Accountant Jobs

Summary

The ideal candidate for this position will should have a degree in accounting and must be well versed in federal financial application, financial compliance regulations and financial systems. This position starts at a salary of $64,957 (GS-09), with promotion potential to $94,199 (GS-12). Apply for this exciting opportunity to become a member of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer team within FEMA.

View common definitions of terms found in this announcement.

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Duties

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling on those who want to help protect American interests and secure our Nation. DHS Components work collectively to prevent terrorism; secure borders and our transportation systems; protect the President and other dignitaries; enforce and administer immigration laws; safeguard cyberspace; and ensure resilience to disasters. We achieve these vital missions through a diverse workforce spanning hundreds of occupations. Make an impact; join DHS.

When disaster strikes, America looks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Now FEMA looks to you. Join our team and use your talent to support Americans in their times of greatest need. FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages Federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. We foster innovation, reward performance and creativity, and provide challenges on a routine basis with a well-skilled, knowledgeable, high performance workforce. Please visit www.fema.gov for additional information.

EMERGENCY ASSIGNMENT: Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the 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 with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

In this position, you will serve as an Accountant. Typical assignments include:

• Advising or assisting management on accounting and financial management matters.
• Examining, analyzing, and interpreting accounting data, records, and reports.
• Prescribing accounting standards, policies, and requirements.
• Designing, developing, operating, or inspecting accounting systems.

Promotion Potential: Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and administrative approval.

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Please review "Other Information" section for additional key requirements.
• Selective Service registration required.
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation.

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for High Risk as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

Qualifications

The qualification requirements listed below must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

You qualify for this position at the GS-09 level (starting salary $64,957) if you possess the following: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-07) in the Federal Service. This experience may have been gained in the federal government, a state or local government, a non-profit organization, the private sector, or as a volunteer; however, your resume must clearly describe at least one year of specialized experience. Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Developing reports comparing actual results to plans and budgets.
• Compiling centrally requested cost reports and reports of variance from standards; AND
• Identifying accounting problems such as inadequate maintenance of fund controls and lack of documentary evidence to support performance of regulatory reconciliations; AND

OR

Master's or Equivalent Graduate Degree -OR- 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; -OR- LL.B. or J.D., if related.

OR

Combination Of Education And Experience.

You qualify for this position at the GS-11 level (starting salary $78,592) if you possess the following: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-09) in the Federal Service. This experience may have been gained in the federal government, a state or local government, a non-profit organization, the private sector, or as a volunteer; however, your resume must clearly describe at least one year of specialized experience. Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Preparing financial statement formats for Department component use in reporting data required under the CFO Act and GPRA.
• Determining functional accounting requirements; AND
• Developing and maintaining an automated voucher examining and disbursing subsystem that provides in-house processing of commercial vouchers and payment for transactions completed by other organizations; AND

OR

Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; -OR- 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; -OR- LL.M., if related.

OR

Combination Of Education And Experience.

In addition to the specialized experience described above, you must meet the following requirement(s) to be considered qualified for the position at the GS-09 and GS-11 grades: (transcripts required)

Basic Requirements

• Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.")

or

• Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;
• Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.
• Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicant's background must also include one of the following:
• A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or

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.

NOTE: Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume. For a brief video on How to Create a Federal Resume, click here.

Current or former FEMA Reservists/DAE employees: To accurately credit your experience for these intermittent positions, make sure to list the dates (from MM/YY to MM/YY) of each deployment, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment. Failure to provide this information may result in disqualification.

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, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Education

If you are qualifying based on education submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) from an accredited institution. Once selected and prior to appointment, applicants must provide an official college transcript. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. For example, specific courses accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university, or foreign education evaluated by an organization recognized for accreditation by the Department of Education as education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. college or university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information.

Additional information

• If selected for this position, and you have not previously completed these requirements, you are subject to (1) completion of a 2 day onboarding program at your primary duty location; and, (2) completion of a subsequent, multiple day orientation program within 90-120 days of hire at a location to be determined. Travel associated with the orientation portion of this requirement may be at FEMA’s expense.
• Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.
• This announcement may be used to fill one or more vacancies.
• If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.
• A one year probationary period is required for new Federal competitive service employees and new supervisors and managers.
• 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.
• All candidates must be able to deploy with little or no advance notice to anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period of time.
• This is a Bargaining Unit position.
• DHS uses E-verify, an internet based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.
• 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR
• The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR

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• Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

DHS offers competitive salaries and an attractive benefits package, including: health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care insurance; retirement plan; Thrift Savings Plan [similar to a 401(k)]; Flexible Spending Account; Employee Assistance Program; personal leave days; and paid federal holidays. Other benefits may include: flexible work schedules; telework; tuition reimbursement; transportation subsidies; uniform allowance; health and wellness programs; and fitness centers. DHS is committed to employee development and offers a variety of employee training and developmental opportunities. For more information, go to the DHS Careers website and select “Benefits.” Disabled veteran leave will be available to any Federal employee hired on or after November 5, 2016, who is a veteran with a service-connected disability rating of 30 percent or more.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency

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Washington, District of Columbia 20472

United States