Clarification from the agency

Status Candidates, Non-competitive, Former Federal Employees with Reinstatement Eligibility, Land & base management, VEOA, Individuals with Disabilities, Military Spouses, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Vista, Eligible Family Member, Special authorities, ICTAP, and CTAP

As a Human Resources Specialist (Compliance), your typical work assignments may include:

• Serving as an authoritative source, and principal advisor and consultant in support to the DEA-wide program accountability, oversight and evaluation activities.
• Supporting the program accountability functions such as policy development and planning, compliance audits, special audits and reviews, program evaluations, improvement initiatives, metrics, reporting and analysis.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of HR programs (i.e., classification, staffing, performance management, training, awards, and employee relations) through a comprehensive evaluation system.
• Participating in the planning and development of policy and guidance concerning the evaluations of the HR programs.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).
• 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/.
• Incumbent is subject to random drug testing.
• Selectee may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period (OR 1-year OR 2-year trial period, as appropriate) during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest
• Employment is subject to the successful completion of a background investigation. Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
• All applicants tentatively selected for this position will be required to submit to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment.

Qualifications

For more information on eligibility requirements see: DEA Employment Eligibility

Applicants must meet all of the required qualification requirements described below by the closing of this 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 transcript with your application.

Applicants applying for the GS-13 must meet one of the following requirements:

Have at least one full year of qualifying specialized experience that is at least equivalent in difficulty and complexity to work performed at the GS-12 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) Providing technical advice and assistance in Human Capital matters; Formulating policies, guidance, reports, plans and procedures to implement effective and integrated HR programs; 2) Facilitating quality and process improvement activities across agency HR operations; 3) Participation in or responding to human capital accountability reviews or third party audits of HR functions; and 4) Supporting total quality control and management of Human Resources activities in multiple HR areas which may include staffing/recruitment, compensation/pay, employee benefits/retirement, personnel/payroll processing, performance and talent management, organizational development, awards and recognition, employee relations, or Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS).

Office of Personnel Management, Delegated Examining Certification is preferred, but not required.

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.

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.

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 competencies 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)

• Compliance
• Organizational Performance Analysis
• Personnel and Human Resources
• Program Management

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.

Applicants will only be considered for the Eligibilities for which they claim in the job questionnaire AND must provide the supporting documentation. Applicants will not be considered for Eligibilities for which they did not claim, regardless of the documentation submitted with the application.

All qualified Non-Competitive applicants and the best qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

Candidates may be required to complete a written assessment to evaluate written communication skills. The assessment will be used as part of the overall evaluation process.

Agency and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) 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/12902982.

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), if applicable: 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. ICTAP/CTAP - Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable. This includes copies of your agency notice (e.g. Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal), most recent performance rating and more recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level and duty location.
5. Veteran Documentation, if applicable.

• Veterans who are preference eligible OR who have been separated from the Armed Forces under honorable conditions (honorable or general discharge) after 3 or more years of continuous active service may apply under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA). You must submit a DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (Member Copy 4 preferred) showing the dates you served as well as your type of discharge and qualifying service campaign medals OR if you are still on active duty, you MUST submit a certification on letterhead from your military branch which contains your military service dates, expected date of discharge or release, and the character of service to show that your military service was performed under honorable conditions. The expected date of discharge or release must be no later than 120 days after the certification is submitted for consideration for this job announcement. Current Federal employees applying under the VEOA must submit a qualifying SF-50 to show time-in-grade requirements.
• If you are applying as a preference eligible with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, you must submit the documentation required by the SF-15 (Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference) to support your claim (e.g., DD-214, official statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs). For applicants claiming 10-point derived veterans' preference (i.e., spouses, widows/widowers or mothers of veterans), a completed SF-15 must be submitted with the application with all required supporting documents listed on the form.
• For more veterans' preference information, visit the USAJOBS Help Center.

6. Non-competitive or special hiring authority eligibility documentation, if applicable. Examples of such authorities include: Schedule A individuals with disabilities, returning Peace Corps or AmeriCorp VISTA volunteer, Fulbright/Gilman/CLS alumni, etc.
7. Current or Former Land Management Employee documentation, if applicable. Visit the Forest Service's site for required documentation.
8. Other Qualification Documentation (e.g. certificates, certifications, etc.), if applicable. See the Qualification section of this announcement for more information.

Optional Documentation

1. Applicants with valid Office of Personnel Management, Delegated Examining Certification may submit a copy of their certification with the application package.

Next steps