Clarification from the agency

• Current U.S. Department of Education employees serving under competitive, permanent appointments; and, • Current U.S. Department of Education employees serving under temporary appointments with reinstatement eligibility.

APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, May 18, 2026.  

We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application.

As a Chief of Staff, GS-0301-15, you will be responsible for:
• Serve as strategic advisor to an Office of Finance and Operations (OFO) Executive and the OFO senior leadership team. Leads strategic business management and workforce planning initiatives to include the identification, tracking, and reporting of associated performance measures, and alignment with the OFO strategic plan. 
• Performs complex analysis and research to formulate and advise on broad topics that impact OFO related divisions and the Department.    
• Supports the development of informational and/or decision briefings, white papers, speeches, testimonies, or other communications that represent and/or present ED's items of interest, or organizational goals, objectives, initiatives, or projects. 
• Utilizing established organizational performance metrics, leads and performs regular analysis of organizational strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats that ED faces. 

Conditions of employment

• Relocation will not be paid.
• You may be subject to serve a one-year supervisory probationary period.
• Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
• Must be a US Citizen.
• Must complete a Background Investigation.

Condition of Employment:

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may 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. Upon completion of your probationary period OR trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week. 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).

Qualifications

Minimum Qualification Requirements
You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-15, if you possess the specialize experience.

Specialized Experience for the GS-15
One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-14 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Experience servicing as senior advisor to executive leadership on human capital issues, including analyzing complex matters, developing recommendations and advising on strategies, priorities and decisions affecting agency programs or operations. 
2. Experience servicing as a lead or overseeing cross-functional initiatives that improves the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. 
3. Experience preparing HR related briefings, white papers or decision materials and collaborating with senior leaders on sensitive or high visibility matters. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) 
The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement).

1.    Knowledge of human capital management principles, HR operations and organizational business practices. 
2.    Skill in analyzing and resolving complex organizational and program issues. 
3.    Ability to lead and coordinate high-visibility projects and initiatives. 
4.    Knowledge of internal controls and metrics.

How you will be evaluated

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

We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:

1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications

Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors. You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements.

2. Rating and Ranking

If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by comparing your submitted resume and supporting documentation. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications and competencies listed in this vacancy announcement (if applicable). Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), and the result of the Monster Competency Based Assessment(s) (if applicable) required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

Supervisory: Oral Communications, Interpersonal Skills, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Customer Service, Leadership, Planning and Evaluating, Influencing/Negotiating, Strategic Thinking and Human Capital Management.

Based on the outcome of this evaluation, your application data may be further assessed by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) panel.  If your qualifications are not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration.

3. Referral and Selection

If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official. As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position.

• If you qualify under the Schedule A appointing authority, include a disability letter.
• Include a performance appraisal as proof of federal employment.
• Your SF-50 shows a federal position you've held, grade level and duty location. Your SF-50 can support position changes, conversions or separation for employment eligibility.

You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):

• A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire.  

Please limit your resume to 2 pages with the font size no smaller than 10 points.  If your resume is more than 2 pages, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed and considered for the qualifications determination. 

• If you are a current or former federal employee (including current U.S. Department of Education employees), you must also submit: • A Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), which demonstrates your competitive status eligibility. To verify your eligibility, we will review your SF-50 to determine your tenure (block 24) and position occupied (block 34). Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments, promotions, within-grade increases, and pay adjustments. If you currently hold or previously held a federal position at or above the highest grade of this position or you have/had promotion potential at or above the highest grade of this position, you must also submit an SF-50 documenting your highest grade level held or promotion potential. Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments and promotions. • A Copy of your most recent Performance Appraisal and Awards, as applicable. Your performance appraisal and awards are requested to further assess the quality of your experience should your application be referred to the selecting official.
• If you are claiming eligibility under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA), you must submit: • A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only); OR • A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR • The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference.
• If you are claiming eligibility under any Special Hiring Authority, you must submit: • Adequate proof of your eligibility (e.g., Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility for employment under Schedule A as a person with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities.)

• Are you claiming special priority selection rights under the Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP/CTAP)?

  • If you are a current or former Federal employee who was displaced (for example, due to a Reduction-in-Force) and want priority consideration, you must submit the documents listed below.
    • Required documents for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan consideration (All are required):

                    1. Proof that you were displaced, such as Reduction-in-Force (RIF) notice or notice of proposed removal.

      2. SF-50s (Notification of Personnel Action) showing:
      • RIF as the Nature of Action (Box 5B)
      • Career or career-conditional status (Box 24 must be 1 or 2)
      • Competitive status (Box 34 must be 1)
      • Promotion potential or full performance level of the position from which you were or are being displaced. This is likely your appointment SF-50 for that position.
      • Duty location
      3. Your most recent performance appraisal showing a rating of Fully Successful or higher.

  • Your Federal position at the time you were displaced must be within the local commuting area for a location listed in this announcement. The definition of local commuting area varies based on duty location and hiring agency policy. To receive priority consideration, you must also be found well-qualified, which means you score 75 or higher based on this announcement's assessment rating criteria.

Next steps

Additional locations