will be perform the following duties:

• Provide authoritative leadership and coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure that research, analytics, and customer care initiatives are integrated and aligned with overall program objectives; assign work, plan and schedule work, counsel subordinates on all employee-related issues, establish and modify employee position descriptions, interview candidates and make selections for employment and promotions, establish employee performance standards, evaluate employee performance, establish employee training plans, take actions to correct employee misconduct or unacceptable performance up to and including removal, award employee performance, develop procedures for granting employees leave requests, and grant employees leave requests.
• Responsible for ensuring the development and facilitation of research and survey processes across Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) organizations. Stay abreast of the overall objectives and plans of the entire FAS mission to make independent decisions and commitments including those involving major policy and procedural changes affecting overall program operations; promote team awareness and adoption of qualitative and quantitative research tools, customer relationship management tools, and customer service technology solutions; encourage new ideas and innovations in the development and execution of program operations, customer engagement, service account management, and collaboration with internal FAS clients.
• Manage and resolve conflicts and disagreements constructively; foster a diverse and inclusive workplace and develop the ability of others to perform and contribute to the organization. Develop staff and successfully promote personal and professional growth/development. Foster a sense of teamwork and partnership among internal and external teams; develop and broaden the capabilities of the Office of Customer Partnerships and Support network and strengthen collaboration within Office of Customer Partnerships and Support and across Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) while increasing efficiency and consistency.
• Develop and execute strategic plans that align with the FAS mission and objectives, ensuring that program goals are met effectively and efficiently; encourage new ideas and innovations; remain up-to-date on local, national and international trends that affect the organization and shape business needs; formulate objectives and priorities and implement plans consistent with the long-term goals.
• Lead change by demonstrating creativity and innovation in programs and processes, maintain an external awareness of both the trends that affect the organization and how the organization can affect others; maintain a strategic view of the organization, and build a shared vision with others; serve as a catalyst for organizational change and influence others to translate vision into action.

Conditions of employment

• US Citizenship or National (Residents of American Samoa and Swains Island)
• Meet time-in-grade within 30 days of the closing date, if applicable
• Register with the Selective Service if you are a male born after 12/31/1959
• Meet all eligibility criteria within 30 days of the closing date

 If selected, you must meet the following conditions:

• Current or Former Political Appointees:  The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non­Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.
• Serve a one year probationary period, if required.
• Undergo and pass a background investigation (Tier 2 investigation level).
• Complete a financial disclosure report to verify that no conflict, or an appearance of conflict, exists between your financial interest and this position.
• Serve a one year supervisory or managerial probationary period, if required.

Qualifications

To evaluate your qualifications, your resume must clearly demonstrate how you meet the specialized experience described below. Your resume must not exceed two pages. To ensure your qualifications can be fully evaluated, we recommend including the following information: 

• Name, address, telephone number, email address;

• Job Title (if Federal Service, provide series and grade; if not in GS plan, provide GS equivalent grade);

• Relevant work experience—should include employer name, job title, start and end dates (month/year), the number of hours worked per week and descriptions that explain how you meet the required qualifications in the job announcement.

• Education, certifications or licensures—If the job announcement requires any education, certifications or licensures, make sure to include the required information and any required documents like transcripts.

Your resume should contain enough information to make a valid determination that you fully meet experience requirements for each grade level you are applying to. If you do not provide enough information for us to determine your qualifications, you may be rated ineligible.

If you have volunteered your service through a National Service program (e.g., Peace Corps, Americorps), we encourage you to apply and include this experience on your resume.

The GS-15 salary range starts at $150,359.00 per year.  

To qualify, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level or higher in the Federal service. 

Specialized experience is experience collaborating with marketing, sales, product development and leadership teams to gather and analyze customer and market data to help stakeholders make informed decisions about products, services, marketing and customer experience.

Such experience must include: 

•  Introducing marketing communication strategies based on analysis of market trends and media research;
• Conducting market research using surveys, interviews, focus groups and online research to develop reports, dashboards and/or presentations with research findings;
• Interpreting quantitative and qualitative data to analyze customer behavior, preferences, and/or purchasing trends; AND
• Identifying target markets and customer segments to monitor competitor products, pricing and/or marketing strategies.

How you will be evaluated

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

A panel of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will review the application of qualified candidates and assign a score for each of the five required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) based on the experience documented in the resume and narrative responses.

1. Ability to provide strategic leadership and direction aligning efforts with the organization's goals and objectives; providing requirements and descriptions of the work to be accomplished and setting work schedules, deadlines, and standards of acceptable work.
2. Ability to plan and direct divisional operations to provide online survey research to assist clients in developing a strategy to engage the marketplace effectively while promoting team awareness and customer engagement.
3. Skill in communicating, negotiating, and expressing technical concepts and ideas, orally and in writing to engage with key stakeholders to gather insights, build relationships, and ensure alignment with program objectives and stakeholder needs.
4. Knowledge of the mission, functions, policies, procedures and goals; knowledge of all programs, products and solutions being offered to explain, justify, promote and provide service to customer agencies.
5. Ability to foster an organizational environment that welcomes change and innovation for new ideas to share visions for all stakeholders.

Demonstration of these KSAs must be supported by your resume. Applicants should also make note of each KSA, as you will be asked to address them later in the application process.

Consideration will be given to performance appraisals and incentive awards in merit promotion selection decisions in accordance with 5 CFR 335.103(b)(3). You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume so that information will be taken into consideration during the selection process.  If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

If you are eligible under the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) or GSA’s Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), your resume must clearly demonstrate experience in at least 3 of the 5 required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) to receive priority consideration.