Ombudsman, EM-0905-00 (Attorneys) Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. 2025-EM-0118 Department Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Salary $275,000.00 to $310,000.00 Grade 00 to 00
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 9/2/2025 Close Date 9/8/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

This position is located in the Office of the Ombudsman (OO) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Washington, D.C.

Salary reflects a pay cap for this position of $310,000.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to current FDIC permanent employees.

Duties

  • Serves as the principal liaison between the agency and any person/entity with respect to problems they have in dealing with the agency resulting from its regulatory activities and ensures that safeguards exist to encourage complainants to come forward, while preserving confidentiality, building trust, enhancing relationships, and improving communications.
  • Develops, implements, evaluates, and improves an independent, confidential, neutral problem resolution function for FDIC-regulated financial institutions and complaint resolution function for the general public. Provides strategic direction; continually monitors and evaluates the program for effective and efficient accomplishment of objectives, maximum utilization of resources, and successful interaction with related programs or operations within the agency.
  • Performs and/or coordinates the investigation of complaints, and reviews Reports of Examinations and other supervisory materials to identify options for the resolution of complaints relating to FDIC regulatory and financial institution supervision, examination, and resolution activities. 
  • Operates and responds independently to questions and complaints received from the industry; shares data, trends, and reports in a manner that protects confidential information and maintains the office as an independent, impartial, and unbiased resource. Meets with insured depository institution senior officials and/or boards of directors, and FDIC and other federal and state government regulators to discuss and resolve complaints brought to the attention of the OO.
  • Actively promotes awareness of the OO's mission and services to industry stakeholders, federal and state regulatory counterparts, and trade associations through the development and implementation of an effective nationwide outreach program. Regularly visits with financial institution presidents and CEOs; participates in various industry events (e.g., annual state banker trade conferences) and fosters and maintains collaborative working relationships with other financial regulators, state banking authorities, trade associations, and FDIC stakeholders.
  • Serves as a change agent for the FDIC by identifying systemic challenges and recommending a range of options to address them. This may include identifying emerging trends, policy gaps, and patterns of problematic areas in agency policies, procedures, or regulations pertaining to financial institution examination, supervision, and resolution matters.
  • Resolves conflict, facilitates communication, assists with surfacing issues, and provides feedback on emerging or systemic concerns related to financial institution supervision and examination policies and principles; works to resolve issues or concerns on complex regulatory and financial institution supervisory policy and examination matters affecting FDIC-supervised institutions and their customers.
  • Serves as a non-voting member of the Supervision Appeals Review Committee (SARC), advocating for a fair process, validating that both parties to each appeal receive all materials considered by the SARC, and monitoring the supervision of the appealing financial institutions for signs of retaliation. Periodically reports to the FDIC’s Board of Directors on the post-appeal monitoring process.
  • Performs the full range of supervisory duties to include planning, assigning, and reviewing work products of subordinates; establishing guidelines and performance expectations; and evaluating work performance and providing feedback to others on their performance. Identifies training and developmental needs for staff and provides regular recognition. Works in collaboration with the appropriate Human Resources and Legal staff to administer disciplinary action. Hears and resolves grievances or other disputes as appropriate. Approves/disapproves requests for leave, telework, travel, training, etc.
  • Shares in the agency-wide commitment to employee development, employee performance, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), and other personnel processes in compliance with agency policy, legal requirements, and the mission of the office; leads efforts to mature the OO and the management of work within the area of responsibility; leads professional groups of employees to: direct work, review outcomes/effectiveness, develop and assess subordinate managers.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Employment Conditions.

High Risk Position - Background Investigation (BI) required.

Bar Membership is required.

Employee may be relocated to any duty location to meet management needs.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications, applicants must possess the leadership and technical experiences listed below. These qualifications would typically be gained through progressively responsible management or executive-level assignments.

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sector. 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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: All applicants must submit a resume that addresses each minimum qualification experience. Examples should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities; the scope and complexity of the programs, activities, or services you managed; program accomplishments; policy initiatives undertook; level of contacts; the sensitivity and criticality of the issues you addressed; and the results of your actions. You should use action-oriented leadership words to describe your experience and accomplishments and quantify your experience wherever possible to demonstrate your accomplishments (e.g., number of employees supervised). Leadership experiences identified must have been performed in an official supervisory role.

Leadership Experience 1: Experience overseeing and coordinating the work of organizational units directly and indirectly through subordinate supervisors, including assigning work; directing changes to programs and priorities; and evaluating performance against goals; AND

Leadership Experience 2: Experience managing employee performance and growth directly and indirectly through subordinate supervisors, including evaluating employee readiness for successive roles; recognizing accomplishments, providing feedback and development opportunities, and addressing performance/conduct issues; AND

Leadership Experience 3: Experience overseeing the implementation of and improvements to recruiting, hiring, training, utilization, and succession readiness of staff; AND

Technical Experience 1: Experience conducting reviews of supervisory materials to identify solutions to inquiries and complaints relating to financial supervision, examination, or resolution activities; AND

Technical Experience 2: Experience applying a variety of dispute resolution techniques to lead the resolution of complex and sensitive disputes in a financial industry regulatory context.

