Staff Assistant Jobs

Summary This position is located in the National Headquarters of the Forest Service in Washington, DC. The incumbent serves as program and administrative support coordinator for a Washington Office (WO) unit. For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Gregory Smith at [email protected] or Jacqueline Emanuel at [email protected]. Responsibilities Plans, coordinates, analyzes, and evaluates administrative missions and operations. Performs a range of analytical studies and projects related to program operations in the areas of management and productivity improvement; management controls; and work planning. Recommends changes to operating practices based on knowledge of administrative processes. Serves as the authority on administrative policies and procedures. Represents the head of the unit regarding a variety of issues or situations by attendance at internal and external meetings. Develops and maintains close liaison with Associate Chiefs, Deputy Chiefs, external agency heads, Department representatives, consultants, Regional Foresters, and Station Directors. Prepares letters, reports, and briefings which represent the Supervisors views and Agency policies. Coordinates administrative matters related to the Supervisors Office including those related to personnel matters, Civil Rights activities, Human Resource Programs, and safety and health. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the date the certificate of eligible candidates is issued. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary. Specialized Experience Requirement: For the GS-11: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as the majority of the following: Identifying, analyzing, and coordinating the integration of data into correspondence, reports, and presentations; coordinating services between stakeholders in ensuring cross-functional support activities and initiatives are carried out; and conducting analytical studies of processes, operations, and/or services to assist with the evaluation of program effectiveness and/or to recommend improvements to processes and systems. 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 An appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). For the GS-12: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as the majority of the following: Experience writing, preparing, and evaluating formal and informal correspondence, reports, statistics, and analytical documents for senior level officials; coordinating a variety of administrative projects; and providing expert analytical and technical advice and recommendations on matters pertaining to organizational processes, procedures, and policies. 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. TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met as of the date a certificate is issued. Education See above for education requirements. Additional Information Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, 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 a 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 three years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA). 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. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24-month criteria is met. 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. PROMOTION POTENTIAL: 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 if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied or guaranteed. This is a non-bargaining unit position. This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements. The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional information is available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-and-leave-flexibilities-for-recruitment-and-retention/