Summary
This Senior Executive Service (SES) position is in Region 3, Water Division.
This is an office-centered position--you must physically report to the duty station stated in this announcement on a regular basis. Partial work-from-home flexibilities may be authorized.
About Region 3.
Clarification from the agency
U.S. Citizens
Duties
As Director of the Water Division, the incumbent serves as the principal advisor to the Regional Administrator on all water management program matters, planning the division program objectives, and managing the activities of the division in accordance with agency program guidance.
The division is responsible for implementing the provisions of the Water Quality Act of 1987, also known as the Clean Water Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Under these statutes and in accordance with implementing regulations and agency guidelines, the division director has the ultimate responsibility for assuring that the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the region's waters are restored and maintained so that water pollution does not constitute a threat to human health and the environment and to protect the quality of drinking water in the region.
Specific duties include:
- Providing overall direction and management for the division.
- Directing program operations by providing guidance on interpretation and application of federal regulations, statutes, policies, and programs.
- Establishing strong working relationships with key officials of EPA; other federal and non-federal agencies (including representatives of state, tribal, and local governments); elected officials; representatives of private industry and professional groups; members of environmental organizations; and the general public to ascertain problems/issues and advise and coordinate on all aspects of the program.
- Serving on committees and panels and representing the region at national, interagency, state, and local levels.
- Accomplishing or directing actions to determine the effects of proposed or enacted federal or state legislation, new or proposed program requirements, new or improved technology, emergency situations, and court decisions.
- Ensuring that extramural resources, both procurement (contracts) and assistance (grants, cooperative agreements, and interagency agreements), are efficiently and appropriately managed in order to maximize use of the agency’s resources.
- Overseeing the development, assessment, and improvement of management control systems to safeguard programs and achieve mission results.
As an Agency senior leader, the incumbent will view policy and personnel decisions through both an Environmental Justice (EJ) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) lens to support the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, grants, and policies regardless of race, color, national origin, or income. This includes consideration of the effect of their work on communities with environmental justice concerns. Engagement with impacted communities in decisions, integrating equity and justice and compliance with all civil rights requirements, will be taken into policy considerations and program implementation to ensure that EPA achieves its mission for all communities.
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen.
- You must submit a resume and required documents--see How to Apply section.
- Pre-employment drug testing is required and random testing thereafter.
If you are selected, you must complete a 1-year SES probationary period, if not previously completed.
The Ethics in Government Act, P.L. 95-521, requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a financial disclosure statement, OGE-278, prior to assuming the SES position, annually, and upon termination of employment.
This position is designated as High Risk and requires a background investigation. Unless an appropriate background investigation is already on record with the Office of Personnel Management, you must undergo a background investigation. All conditions of the pre-employment security process must be met before an official letter of employment can be issued with a report for duty date.
You will be required to obtain and maintain a top-secret security clearance.
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Qualifications
The work of this position is classified in the Program Management, 0340 series where the qualifications include both general management skills and characteristics that are applicable to all SES positions and technical or program responsibilities specific to this position. Applicants must have substantive general experience which provides a good basic or general knowledge of the principles of organization, management and administration; and substantive specialized (operating administrative or managerial) experience in a type of work or a combination of functions directly related to this position.
All applicants must have one year of specialized experience at a level close to the work of this job that demonstrates the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform in this role. Typically this experience can be found in work within this field or a field that is closely related.
As a basic requirement for entry into the Senior Executive Service, applicants must also provide evidence of progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under the Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below.
A. Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) - Mandatory for competitive applicants - Failure to address these factors individually within a limit of ten (10) pages total will result in your application being disqualified, unless you are a noncompetitive eligible applicant.
ECQ 1 - LEADING CHANGE. Involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.
ECQ 2 - LEADING PEOPLE. Involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.
ECQ 3 - RESULTS DRIVEN. Involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.
ECQ 4 - BUSINESS ACUMEN. Involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.
ECQ 5 - BUILDING COALITIONS. Involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.
Your responses should be clear and concise and show a level of accomplishment and a degree of responsibility. Leadership competencies for each ECQ can be found in OPM's Guide to SES Qualifications.
B. Technical Qualifications (TQs) - Mandatory for all applicants - Failure to address these factors individually within a limit of two (2) pages per factor will result in your application being disqualified.
TQ 1 - Demonstrated experience administering and working with programs authorized under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and communicating technically complex environmental issues both verbally and in writing to a variety of audiences including state, federal and local officials; environmental and non-governmental organizations; industry; the public; and the regulated community.
TQ 2 - Demonstrated experience forging relationships and interactions with local, state and federal agencies, environmental and citizens groups, and regulated entities in implementing regulatory and voluntary activities to improve water quality.
Education
This job does not have an education qualification requirement.
Benefits
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.
Join EPA in protecting human health and the environment and enjoy many work life quality options! Working for the EPA offers you a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, 26 days of paid vacation, sick leave, holidays, life insurance, health benefits, and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. To learn more about us, visit Life and Careers at EPA.
PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS (PSLF): As a federal employee, you may be eligible for student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The PSLF program forgives the remaining balance on federal Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer, including EPA. Learn more: pslf.gov
This position has portable work. If selected for this position, you may be authorized to telework after meeting eligibility requirements if approved by the supervisor/manager. Telework is available based on agency policy.
Review our benefits
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.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
We will review your resume and required documents to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet basic qualification requirements, your application will be evaluated based on your narrative statements addressing the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Technical Qualifications (TQs). It will then be forwarded to a three-member Rating Panel consisting of SES members for further review. The Rating Panel will decide which Best Qualified applicants will be issued to the Selecting Official by the Human Resources Office. You may preview questions for this vacancy.
