Unemployment Insurance Program Specialist

Duties

• Effectively utilizes electronic grant management systems in accordance with established guidelines and protocols. Maintains grant files and adheres to grant management documentation requirements established in Employment and Training Orders.
• Coordinates unemployment insurance programs within the agency by researching, compiling, and analyzing information and data to use in program administration planning and makes recommendations. Manages a grant portfolio within assigned program area(s) and conducts the day-to-day grant management for the grants within his/her portfolio. Performs analyses of grant related data, policy and program issues, and applies problem-solving techniques to address issues.
• Communicates Federal and grant award requirements to grantees to ensure understanding of grant requirements. Interprets Federal requirements and procedures to grantees to assist them to comply with Federal requirements. Works with grantees to identify potential issues and conducts research on policy guidance.
• Participates in on-site compliance monitoring reviews and Enhanced Desk Monitoring Reviews (EDMRs) of grantees to: evaluate the grantee's progress towards meeting the goals specified in the grant agreement with DOL ETA. Assess the quality of the program and services; ensures that grant activities are being conducted in compliance with the grant agreement and applicable Federal regulations.
• Provides technical assistance to grantees to assist them in accomplishing the goals and objectives of the grant by applying problem solving techniques to address deficiencies.

Requirements
Conditions of Employment

• Candidate required to obtain the necessary security/investigation level.
• Must be at least 16 years old.
• Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen.

Qualifications
This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), as described below:
Undergraduate Education: Major study - economics, industrial relations, law, sociology, political science, public administration, or other related fields. Courses in statistics or mathematics applicable to the social sciences are creditable up to a maximum of 12 semester hours.
Graduate Education: Major study - one or a combination of the social sciences that included social science research methodology and techniques, and provided a knowledge of the history, concepts, methods, and techniques of social insurance and/or the social and economic conditions under which social insurance programs operate.
OR
Specialized Experience: Experience related to social insurance. This includes experience applying statistics or mathematics to the social insurance field. Specialized experience must have demonstrated:

• The ability to extend and modify existing techniques and methods or to develop new ones to identify, isolate, and resolve special problems; and
• A knowledge of current social and economic conditions under which social insurance programs operate, and the principles of Federal/State/local relationships;
• The ability to develop effective collaborative relationships with personnel in other fields and with groups having conflicting objectives.

Qualifying specialized experience may have been gained through work in the following or similar types of programs: unemployment insurance; old-age and survivors' insurance; workers' compensation; disability compensation; or other public or private programs covering common social insurance risks.
In addition to the above, applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade levels, in the Federal Service. Specialized Experience for this position is defined as experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled.
To qualify at the GS-12 applicants must meet 2 of the 6 examples below.

• Reviewing and approving, supervising, or directing staff accountable for any of the following tasks: conducting or judging UI appeals hearings; determining claim fraud or improper payment; reviewing UI law/regulations and providing legal analysis or recommendations to the state agency senior officials (including UI Director, UI State agency UI Executive Director, State agency general counsel, State agency assistant general counsel, or State Administrator); designing a UI automated system; or conducting BAM, Appeals quarterly reviews, TPS reviews, or UI program audits by ETA or state auditors.
• Analyzing UI law/regulations/Unemployment Insurance Program Letters (UIPLS) and providing legal analysis or operational guidance for state UI agency implementation to the state UI agency senior officials (including Assistant UI Director, UI Director, UI State agency UI Executive Director, State agency general counsel, State agency assistant general counsel, or State Administrator);
• Designing UI operational systems through automation, modernization, or process flow for system and benefit payment accuracy improvement; or
• Drafting departmental written guidance or providing official agency training on: Unemployment Insurance (UI) program requirements (such as: conformity with federal law, Core Measures, Secretary Standards, federal acceptable levels of performance, benefit payment accuracy, or due process) or procedures (such as: holding an appeals hearing, determining fraud or improper payment, or auditing an employer's tax account);
• Drafting the state workforce agency State Quality Service Plan (SQSP) or conducting Benefit Timeliness Quality (BTQ) reviews, Appeals quarterly reviews, Tax Performance System (TPS) reviews, Benefits Accuracy Measurement (BAM) review, fraud investigation and making the determination of eligibility, or participating in an ETA or state audit of a UI program;
• Conducting or judging UI appeals hearings; such as ruling on the admission of documents, questioning witnesses, and signing the resulting decisions ruling on qualification for benefits;

There is no substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level.
Education
Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.
If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click
Additional information
Applicants must meet all legal and regulatory requirements. Reference the "Required Documents" section for additional requirements.
This position is inside the bargaining unit. If this position is an investigator position, it falls under the National Union of Labor Investigators (NULI). If the position is not an investigator position and the duty location is within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the position will be included in the Local 12, AFGE bargaining unit. If the position is not an investigator position and the duty location is outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the position will be included in the NCFLL bargaining unit.
GS-12
Full Promotion Potential (if applicable): This position is at the Full-Performance Level (FPL).
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The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to protect the welfare of workers and job seekers, improve working conditions, expand high-quality employment opportunities, and assure work-related benefits and rights for all workers. As such, the Department is committed to fostering a workplace and workforce that promote equal employment opportunity, reflects the diversity of the people we seek to serve, and models a culture of respect, equity, inclusion, and accessibility where every employee feels heard, supported, and empowered.
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Telework (if applicable): Position Telework eligibility is determined by management based on position duties during the recruitment process. Employee participation in telework on a routine or situational basis is determined by management primarily based on business needs. Employees participating in telework are subject to the terms and conditions of the Department of Labor's Telework Program.

• 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.

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.