Benefits Specialist- DE Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. OBA-2025-0009 Department Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Salary $99,200.00 to $128,956.00 Grade 12 to 12
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 12/23/2024 Close Date 1/2/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

This position is located in the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC), Office of Benefits Administrations (OBA), Participant Services Department (PSD). 

More than one selection may be made from this vacancy announcement.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens, including veterans eligible under the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act (VOW), and Nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island).

Duties

The candidate selected for this position will:

  • Monitor, coordinate, and evaluate the quality of customer services (involving but not limited to benefits administration, document management, and contact center support services) provided to plan participants.

  • Review, assess, and correct the quality and timeliness of assigned benefit administration activities including benefit application reviews, payment review and approval, benefit adjustment implementation, beneficiary support, customer communications, ongoing customer call center services, and other customer service requests.

  • Conduct analysis of data to ensure accuracy and completeness prior to loading into PBGC systems or to identify operational issues and recommend ways to improve Participant Services Department (PSD) operations.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen
  • You may undergo a personnel security background investigation
  • Selective Service registration required for male applicants, unless exempt
  • 1-year probationary period required unless met during prior Federal service
  • Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
  • Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

All qualification and eligibility requirements must be met by the announcement closing date.

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the specialized experience qualifications and/or education for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.

Specialized Experience- Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience at the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service or equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the private sector working in or within pension benefits administration, completing data analysis to complete plan intake activities including payment assumption, and reviewing data and associated memos for accuracy and completeness. Examples include serving as technical reviewer of work products, completing oversight of operational activities, gathering and analyzing customer payment data, and following policies and procedures in a pension customer service operation.

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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.

Education

 NO EDUCATION IS REQUIRED. 

Additional information

If you are requiring reasonable accommodations, please contact PBGC’s Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator, Roderick Duncan, at (202) 286-7803 or Duncan.Roderick@pbgc.gov. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

All Veterans are encouraged to visit CareerOne for resume writing tips and skill conversion terms.

If you believe that you have been subjected to discrimination, you may contact the PBGC Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (OEEO):

OEEO Main Office Phone: 202-229-4363

Email: EEO@PBGC.gov

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.

Visit PBGC Benefits for information on our Agency Benefits offered.

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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Category Rating is being used for this position.

Referral: If your resume does not support the answers you gave on the assessment questionnaire, you may be rated Not Qualified or you may be placed in a lower category. Your name will be placed in one of the three following quality categories:

•Gold - highly proficient regarding the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) related to this position.

•Silver - competent regarding the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) related to this position.

•Bronze- possessing only the minimum qualifications required for this position.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs):

1. skill in providing customer focus benefit administration services

2. knowledge of benefits administration policies and procedures

3. skill in analyzing data for accuracy


Interagency Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 80 or above based on the competencies listed above (which is equivalent to PBGC’s “Silver” quality category); and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit: Interagency Career Transition Assistance Programs.

Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.

Application of Veterans' Preference:  The Category Rating process protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-veterans within each quality category. All qualified veterans must be selected before selecting any non-veterans within each quality category.

For this position, disabled veterans who meet minimum qualifications for this position and have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are placed at the top of the Gold category regardless of which category to which they would otherwise be assigned.

Preference eligibles who do not have a service-connected disability of 10% or more (XP or TP) are placed at the top of their quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Gold) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied.


You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

RESUME: You must submit a resume. Your resume must include your name and contact information and should clearly show your possession of the specialized experience and KSAs so that we can determine your qualifications for this position. Your resume should be specific to the position you are applying for, relating your skills and experience to those noted in the job posting.

PLEASE DO NOT include photographs, hypertext/hyperlinks, or other inappropriate material or content. This information will not be used to make eligibility or qualification determinations.

COVER LETTER (OPTIONAL): Your cover letter should state your interest in this position and the strengths that you feel will make you an asset to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.  We will not use your cover letter to determine your qualifications; however, your cover letter will go to the Selecting Official along with your resume if you are referred.  