Documents to be submitted online:
NOTE: You should ensure your social security number, date of birth, and any other personal information are redacted.
-- Resume - Required for all applicants - State your experience related to this position as described in the Duties section and Qualifications section. In describing your experience, you need to be clear and specific. We may not make assumptions regarding your experience.
-- Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) - Required for competitive applicants - Address in a narrative statement each of the five factors individually within a limit of ten (10) pages total. Exceeding this limit will result in disqualification of your application.
- Competitive applicants are those who do not meet the requirements listed below for noncompetitive eligibility.
- Noncompetitive applicants are not required to submit a narrative statement addressing the ECQs, but are encouraged to do so.
- Address in your narrative the ECQs listed in the Qualifications section of this announcement. Your examples should use the Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) model to emphasize your level of responsibilities, scope and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments with results of your actions, policy initiatives and level of contacts.
- See information on the proper preparation of narrative statements and the CCAR model in OPM's Guide to SES Qualifications.
-- Technical Qualifications (TQs) - Required for all applicants - Address in a narrative statement each listed factor individually within a limit of two (2) pages per factor. Exceeding this limit will result in disqualification of your application.
- Address in your narrative the TQs listed in the Qualifications section of this announcement. Your examples should use the Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) model to emphasize your level of responsibilities, scope and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments with results of your actions, policy initiatives and level of contacts.
- See information on the proper preparation of narrative statements and the CCAR model in OPM's Guide to SES Qualifications.
-- Proof of SES noncompetitive eligibility - Required for noncompetitive applicants - If you are currently serving under a Career SES appointment, are eligible for reinstatement into the SES, or have successfully completed a SES Candidate Development Program approved by OPM, submit one of the following:
- Certificate of completion from an OPM-approved SES Candidate Development Program (CDP). This applies only if your ECQs have been approved by an OPM Qualifications Review Board through the SES CDP.
- SF-50 showing your status as a:
- current Career SES appointee,
- former Career SES appointee with career SES reinstatement eligibility, or
- current or reinstatement eligible Career SES-equivalent executive who is/was employed in a Federal government agency that has an interchange agreement with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) allowing for movement between the agency’s SES-equivalent personnel system and the SES.
To learn more about submitting documentation, visit Uploading Documents to USAJOBS.
You are strongly encouraged to read the entire announcement before you submit your application for this position.
You must provide specific examples of your education, experience, training and awards in the manner and order instructed below which are applicable to each Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) and Technical Qualification (TQ). Response to the five ECQs and TQs is mandatory. Failure to address the ECQs and TQs will result in your application being disqualified.
To begin the application process, click the Apply button to the top right on this screen, follow the prompts to log-in/register, submit all required documents, and complete the assessment questionnaire. To be considered, you must submit a complete application package by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the day the announcement closes.
As referenced in the Required Documents section, all required supporting documents will be collected electronically via the USAJOBS document portfolio feature.
It is recommended that you review your application materials after they have been uploaded to your application to ensure they conform to the requirements stated in the announcement.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your application, please contact the HR Specialist listed on the announcement.
If you cannot apply online, you must contact the HR Specialist listed below for assistance no later than two business days prior to the closing date of this announcement. You must provide complete application materials by the day the announcement closes.
For detailed instructions to assist you in ensuring your application package is received, go to EPA Announcement Policies and Procedures.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
EPA welcomes applications from persons with disabilities. Through the reasonable accommodation process, we provide persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment that persons without disabilities enjoy. A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way things are customarily done. An accommodation removes workplace barriers and enables an applicant with a disability to have an equal opportunity to participate in the application process, be considered for a position, and, if hired, perform the essential functions of their job.
The EPA National Reasonable Accommodation Coordinators will provide assistance to you, the Human Resources Office, and/or the hiring official as needed. For more information, refer to EPA’s Reasonable Accommodation website. Below is more detailed information about how to request a reasonable accommodation during the application, selection, and hiring process:
• If you require reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process (submitting the application or completing the application process), contact the Human Resources Office listed below no later than two business days prior to the closing date of this announcement, and the Human Resources Office will work directly with you.
• If you are referred to the hiring official for consideration and need an accommodation during the selection process, including the interview, notify the person who contacted you from the hiring official’s office. If you do not hear back within three days about your reasonable accommodation request for the selection process, please notify EPA’s National Reasonable Accommodation Coordinators via email at disabilityaccommodations@epa.gov.
• If you are selected and need an accommodation during the hiring process up to orientation, notify the HR Specialist who made the job offer to you.
Please note: Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Next steps
It is your responsibility to check your USAJOBS account for application status information. You can track the progress of your application via your USAJOBS account by clicking the Track This Application link. Your USAJOBS application status will appear in your profile if your application was received successfully; if your submission was not received, the application status will show as unavailable. After the announcement closes, the Human Resources Office will conduct a review of your application package. If your application is complete and you meet basic qualification requirements, it will be forwarded to a three-member Rating Panel consisting of SES members for further review of your narrative statements addressing the required ECQs and TQs. The Rating Panel will decide which Best Qualified applicants will be referred to the Selecting Official by the Human Resources Office. Interviews are arranged through the Selecting Official. If you are selected, you will be contacted personally by the Human Resources Office posting this announcement. Your application status will change in USAJOBS when updates are available for each step of the process.
NOTE: We may verify all information you provide in your resume and questionnaire responses through reference and/or background check, and/or verification of your education. Any exaggeration of your experience, false statements, or attempt to conceal information may disqualify you for employment consideration.
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