Basic Qualification: License to practice before the highest court of a state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia and in good standing.

Education

There is no substitution of education for the experience for this position.

Additional information

FDIC Employees: The five-day notification process does not apply to corporate and executive manager positions. Failure to provide your up-to-date resume in support of your qualifications for this position by the closing date will limit your ability to receive maximum consideration. Take a moment to ensure that your resume reflects the qualification requirements of this position by the closing date.

This position is in the Excepted Service.

Evidence of current bar membership in good standing will be confirmed prior to appointment.

To read about your rights and responsibilities as an applicant for Federal employment, click here.

If selected, you may be required to serve a trial period as applicable to appointment type.

If selected, you may be required to serve a supervisory/managerial probationary period.

Additional selections may be made from this vacancy announcement to fill identical vacancies that occur subsequent to this announcement.

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.

Benefits

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.

The FDIC offers comprehensive benefits to its employees. These benefits, some at minimal cost, are some of the best and most competitive in both the private and public sectors.

In addition, under FDIC’s Group Life Insurance Program, basic life insurance coverage for Executive Managers is automatically equal to 3 times their salary (rounded to the next higher thousand) up to a maximum of $800,000. Executives may also choose from two other lower coverage options. The Corporation pays for the cost of the basic coverage unless employees also elect to be covered under the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI).

To find out more, click here.

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.

Your resume will be reviewed, to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements outlined in this announcement. Therefore, it is imperative that your resume contains sufficiently detailed information upon which to make the qualification determination. 

If you are found minimally qualified, a Management Screening Panel (MSP) will review your qualifications and experience against pre-established benchmarks. The rating panel will place applications in one of two categories, Pass or Fail. These category assignments are a measure of the degree in which your background and responses to the assessment questions match the competencies listed below. 

Top ranked (Pass) candidates will be referred to the selecting official for further review and consideration.

The competencies/KSAs you will be assessed on are listed below.

  • External Awareness
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Organizational Performance
  • Influencing Others
  • Conflict Management
  • Knowledge of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) facilitation techniques and methods, and skill in their use to successfully resolve highly complex and sensitive matters.
  • Knowledge of the examination, supervision, resolution, and receivership of financial institutions, including policies, procedures, guidance, laws, and regulations.
  • Knowledge of the financial industry, including innovation and nascent risks.

You do not need to respond separately to these competencies/KSAs. Your resume will serve as responses to the competencies/KSAs.

Applicants must provide details of the duties performed as they relate to the qualifying experience and competencies/KSAs. Experience must be explicitly stated in the resume as experience not specifically described in the resume cannot be assumed. Resumes that are vague or don't address specific requirements will not receive maximum consideration.


You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

Failure to provide all of the required documentation as stated in this vacancy announcement, may result in an ineligible determination or may affect your consideration status. Please review the following to determine your eligibility and which document(s) is required to complete your application:

FDIC EMPLOYEES: Submit a final digitally signed copy of your most recent Annual Performance Appraisal and Evaluation form. The final PDF form is also acceptable. Please note that your form must be printed in landscape orientation for the required signatures to be visible. If you want to be considered non-competitively include a copy of your SF-50. The SF-50 must show the highest grade level or full performance level applicant has attained competitively on a permanent basis, and grade must be equivalent or higher than the grade for which applying. Multiple SF-50s may be necessary to determine your eligibility.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To begin, click the “Apply” button and follow the prompts. If you haven’t already, register and establish a USAJOBS account. After you register online, click the “Apply” button to complete the online assessment questionnaire, and submit all required documents. Please be sure to click “Submit Application” to complete the application process. You must apply online.

Applicants requesting an exception from the online process must contact the Human Resources Specialist or point of contact listed in this announcement prior to 12:00 noon local time on the closing date.

To return to your saved application, log in to your USAJOBS account and click on “Applications” tab. Click on the “Position Title,” and then select “Update Application” or “Additional Application Information” to continue.

You have until 11:59 p.m. ET (Eastern Time) on the closing date of this announcement to complete the application process.

Please ensure you have completed the application process by verifying the status of your application on-line to reflect: “Received”. Failure to complete the application process will result in an incomplete application and you will not be considered for the position.

Agency contact information

Paris Hardy
Address
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Human Resources, Executive Resources
3501 Fairfax Dr.
Room VS-D3026
Arlington, Virginia 22226
United States

Next steps

The Fair Chance Act prohibits inquiries concerning an applicant's criminal history information unless the hiring agency has made a conditional (tentative) offer of employment to the applicant. An applicant may submit a complaint, or any other information, to the agency within 30 calendar days of the date of alleged non-compliance by contacting the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Human Resources Staffing Policy and Accountability team at HRPolicyTeam@fdic.gov.

You may check the status of your application on-line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through USAJOBS by signing in and selecting "Application Status." Thank you for your interest in working for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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