Administrative Officer

Clarification from the agency

This is a Merit Promotion announcement for current career and career conditional Fish and Wildlife employees, Department of the Interior Career Transition eligibles(CTAP), Current or former time-limited Department of the Interior employees eligible under Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) and those who are eligible under the hiring paths listed above.

At the full performance level (GS-11) the major duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provide advice and counsel on administrative, operational, and human resources support issues, including policies, programs, objectives, and plans.

• Plan and conduct analytical studies to identify problems and improve resource utilization, administrative support, and management effectiveness across organizational elements.

• Serve as an advisor and liaison for human resources matters, coordinating organizational needs with HR office requirements and facilitating HR management programs.

• Act as a principal financial advisor, analyzing and managing accounting systems, preparing budget estimates, identifying funding issues, and recommending fiscal solutions.

• Oversee procurement activities, advise on equipment and supply needs, conduct market research, prepare procurement documents, and ensure efficient acquisition of materials and services.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to complete Supervisory Development Training, you must have at least 40 hours of supervisory training during the first 6 months of your appointment.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1 year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.

This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/09/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:
Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

GS-09:To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level:

• Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: 1) Prepare and maintain fiscal budgets and executing FBMS reconciliations and reallocations. 2) Lead teams by motivating, prioritizing, collaborating and adapting communications to improve performance. 3) Prepare FAR-compliant procurement packages with market research and accountable property documentation. and 4) Provide administrative support on essential systems such as recordkeeping, payroll administration, initiating human resource hiring actions, etc.. You must include hours per week worked. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of a master's or equivalent graduate degree or at least two full academic years of graduate education related to the occupation, or a master's or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D. Directly related graduate study may include, but is not limited to business administration, accounting, governmental budgeting, and/or public administration. (two years of graduate education is defined as 36 semester hours).. You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience as listed above.

-AND/OR-

GS-11:To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level:

• Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: 1) Prepare and maintain fiscal budgets and executing FBMS reconciliations and reallocations. 2) Lead teams by motivating, prioritizing, collaborating and adapting communications to improve performance. 3) Prepare FAR-compliant procurement packages with market research and accountable property documentation. 4) Provide administrative support on essential systems such as recordkeeping, payroll administration, initiating human resource hiring actions, etc. and 5) Assesses program changes and resource use to provide clear, actionable solutions to management. You must include hours per week worked. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or an LL.M., if related. Directly related graduate study may include, but is not limited to business administration, accounting, governmental budgeting, and/or public administration. (Three years of graduate education is 54 semester hours or 81 quarter hours). You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience as listed above.

Volunteer Experience: 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.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g. resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessment(s) required for this position. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

GS-09: You will be assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Technical Competence
• Financial Management
• Administration and Management
• Leadership

GS-11: You will be assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Administration and Management
• Financial Management
• Leadership
• Problem Solving
• Technical Competence

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessment(s), including a Structured Resume Review.These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be lowered. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) -10/09/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement:

1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates in month-year format (include month/day/year format if needed for 52 weeks of experience), and indicate hours worked per week (or full-time). Your resume must clearly show how long you have held each grade/rank. Resumes must not exceed 2 single-sided pages and resumes longer than 2 pages will not be accepted. The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text. All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression. Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed. Your 2-page resume must contain information sufficient to make a valid determination that you fully meet the specialized experience requirements. Resume Builder: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include
2. Complete All Required Assessment(s).
3. Performance Appraisals and Awards: You must submit your most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor dated within the past 18 months. If unavailable, a written explanation is required (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level). Performance awards dated within the past 5 years may also be submitted for due weight consideration.
4. All College Transcript(s), if qualifying based on education.
5. Eligibility Documentation:
   • Current and former Federal employees must submit latest SF-50 (i.e. Promotion, Separation, Within Grade Increase (WGI)) showing tenure 1 or 2 in block 24, grade, and if applicable, an additional SF-50 showing the highest grade or promotion potential held. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50s. If your SF-50 showing highest permanent grade held has an effective date within the past year, your resume must clearly show that you held that grade for one year. Do not submit award SF-50s.
   • Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA): If you are applying under LMWFA, you must submit ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for EACH appointment verifying the Position Occupied code 1-Competitive Service (block 34); AND Documentation of satisfactory performance for each period of temporary employment claimed, such as, performance evaluations, memorandum of record, whereas the supervisor(s) documented an acceptable performance level for a specified rating/employment period.
   • Interagency Career Transition (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): You MUST submit proof of eligibility including 1) copy of the agency notice, e.g., RIF Separation Notice, Notice of Proposed Removal, etc.; 2) SF-50s (Notifications of Personnel Action) showing career/conditional tenure competitive status, promotion potential and duty location; and 3) your most recent performance appraisal. To exercise selection priority, displaced or surplus Federal employees must be well qualified. For more information visit: USAJOBS Help Center - Career Transition Programs (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).

Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

Do not submit photographs with your application package. Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents.

Next steps

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