Financial Management Specialist Job in Los Angeles, CA

Vacancy No. H-DEA-26-12930092-IMP-BB Department Drug Enforcement Administration
Salary $104,349.00 to $161,313.00 Grade 12 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 5/1/2026 Close Date 5/10/2026
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Los Angeles, CA


Summary

This position is located in the DEA, Los Angeles Field Division.

This position(s) primary purpose is to support the Domestic Division Financial Procurement Unit (FPU) with processing various types of accounting transactions, analyzing financial information, and providing customer support within the assigned Division offices.

This job is open to

Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of the hiring agency that posted the job announcement.

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.

Clarification from the agency

Current Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) employees in the competitive service on a career or career conditional appointment. Eligible displaced and surplus Department of Justice (DOJ) employees in the local commuting area.

Duties

As a your typical work assignments may include:

  • Analyzing and developing cost data for a broad operating program utilizing a variety of sources.
  • Providing customer service to assigned Division office(s)/group(s), vendors, and financial analysts.
  • Assisting in the preparation of financial reports and making recommendations to the Senior Financial Management Specialist as needed.
  • Collecting, analyzing, and validating budget data to help monitor and track resources for assigned program areas.
  • Conducting research, identifying, and analyzing trends in the use of funds, and recommends adjustments in programs that require the rescheduling of program workloads.
  • Reviewing and processing accounting transactions for broad and varied range of functions including obligations, accrued expenditures, disbursements, appropriation refunds, reimbursable orders, expenditure vouchers, and rejected transactions.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Employment is subject to the successful completion of a background investigation. Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
  • Incumbent is subject to random drug testing.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: http://www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/.
  • Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).
  • Incumbent must maintain required certifications and access to necessary systems to complete the work.
  • Incumbent is required to become a certified Contracting Officer Representative (COR) Level I within 6 months of assignment.
  • Incumbent will be required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450.

Qualifications

For more information on eligibility requirements see: DEA Employment Eligibility

Applicants must meet the required qualification requirements described below by the closing date of the announcement. If you are qualifying based on education or if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcripts with your application.

Applicants applying for the GS-12 must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least one full year of specialized experience that is at least equivalent to work performed at the GS-11 grade level. Specialized 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.

Qualifying experience must demonstrate the following: 1) Reviewing and recording accounting transactions into automated financial management systems (i.e., Unified Financial Management System (UFMS); 2) Recommending and implementing new financial policies; 3) Interpreting and explaining financial legislations and procedures to customers; 4) Researching and resolving accounting transactions covering the process of invoices, imprest fund documentation, purchase card billing statements and indirect payments; and, 5) Conducting reconciliation activities.

Applicants applying for the GS-13 must meet one of the following requirements: A. Have at least one full year of specialized experience that is at least equivalent to work performed at the GS-12grade level. Specialized 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.

Qualifying experience must demonstrate the following: 1) Reviewing and recording accounting transactions into automated financial management systems (i.e., Unified Financial Management System (UFMS); 2) Developing, recommending, and implementing new financial policies; 3) Interpreting and explaining complex financial legislations and procedures to customers; 4) Researching and resolving complicated accounting transactions covering the process of invoices, imprest fund documentation, purchase card billing statements and indirect payments; 5) Performing tasks related to acquisition planning and contract administration, such as bid responsiveness and contractor responsibility and performance; and, 6) Conducting reconciliation activities.

Additional information on the position qualification requirements are located in the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Qualifications Standards Handbook.?

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

Education requirements do not apply to this vacancy announcement.

Additional information

For reasonable accommodation at the Drug Enforcement Administration, please contact the Human Resources office listed in this announcement.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If an applicant is currently, or has been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, applicants must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office listed in this announcement.

Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to similar positions in any Division/Office listed in this announcement. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.

Relocation Incentives may be considered and approved if the DEA has determined that the position is likely to be difficult to fill in the absence of an incentive and funding for such an incentive is available.

If eligible, telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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.

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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and assessment questionnaire.

Your resume will be reviewed to determine your qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. Your resume should demonstrate how you meet all aspects of the specialized experience statement. This agency will not review additional information beyond your resume.

