Grants Management Specialist

Clarification from the agency

U.S. citizens or U.S. Nationals; Military Spouses; no prior Federal experience is required.

The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management - National Energy Technology Laboratory office works to discover, integrate, and mature technology solutions to enhance the nation's energy foundation and protect the environment for future generations. Through forward-looking research and technology development, our team of talented and diverse experts provides technology solutions for today and options for tomorrow.

We are truly honored that DOE has been named America's #1 Best Employer for Veterans in 2023 by Forbes-not only among Government agencies, but among employers across the U.S. We are so proud of this ranking which reflects our commitment to the employment of veterans. As so many veterans at DOE renew their service to our Nation, we are deeply committed to their success and advancement. Veterans shape the future of energy?

At the full performance level, GS-12, Grants Management Specialist, you will:

• Collaborate with sponsoring programs to plan funding opportunities, evaluate grant applications for eligibility and completeness, and establish appropriate criteria for merit reviews.
• Perform cost and price analyses on proposed budgets, reviews applicant accounting systems, and negotiates terms, conditions, and funding levels to ensure responsible stewardship of federal funds.
• Draft, structure, and issue official award instruments (such as grants, cooperative agreements, and partnership agreements) while incorporating all required administrative and financial control clauses.
• Review and approve award modification requests, tracks recipient expenditure rates to prevent the lapse or over-expenditure of funds, and ensures ongoing compliance with federal regulations.
• Serve as a point of contact for recipient organizations and internal program staff to interpret complex policies, resolve administrative issues, and conduct site visits.
• Identify gaps in existing procedures to help refine agency-wide grants policies, and provides guidance, training, and technical expertise to lower-graded Grants Management Specialists.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See www.sss.gov.
• If selected, your appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• This position is not remote, the selectee will be expected to report to the duty station(s) listed. If selected, military spouses, veteran caregivers, and spouses of foreign service employees may be eligible for applicable workplace flexibilities.
• Occasional Travel Required
• At the full performance level, GS-12 you will be required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450, Executive Branch Personnel Confidential Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days of entering the position and annually.
• Certification in Financial Assistance: FA level II is required, you will be required to obtain the certification within a reasonable period of time (typically from 12 to 18 months) from the date of placement in the position.

Qualifications

GS-7 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-5 in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting 2 of 4 of the following

1. Reviewing application packages, proposals, or intake forms for clerical completeness, accuracy, and basic adherence to established guidelines or instructions.
2. Examining budgets, expenditure spreadsheets, invoices, or financial receipts to confirm numerical accuracy and ensure alignment with planned project costs.
3. Monitoring project schedules, tracking reporting deadlines, or reviewing routine progress reports to help ensure recipient compliance with project milestones.
4. Inputting, updating, and retrieving project or financial data in administrative databases to track expenditures, document actions, or assist in preparing periodic status reports.

OR EDUCATION: 1 full year of graduate level education. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED.

OR SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: Based on a Bachelor's degree that is demonstrated through class standing (upper 1/3 of class); grade point average (3.0/4.0 overall or 3.5/4.0 in major), or election to membership in a qualifying national scholastic honor society. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED.

OR COMBINATION: You may qualify on a combination of education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the specialized experience requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the educational requirement must equal at least 100 percent.

GS-9 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-7 in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting 2 of 4 of the following

1. Reviewing and evaluating grant applications or funding proposals to determine completeness, administrative eligibility, and compliance with established guidelines and requirements.
2. Participating in the review and analysis of proposed project budgets, evaluating budget justifications, and assessing financial arrangements to ensure costs are realistic and conform to funding rules.
3. Monitoring recipient compliance with award terms and conditions by tracking performance milestones, reviewing progress reports, and participating in the preparation for project site visits.
4. Examining financial expenditure reports, invoices, or payment requests to track project spending, check math, and prevent over-expenditures or fund lapses.

OR EDUCATION: Master's or equivalent graduate degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR LL.B. or J.D. (if related); your education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. For this position, this is defined as a degree in Public Administration, Business Administration, Nonprofit Management, Accounting, Finance or a similarly related major. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED.

OR COMBINATION: You may qualify on a combination of education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the specialized experience requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the educational requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of the first 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) may be combined to be considered for qualifying education.

"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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.

Limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications. Your full resume will be made available to the hiring manager if you are referred.

CTAP/ICTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must (1) meet all of the requirements as described in this section; and 2) be rated "well-qualified", which is defined as scoring in the in Well Qualified category (or higher).

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

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, as demonstrated in your application and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application or cheating on the assessment may result in removal from consideration. Responses to assessments must be prepared solely by the applicant. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot) to draft, edit, or generate responses is strictly prohibited and may result in removal from consideration.

Your application will be assessed based on your responses to an online assessment that measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. The assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. Your score will place you into one of three pre-defined quality categories under Category Rating procedures. These categories are "Best Qualified", "Well Qualified", and "Qualified". You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here.?

Your application and resume should demonstrate that you possess the following competencies. Do not provide a separate narrative written statement. Rather, you must describe in your resume how your past work experience demonstrates that you possess the competencies identified below. Use specific examples of employment or experience contained in your resume and describe how this experience has prepared you to successfully perform the duties of this position.

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Financial Analysis
• Flexibility
• Grants Management
• Grants Management Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Reading Comprehension
• Teamwork
• Writing

Application of Veterans' Preference: If you are a preference eligible candidate, you will be listed at the top of whichever quality category your rating places you in. CP/CPS veterans are placed at the top of the highest category for all positions except professional and scientific positions at GS-9 and higher.

To apply for this position, you MUST provide a complete application package which includes:

• Your two (2) pageRESUME showing all relevant work experience (paid and unpaid) including: duties performed; full name and address of the each employer; start and end dates (month/day/year); work schedule (part-time, full-time, number of hours if intermittent); salary; and any completed education and training (program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date).
• Cover Letter, optional, expressing additional information not covered in your resume.
• Transcripts, if specific educational requirements are indicated in this job announcement. Unofficial transcripts or any report listing institution, course title, credits earned (semester or quarter hour) and final grade is acceptable. It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the educational requirements.
• Veterans' Preference documentation,if applicable, DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; current active duty members- certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter. For more information visit the USAJOBS Help Center & OPM CHCOC website for VOW information.
• Career Transition Assistance Program/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable(e.g., Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal.) For more information see the OPM Guide to Career Transition.
• Military Spouse, if applicable, Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders authorizing you to accompany the Military member to the new duty permanent station; OR verification of the member's 100% disability (VA Letter); and/or verification of the member's death while on active duty (DD-1300 and Death Certificate) AND verification of the marriage to the service member (i.e., a marriage license or other legal documentation verifying marriage). For more information visit the USAJOBS Help Center.

Incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted. Do not provide photos or list a Social Security Number or date of birth on any attachment.

Next steps