Job Description (Please follow all instructions carefully)

Summary

The Chief U.S. Probation Officer (CUSPO) is a Court Unit Executive (CUE) responsible for all aspects of the operations of the U.S. Probation Office for the Southern District of New York. The CUSPO also serves as a vital member of the courthouse management team, comprised of other CUEs in the district, who collaborate and consult with the Chief Judge on Courthouse matters of mutual concern.

Overview

Accepting applications

Open & closing dates
Opening and closing dates 05/20/2022 to 08/19/2022
Salary
$223,400 - $223,400 per year
This job uses the Judiciary Salary Plan (JSP) pay scale.
Pay scale & grade
JS 18
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
- New York, NY
  
  New York, NY
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Occasional travel to other Court location in White Plains, NY.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes— At discretion of the court, where applicable.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
18 - JSP-18
Job family (Series)
0007 Correctional Officer
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
Yes
Announcement number
22-02R
Control number
655851200

This job is open to

The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Duties

The CUSPO has the ultimate leadership responsibility for United States Probation Office, overseeing the sentencing, probation, supervised release, and parole services for the Southern District of New York. This position is responsible for ensuring operations, budget and internal control processes and procedures comport with the Guide to Judiciary Policies and Procedures as well as local policies. The CUSPO is also responsible for sustaining a professional culture by promoting capable and independent leaders who are wholly committed to developing staff, serving the Court and to achieving the mission of the Southern District of New York U.S. Probation Office. The Chief U.S. Probation Officer is responsible for the oversight of the department's wellness program to ensure officers, administrative support staff and managers have access to training and resources that support their physical and mental well-being. The Probation Office in the Southern District of New York is an evidence-based organization where work is approached through an empirical lens and policies are grounded in research that have measurable and positive outcomes for the community and for defendants and persons under supervision. The Southern District of New York Probation Office is committed to providing excellence in service to the Court, inspiring positive change in justice-involved individuals, and protecting the community.

Representative duties of the Chief U.S. Probation Officer include:

Organizes the probation office to ensure expeditious handling of investigative work for the courts, institutions, and parole authorities to include effective case supervision of probationers, persons on supervised release, and parolees.
Works to improve supervision in order to protect the community and encourage the successful integration of persons on supervision.
Maintains liaison with the Chief Judge and other judges and court units; makes specific recommendations regarding court- related criminal justice issues with particular emphasis on matters relating to sound sentencing and supervision practices. Makes reports to and maintains regular communication with the Criminal Law Committee of the Board of Judges.
Reviews, analyzes, and interprets statutory, Judicial Conference, and Parole Commission requirements for the administration of probation, pretrial and parole services; promulgates policies, procedures, and guidelines necessary to meet these requirements.
Selects and recommends candidates to the court for appointment as probation officers and appoints all non-officer personnel; provides specific recommendations in all other personnel matters including promotions, salary increases, disciplinary actions, and dismissals; ensures that all personnel are carefully selected and adequately trained; makes certain the work of all subordinates is systematically evaluated.
Manages the law enforcement and non-law enforcement staff of the office including all clerical, professional and supervisory personnel.
Manages the probation office's decentralized funding allocation and advises the court of the adequacy of funds to support operations.
Recognizes the importance of evidence-based practices and champions their use in probation services to reduce recidivism.
Tracks the performance of the probation office and its officers in order to evaluate and improve performance.
Directs staff responsible for the probation office's financial service functions, including disbursements for operational goods and services, payroll costs and expenses in connection with the provision to persons on supervision for a wide variety of treatment/evaluative needs, emergency transitional needs, and vocational/educational rehabilitative goods and services.
Oversees the probation office's long-range space and facilities plan.
Establishes and administers continuing in-service training programs to ensure high-quality service delivery through consistent professional development of staff.
Conducts special studies when appropriate and prepares statistical and narrative reports.
Establishes and maintains cooperative and amicable relationships with other probation and pretrial services offices to assure all requests for assistance from other districts are met promptly and effectively.
Establishes and maintains cooperative and amicable relationships with all components of the criminal justice system including federal, state, and local law enforcement, correctional, and social service agencies.
Promotes and maintains conditions which encourage staff loyalty, enthusiasm, wellness, and morale.
Participates in leadership opportunities outside the Southern District of New York to support national efforts to improve the administration of justice.
Strives for consistency, equity and diversity throughout all units and offices in the district.
Develops and maintains a public relations program which explains probation, parole, and other correctional services to the community.

