Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to the Public

As a Program Manager (Deputy Director) at the GS-0340-14, some of your typical work assignments may include:

• Assists the Director in the development of operational plans, staffing strategies, procedural guidance, and resource allocations needed to support disaster loan program delivery. Participate in budget development and monitoring to ensure effective and efficient use of funds.
• Monitors Center performance goals and analyzes program delivery results within assigned operational areas. Identifies trends, issues, or performance gaps and endorses corrective actions for Director approval. Ensures compliance with national standards and supports consistent implementation of ODR&R policies and procedures.
• Represents the Center Director at meetings with SBA program offices, FEMA, state and local officials, and other external stakeholders. Participate in briefings, disaster coordination efforts, and operational planning discussions.
• Communicates operational updates, staffing/resource needs, and coordination issues to the Director and DR&R leadership. Supports communication with state emergency management organizations regarding damage assessments, program requirements, preliminary disaster information, and operational matters.
• Supervises subordinate managers responsible for field operations, public information, loan closing, administrative functions, and IT support.

This position is also being announced under Merit Promotion Procedures, announcement # MP-26-FOCE/W-12867824, you will need to apply in order to receive consideration as a status candidate.

Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur within 180 days from the closing date.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. citizenship is required
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government travel credit card.
• Favorable background investigation required.
• A one-year supervisory/Managerial probationary period may be required.
• You may be required to complete a one-year probationary period for non-supervisors if you fail to complete the one-year supervisory probationary period.
• This is not a bargaining unit position.
• Mandatory Overtime: In order to respond quickly and efficiently to disaster survivors, substantial compensated overtime hours may be required while on assignment (up to seven days a week and ten to fourteen hours a day).
• If required to travel to a disaster site, you may encounter hazardous working and/or living conditions, for example, no water or electricity and/or minimal lodging facilities.

Qualifications

Generally, time in Non-Pay status is not creditable towards the specialized experience requirement listed below.

Experience: To receive credit, you must indicate the month and year as well as the average hours worked per week for each employer. Average work hours must be stated on resume to quantify each period of work experience or that experience will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. You must address the specific specialized experience required for each grade level of this position on your resume or application or you will be rated "Ineligible" for that grade level.

GS-14: To qualify you must have at least 1 full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the GS-13 level in the Federal service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skill, and ability to perform successfully in this position. This specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

• Developing or implementing and communicating the strategy, vision and direction of an emergency management organization or disaster organization, such as a Federal, State or local government program office, department or field office; AND
• Overseeing, managing, or advising on the day-to-day operations of a disaster or emergency management organization/program; AND
• Analyzing and making recommendations or decisions on workload distribution and supervising a large, diverse fluctuating workforce; AND
• Overseeing disaster preparedness and disaster recovery operations; and collaborating with elected Federal, State, and local officials, and organizations regarding resiliency.

Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's Qualifications web site: Program Management Series 0340

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work. 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.

All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 02/03/2026.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants meeting basic eligibility requirements will be further evaluated based on additional assessments.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. One of the required assessments for this position is 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. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Your application will be evaluated under the Category Rating method based on your assessments. You will receive a score based on the responses to the assessment questions. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities. If you meet basic requirements for the position, your application will be evaluated and placed into one of three categories:

1. Best-Qualified: highly proficient with an overall comprehensive level of knowledge, skills and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.
2. Well-Qualified: competent in the position with an overall accomplished level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, training, and education as applicable, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.
3. Qualified: an overall basic level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.

Candidates eligible for veterans' preference will be placed ahead of other candidates in the appropriate category for which they have been rated. Additionally, preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent and who meet Minimum Qualification Requirements will automatically be placed in the Best Qualified Category.

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date/time of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.
1. Your Resume - Resume length must not exceed 2 pages and must contain the following information:

• Name, address, telephone number, email address.
• Job Title (if Federal Service, provide series and grade; if not in GS plan, provide GS equivalent grade)
• If qualifying based on related unpaid (e.g. volunteer service) experience, you must provide hours worked per week and beginning/ending dates (mm/dd/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy)
• If other than full-time you must provide hours worked per week.
• PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination.
• Should you submit multiple resumes, only the latest uploaded resume will be reviewed.

2. In addition to the online application (resume and responses to the occupational questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms, if applicable. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure all documents are legible:

• If you are using education as a substitution for experience (the announcement will state whether this is allowed), or if there is an educational requirement for this position, you must submit a copy of your transcripts (unofficial or official) that clearly describes your qualifying education. If selected, official transcripts will be required;
• If you are claiming Veteran status, you must submit a copy of all required documents to support your claim (including a DD-214 showing character of service)--see VetGuide;
• Veterans who are still in the service may be granted tentative preference on the basis of information contained in their applications, but they must produce a DD-214 (showing the character of service) or other proof of service to receive consideration for veterans' preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit FedsHireVets.gov.
• CTAP/ICTAP/RPL Applicants: Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (if applicable), your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330, and your most recent performance appraisal.

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