If you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements for this position, a panel of subject-matter-experts (SMEs) will perform a structured review of your resume to evaluate your knowledge, skills, abilities, and competences as they directly relate to the duties of this position.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

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

  • Accountability
  • Arithmetic/Mathematical Reasoning
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork
The assessment questionnaire includes four short, free-response essay questions which provides an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question in 200-words or less. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and have not used a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot.

Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) candidates must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for selection priority. Candidates are considered well qualified if their knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) exceed the minimum qualifications described in the announcement.

ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE: You may preview the https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12930092.

Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to our automated system by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

  1. Resume - must be no more than two pages in length; resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. Resume should include applicants' name, email address, phone number, relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year), work schedule (e.g. part or full-time), the number of hours per week worked/volunteered, job title and description of duties performed. Education/Certification/Licensure when relevant or required for position. See Guidance for Applicants on 2-Page Resume and visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information.
  2. Transcripts, if applicable and you are qualifying based on education. See the Qualification and Education sections of this announcement for more information. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.
  3. SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action): SF-50(s) must show the effective date, position title, series, grade, salary, tenure, competitive status, position occupied, full promotion potential, and name of agency. Multiple SF-50s may be needed to show all required information. Award SF-50s often do not show the required information. To verify the time in grade requirement, applicants must submit a SF-50 verifying the highest grade held for at least 52 weeks. Examples include, promotions with an effective date greater than one year, within grade increases demonstrating the highest grade held for at least 52 weeks or appointments/conversion of appointments with an effective date greater than one year.
  4. Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable. (e.g., reduction-in-force (RIF) separation notice, RIF separation SF-50 personnel action, certification of expected separation, etc.), most recent Performance Rating and more recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level, and duty location.
  5. Other Qualification documents (e.g. certificates, certifications, etc.), if applicable. See the Qualification section of this announcement for more information.

How to Apply

Prepare your application in USAJOBS

During the application process you can review, edit, delete, and update your information. We'll automatically save your progress as you go, so you won't lose any changes. You have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement to complete the application process.

STEP 1: Select the "Apply" button and follow the instructions to register or sign into USAJOBS.
STEP 2: Submit your resume. Resume must not exceed two pages. Please see the Required Documents section for specific information that should be outlined in your resume.
STEP 3: Complete the online assessment questions.
STEP 4: Submit all required documentation applicable to you, as listed in the Required Documents section.

Alternate Application Procedures: If applying online poses an extreme hardship, you may request alternate application procedures to submit your application package. Contact the Human Resources office listed on the announcement between the business hours of 8:15 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET at least 2 working days prior to the closing date of this announcement. The application package for alternate application procedures must be submitted and received in the Human Resources office no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the closing date of this announcement. Paper applications and information sent by mail will not be accepted.

Agency contact information

Beth Bell
Phone
000-000 0000
Email
Beth.A.Bell@dea.gov
Address
Drug Enforcement Administration
Do Not Send Postal Mail
Springfield, VA 21310
US

Next steps

Once the online application package is received, you will be notified through USAJOBS of your qualification status and referral or non-referral to the hiring official for further consideration. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. We will notify you by email the outcome after each of these steps has been completed. Your application status will be updated up to four times during the following hiring phases:

  1. After applications are received.
  2. After applications are assessed to determine qualifications.
  3. After candidates are referred to the hiring manager.
  4. If selected, candidates may receive additional notifications regarding the next steps in the hiring process.
Your status will also be updated on your USAJOBS account throughout the process.

Drug Enforcement Administration

TOUGH WORK. VITAL MISSION. Challenge yourself! You have the power to help combat drug trafficking. Be a part of DEA! It's tough work, but a vital mission. Whatever your background or expertise, your work at DEA will be tremendously rewarding because it will have a daily impact on national security and the quality of life of all Americans.

The DEA is our country's leading organization in charge of enforcing the controlled substance laws of the United States. The DEA provides employees with an exciting career whether supporting missions at home or abroad. Our employees make a difference by working together as a team to keep Americans safe from dangerous drugs and those who traffic them.

Please visit www.dea.gov to learn more about who we are and career opportunities that our organization offers.

Agency contact information

Beth Bell
Phone
000-000 0000
Email
Beth.A.Bell@dea.gov
Address
Drug Enforcement Administration
Do Not Send Postal Mail
Springfield, VA 21310
US

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