Human Resources Specialist (Classification)

Clarification from the agency

All candidates who meet the following are eligible to apply for this job: Current or former federal employees qualifying as Status Candidates, Federal employees currently serving on a VRA, VEOA eligibles, CTAP/ICTAP eligibles, eligible for special hiring authorities (e.g., the Schedule A appointment for persons with disabilities, or covered by an Interchange Agreement, or Land Management employees eligible under Public Law 114-47).

As a Human Resources Specialist (Classification) at the GS-0201-14 level, the incumbent will be part of the Office of Human Resources, Office of the Managing Director, Federal Maritime Commission. The incumbent will be responsible for position evaluation to determine appropriate pay system, occupational series, title, and grade of positions, and advising on position management and organization design. Additionally, the incumbent as a classification consultant by providing expert advice to other specialty areas associated with Human Resource Operations.

As an HR Specialist (Classification), if selected, you will:

• Develop standard position descriptions covering major groups of jobs within the FMC to establish and maintain a uniform approach to, and consistency in, classification.
• Provide authoritative internal consulting and customer advisory services and direction to Bureau and Office Directors and other leadership in the areas of classification and position management.
• Provide strategic foresight by identifying emerging human resources risks, trends, and regulatory changes; formulates preemptive policies and guidance to mitigate risks across OHR and the Federal Maritime Commission.
• Conduct Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemption determinations for positions within the agency.
• Assess agency staffing patterns and changing occupational needs in order to recommend organizational realignments and/or modifications to existing organizational structures. Perform classification and position structure reviews of the most complex positions and organizations.
• Keep abreast of current changes, proposed changes, and new techniques related to assigned program areas, including new initiatives through individual reading, attendance at seminars and training courses, and through the maintenance of professional contacts government-wide. Apply changes and techniques within the agency, as appropriate.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must be registered or exempt from the Selective Service. See www.sss.gov
• A 1-year probationary period may be required.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a background investigation.
• Time-in-Grade requirement must be met by the closing date of the vacancy.
• All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit.
• FMC participates in E-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that enables participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.
• May be required to file a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.

Qualifications

To Qualify for the GS-14: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position to be filled. Specialized experience required is expert experience in applying federal human resources regulations, policies, and procedures related to position classification, position management, and human resource management evaluation; experience providing analysis and evaluations; directing changes to implement program improvements; and experience applying standardized principles and practices of position classification, analytical and evaluative techniques in gathering job information sufficient to: conduct desk audits, review classification actions, determine correct pay category, occupational series, title, and grade levels, prepare evaluation reports, etc.

NOTE: All experience statements (i.e., duties, specialized experience, or related applicable assessment) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

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.

Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level) by the closing date of this announcement.

This position requires that the successful candidate undergo personnel vetting, which includes a background investigation and enrollment upon onboarding into "Continuous Vetting." Enrollment in Continuous Vetting will result in automated record checks being conducted throughout one's employment with FMC. The successful candidate will also be enrolled into FBI's Rap Back service, which will allow FMC to receive notification from the FBI of criminal matters (e.g., arrests, charges, convictions) involving enrolled individuals in near real-time. For more information about individual rights, Noncriminal Justice Applicant's Privacy Rights - FBI, FD-258 Privacy Act Statement - FBI, and SEAD-3-Reporting-U.pdf (dni.gov).

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the application process is complete, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the Occupational Questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration. Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

Competencies:

• Accountability
• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision-Making
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

The USA Hire 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. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site. If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)), you must receive a score of 80 or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

Your complete application includes your COMPLETE resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, USA Hire Assessment, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply.

1. Resume - Your resume must not exceed two (2) pages. If your resume exceeds the two-page limit, you will be removed from consideration for this announcement. The resume and required supporting documentation should provide the minimum qualifications and relevant experience for the announced position. Must include the work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment, and duties performed. If multiple resumes are submitted by an applicant, only the last resume submitted will be reviewed for qualifications and referred for selection consideration, if eligible. If military or a civilian Federal employee, you must include your rank and/or grade.

• Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications, and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.
• Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files.
• We recommend using a sans-serif font style such as Lato, Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, or Open San Source Sans Pro.
• The USAJOBS resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

2. A complete application questionnaire and online USA Hire Assessments.

• If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Assessments, you can find the Reasonable Accommodation process here.

3. Current and former civilian Federal employees - Submit a copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which shows your current (or most recent) grade and competitive service status. (The "position occupied" block on the SF-50 should show a "1" and your "tenure" block should show a "1" or "2".) Note: An award SF-50 (ex. cash or time off award) may not indicate grade, step, and competitive status.

4. Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable - Submit a copy of your most recent, signed, completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If it is not dated within the last 12 months or if you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application.

5. CTAP & ICTAP applicants - If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee, click CTAP/ICTAP for eligibility and a detailed list of required documents.

6. Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) Eligibles: If you are a current or former land management agency appointee - you must provide documentation to verify eligibility as follows: a) A copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, that reflects having initially been hired under competitive examining procedures to a time limited (temporary/term) appointment; b) A copy of SF-50(s), Notification of Personnel Action(s), that reflect having served under one (1) or more time-limited (temporary/term) appointments by a land management agency for a period totaling more than 24 months without a break in service of two (2) or more years; and (c) A copy of your Performance Appraisal Plan and/or Supervisor Memorandum that reflects having performed at an acceptable level during each period of service.

7. Veterans Employment Opportunity Act, 30% Disabled Veteran Eligible: DD-214, SF-15 Form and VA letter, or certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days.

8. Current or Former Political Appointees (if applicable) - OPM must authorize employment offers for former or current Political Appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information. Submit proof of your former or current status, such as your SF-50. Please see here.

9. Schedule A Documentation: A copy of your Schedule A letter from a physician, local, state or federal rehabilitation office citing your eligibility under 5 CFR 213.3102 (u).

10. Peace Corps & AmeriCorps VISTA: A copy of your Peace Corp Description of Service (DOS) Letter, SF-50, or your VISTA Verification of Service letter from your representative after successful completion of the program.

11. Military Spouses (if applicable) - You must submit verification of the marriage to the service member (i.e., a marriage license or other legal documentation verifying marriage) AND: (1) a copy of your spouse's active military orders; OR (2) verification of your spouse's 100% service-connected disability (VA Letter and/or DD-214); OR (3) verification of the service member's death while on active duty (DD-1300/Death Certificate). You are not eligible if you were not married to the veteran at the time of death or have since remarried.

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