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EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Department of Agriculture
Homeland Security Staff
CONTINUITY & EMERGENCY PROGRAMS DIVISION

Summary

This position is in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Homeland Security (OHS), Continuity and Emergency Programs Division (CEPD). OHS provides Departmental executive leadership, policy guidance and services in government-wide initiatives pertaining to emergency response, continuity of operations planning, personnel and document security, radiation safety, and homeland security.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
12/12/2025 to 12/18/2025
Salary
$84,601 to - $131,826 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 12
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington, DC
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Sensitive Compartmented Information
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
Yes
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
OHS-12849235-26-PS
Control number
852232900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current permanent federal employees with competitive status, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP and VEOA eligibles, Farm Service Agency permanent county employees, 30 percent or More Disabled Veterans, Certain Former Overseas and Foreign Service Employees, Military Spouses, Interchange Agreement and Other Miscellaneous Authorities, People with Disabilities, Peace Corps and VISTA, Reinstatement, and VRA eligible candidates.

Duties

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  • Serves as the Continuity and Emergency Programs Division’s main point of contact on procedures and processes related to emergency events.
  • Recommends updates to emergency procedures and maintains awareness of new planning approaches and their potential use in an emergency environment.
  • Serves as the Continuity and Emergency Programs Division (CEPD) specialist for developing and maintaining procedures for Multiagency Coordination Group activities.
  • Establishes near-final concepts for significant emergency plans supporting USDA agencies and offices.
  • Supports functioning of and information dissemination to and from the USDA Operations Center from multiple operating locations.
  • Plans and conducts drills and exercises for the USDA Operations Center in coordination with the Senior Watch Officer.
  • Collects and analyzes performance data and provides quarterly reporting.
  • Develops supporting data and materials for various forums, including publications, briefings, conferences, interdepartmental/agency meeting, etc.
  • Contributes significantly to the development of department-level strategic plans and guidelines.
  • Provides operational support of the Department’s continuity of operations facility planning, development, equipping, and preparedness.
  • Investigates technological advances for new approaches in spatial analysis and display technology for application to problems.
  • Provides administrative support to Continuity and Emergency Programs Division (CEPD) including time/attendance and purchase card usage.
  • Duties described are at the full performance GS-12 level, duties at the GS-11 will be developmental leading to such duties.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a US Citizen or US National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • If selected, you may be required to serve a probationary or trial period as applicable to appointment type. Additional information is in Next Steps section.
  • Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • This is a Special Sensitive position; therefore, as a condition of continued employment, the incumbent must successfully obtain and maintain a Top Secret SCI clearance.
  • Selectee must submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment and random testing thereafter. Final appointment and continued employment is conditional on negative results for illegal drug use.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

Time in grade:
Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

FOR THE GS-11 LEVEL:
Specialized Experience:
At the GS-11: Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience assisting with the creation of emergency management plans or products (i.e., emergency response plans, response guidance documents, response procedural plans, response transition documents, etc.); and, applying analytical data and evaluation methods to determine program compliance with emergency preparedness and management rules and regulations.
OR
Education:
Ph.D. (or equivalent doctoral degree) or 3 full years of progressively higher level doctoral level education leading to such a degree in a field of study directly related to the work of this position. Graduate education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.
OR
Combination: A combination of graduate-level education and experience, as described above, may be used to qualify for this position. This combination must have equipped you with the necessary knowledge and/or experience to successfully perform the duties of this position. Combinations of experience and education must total at least 100% as outlined in OPM Qualifications policy.

FOR THE GS-12 LEVEL:
Specialized Experience:
Qualifying experience for GS-12 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-11 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience creating emergency management plans or products (i.e., emergency response plans, response guidance documents, response procedural plans, response transition documents, etc.); applying analytical data and evaluation methods to determine program compliance with emergency preparedness and management rules and regulations; and, participating in the planning of emergency management drills and exercises.

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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.


Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary. There will require some walking, bending, and reaching typically associated with office work. Some lifting/carrying of items, of less than 50 lbs, may occasionally be required.

Work Environment: Usually performed in an office setting but may require extended periods of time around computer equipment where noise levels are high, and temperatures are maintained at cooler levels. Normal safety precautions are to be observed.

Education

Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for the GS-11 level as described above; education is not qualifying for the GS-12.

Additional information

  • Career Transition Assistance Plan, Reemployment Priority List, or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan: Visit the OPM website for info on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.
  • Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after 3 years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).
  • Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period.
  • For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as the Veteran's Recruitment Act (VRA), 30 percent disabled veterans, certain military spouses, Schedule A Disabled, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website.
  • Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary or term employees of federal land management agencies opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Refer to PUBLIC LAW 114-47-AUG. 7, 2015 for more information.
  • If selected, you will be required to submit Form OGE-450 within 30 days of your initial appointment date, and annually thereafter. Selectee is subject to financial Disclosure Requirements in accordance with 5 CFR, Part 2635, Sub part E regarding business or personal transactions with applicants, borrowers, or business contacts who have or who are seeking business with this Agency. If selected you will be subject to a National Agency Check and Inquiry (NACI) and a credit report.
  • If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and recommended by management. Promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed.
  • For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as the Veteran's Recruitment Act (VRA), 30 percent disabled veterans, certain military spouses, Schedule A Disabled, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website.
  • In the event of an emergency, USDA's Office of Homeland Security employees may be subject to 24 hour on-call availability. This service may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites that require functioning under intense physical and mental stress.

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.

You will be evaluated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies listed below:

  • Administration and Management
  • Communication
  • Research/Analysis
  • Emergency Management Operations

Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities need only meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will review ONLY two (2) pages of your resume, starting at your work experience. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., links embedded in your resume will not be opened). Applicants passing the resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

Note: If after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.

Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply" button to the right.
To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12849235

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