VETERANS PREFERENCE: If claiming veteran's preference, you should indicate the type of veteran's preference you are claiming on your resume. For veteran's preference, you must provide a copy of your DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (Member 4 copy or Member 7 copy), official statement of service from your command if you are currently on active duty, or other official documentation (e.g., documentation of receipt of a campaign badge or expeditionary medal) that proves your military service was performed under honorable conditions. Your DD-214 must show the type of discharge and dates of active duty. If the appropriate copy of the DD-214 is not submitted and the discharge status is not confirmed, you will not receive credit for the claimed active-duty military service. To gain access to your DD-214 online, please visit: Request Military Service Records | National Archives. Information on Veterans Preference is available in the Vet's Guide that can be found at OPM's website: Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference

Veterans Opportunity to Work Act (VOW): If you are currently serving on active duty, you MUST submit a statement of service from your unit (on unit letterhead) identifying the branch of service, period(s) of service, campaign badges or expeditionary medals earned, type of discharge, character of service, and the date you will be separated or be on approved terminal leave. If you provide a statement of service at this stage, your preference/eligibility will be verified by a DD-214 (Member 4 Copy) upon separation from the military.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Programs: CTAP and ICTAP candidates must submit documents showing eligibility for selection priority (e.g., RIF separation notice, Certificate of Expected Separation, or other proof of eligibility for priority selection); an SF-50 showing the current (or former) position, grade level, promotion potential, and duty location; and the most current performance appraisal including the performance rating.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

In order to be considered, submit all of the required information (including your supplemental documentation) before midnight EST on the closing date.

If you are not able to apply online or require reasonable accommodations, contact Brandy Pelham on (202) 229-3177or at pelham.brandy@pbgc.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Please complete all the steps in the online application process at USAJOBS (www.usajobs.gov). You may make updates to your information at any time prior to midnight EST on the closing date of this announcement.

  • Register with USAJOBS, which will store your information and resume. You will only need to complete this step once.
  • Locate and review the vacancy announcement on USAJOBS. Click the “Apply” link and then select a resume to submit with your application. If you do not have a resume to select, or you want to upload a new one, click “Add Resume” and upload your resume. You can also click “Edit” to edit an already-uploaded resume. Once you have selected a resume, click “Save and Continue.”
  • Add or remove your supporting documents.
  • Once you have attached your resume and supporting documents, review your application package to ensure that they have been attached, then check the box next to “I acknowledge that I have reviewed my resume and document(s).” Then Click “Save and Continue.”
  • Complete the “Include Personal Information” page and click “Save and Continue,”
  • On the “Continue Application with Agency” page, read the terms and certify by checking the box if you agree. Then click “Continue to Agency Site.” This will take you to the application for the position.
  • Click “Apply to this Vacancy.”
  • Complete or review the eligibility questions, which determine the types of positions you are eligible for.
  • Specify which series, grade(s), and location(s) you wish to be considered for.
  • Complete the online vacancy questions, then click "Finish". You will continue to the Vacancy Documents page.
  • Review your attached documents from USAJobs. If there are other documents that you need to attach, upload those here as well.
  • You will then see a summary of your application, including the documents that you submitted. You are strongly encouraged to save or print a copy of this page as proof of submission and receipt of your application and documents.
  • To finish, click "Submit Application."

Agency contact information

Brandy Pelham
Phone
202-229-3177
Fax
000-000-0000
Email
pelham.brandy@pbgc.gov
Address
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION
Human Resources Department
445 12th Street SW
Washington, District of Columbia 20024
United States
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

You are encouraged to complete your USAJOBS personal account completely to receive notifications at each point in the recruiting process. Utilizing this option allows you to review and track the status of your application and receive email notifications from the hiring office.

You may check the status of your applications by clicking on the My USAJOBS tab at the USAJOBS website.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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