Requirements Conditions of Employment

This is an executive, high-sensitive position within the Judiciary that is subject to a mandatory background check. A high-sensitive background investigation with law enforcement agencies, including fingerprint and criminal record checks, will be conducted as a condition of employment. Any applicant selected for the position will be hired provisionally pending successful completion of the background investigation. Unsatisfactory results may result in termination of employment.

The Chief U.S. Probation Officer position is a secondary law enforcement officer (LEO) position. There is no "maximum entry age" for this position if the selectee is not covered by the LEO retirement provisions. However, to be included under federal LEO retirement provisions, an individual would have to meet "maximum entry age" provisions as follows: First time appointees to positions covered under law enforcement officer retirement provisions must not have reached their 37th birthday at the time of appointment.

For an applicant with LEO experience under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and who has a subsequent break in service or intervening service in a non-law enforcement officer position, the maximum entry age is increased by adding the number of years of previous law enforcement experience to 37. As an example, for a candidate with five years of creditable previous law enforcement experience, the maximum entry age would be 42. To qualify for coverage under the law enforcement provision of the federal retirement system, there are mandatory retirement requirements that apply.

Qualifications

To qualify for the position of Chief U.S. Probation Officer JSP 18, the applicant must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, three years of specialized experience, and three years of substantial management experience post bachelor's degree.
A successful candidate should be highly organized and professional. The incumbent should consistently exercise tact, good judgment, poise, initiative, and an exemplary work-ethic. The ability to work harmoniously with people from diverse backgrounds, organizations, and the public and to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, are required. The incumbent must be able to balance the demands of varying workload responsibilities and deadlines.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE
Progressively responsible experience in the investigation, supervision, counseling and guidance of persons on supervision in community corrections or pretrial programs is required. Experience in police officer, FBI agent, customs agent, marshal or similar positions, other than any criminal investigation experience, does not meet the requirements of specialized experience.

SUBSTANTIAL MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
Substantial management experience is high-level administrative experience that provided a thorough understanding of the organizational, procedural and human aspects of managing an organization. Such experience typically includes financial management, space and facilities management, oversight of the information technology and human resources functions, and long and short-range planning. Possible titles indicative of this experience outside the judiciary would include president or vice president in charge of several departments or offices, director or assistant director in charge of several departments or offices, or head manager or owner-operator of a medium to large company. Possible titles within the judiciary would include any of the court unit executive or type II second-in-command titles, assistant deputy chief probation officer or assistant deputy chief pretrial services officer.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
A master's degree in a related field such as social sciences or management is preferred. Experience with managerial oversight and working knowledge of various administrative functions such as budget, procurement, human resources, information technology, and financial reviews is also preferred.

Education

Please read the "Qualifications" section.

Additional information

Applicants must be United States citizens or eligible to work for the United States Government. All new hires are subject to the Court's policy on COVID-19 vaccination and testing. This position is subject to mandatory favorable background checks. The successful candidate for this position will be subject to ongoing random drug screening, updated background investigations every five years and/or, as deemed necessary by the Chief Judge of the District for reasonable cause, subject to subsequent fitness-for duty evaluations.

Judicial employees are required to adhere to the court's code of conduct, available for public review on the US Courts website: https://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/judiciary-policies/code-conduct/code-conduct-judicial-employees.

This position is subject to mandatory electronic funds transfer for payment of net pay.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, or to withdraw the announcement, without prior written or other notice.

The United States District Court is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Benefits

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How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Please read the "Next steps" section for more information.

Benefits

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Required Documents

As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.

Please read the "How to Apply" section.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

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

To be considered for this position, please submit one PDF document that includes: a resume, cover letter, Application for Federal Employment (AO 78), writing exemplar and three professional references. The resume must include your full educational summary, employment and salary history, and leadership and management experience. The cover letter must indicate the position for which you are applying and the vacancy number, and must describe your interest in the position, your knowledge, skills and abilities that qualify you for the position, your most significant innovative contribution to your current organization, and your leadership style. The writing exemplar must demonstrate your ability to communicate at a high level. Application for Federal Employment (AO 78) can be downloaded from https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/ao078.pdf. Applications that do not conform to the above specifications will not be considered.

Please submit your complete application by email to:

Interviews will be scheduled at a date to be determined. Applicants selected for an interview must travel at their own expense.

Due to the volume of applications received, the Court may only communicate with those individuals who will be interviewed for open positions. Only those applicants who are selected to move forward in the interview process will be contacted.

Agency contact information Human Resources Human Resources

DEjobs@nysd.uscourts.gov

Address

US District Court, Southern District of New York
Office of the District Executive
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10007
US

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Next steps

Only the most qualified candidates will be contacted.

Fair and Transparent

The Federal hiring process is setup to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.