Public Utilities Specialist (Pre-Scheduling)

Clarification from the agency

This position is only open to current Western Area Power Administration employees on a career or career-conditional competitive service appointment.

As a Public Utilities Specialist (Pre-Scheduling), you will:

• Advises customers, counterparties and staff about the scheduling system, activities and directives.
• Manages WAPAs scheduling portfolios in CAISO.
• Responds to transmission curtailments by assessing system conditions to determine best course of action to address the impact of the curtailment.
• Ensures daily performance and compliance with CAISO validation processes.
• Creates ancillary services bid, award data, and revenue reports.
• Coordinates and implements customer power scheduling transactions.
• Participates in review of draft contract documentation and coordinate the addition, deletion, or change in status of customers for which SNR is scheduling.
• Advises about pre-scheduling, training, after the fact settlements, and upgrades and modifications of the scheduling system.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation.
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period. Employees serving on a probationary or trial period may be terminated at any time during the probationary or trial period for performance, conduct, or business-related reasons in the interest of Federal service.
• 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.
• In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to the four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answers to these questions are not scored or rated. Your answers will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration.
• Security clearance and associated requirements- Non-Critical Sensitive (NCS/Moderate Risk).
• Shift work and emergency overtime may be required.
• Employee may be required to work other than normal duty hours, to include evenings, weekends and/or holidays.
• Total salary varies depending on location of position.

Qualifications

To be found qualified, you must meet the minimum qualification requirements for the grade level(s) in which you apply.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level(s) in which you are applying.

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 in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as:

For the GS-11: Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-09) in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as:

1. Assisted with preparation, entry and/or submission of hourly energy schedules and electronic tags utilizing pre-scheduling software.
2. Experience compiling, verifying, and reporting numerical energy accounting data and power delivery records for discrepancies and/or support.

For the GS-12: Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11) in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as:

• Managed utility or Balancing Authority scheduling portfolios and submitting compliant electronical tags.
• Developed or executed quality control procedures to validate transactions, verify energy delivery accounts and/or resolve discrepancies regarding accounting and settlement checks.
• Experience in using spreadsheets to prepare data calculations and data analysis.

Time-in-Grade: Current career or career-conditional GS employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional GS employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to current career or career-conditional federal employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

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.

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, the first two pages of your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications.

The Department of Energy uses an application tracking system to evaluate the scores provided from the USA Hire Assessment to place you into an initial quality category via OPM's rating procedures. These categories are "Best Qualified", "Well Qualified", and "Qualified."

Minimum Qualifications: Once the application process is complete, the Human Resources Offices or Subject Matter Expert (SME) will review the first two pages of your resume and supporting documentation to determine whether you meet the minimum job qualifications.

If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses you provided in your online questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation before the vacancy closes, you may be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

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

Career Transition Assistance Programs: To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet the eligibility criteria; and 2) be rated "well-qualified".

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (10/19/2026) of this announcement.

USAHire: 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.

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.

To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13086395.

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

• Your two (2) page RESUMEshowing 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).
• 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.
• Current Federal employees: Most recent non-award SF-50 (Standard Form 50 - Notice of Personnel Action). To properly verify status eligibility, your SF-50 must show the following. If you do not submit an appropriate SF-50, we cannot verify your status eligibility.
  • Full position title;
  • appointment type;
  • occupational series;
  • pay plan, grade, and step;
  • tenure code; and
  • service computation date (SCD).
  • If your current position SF50 does not indicate you have competitive service status or does not reflect the pay plan and grade of the highest position you have held in the competitive service, in addition to your current SF50, you must provide your previous SF-50s that provide the proof of competitive status and highest grade held on a permanent basis. . If you do not submit an appropriate SF-50, we cannot verify your status eligibility.

If applicable:

• Veterans: 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.

Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

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