Senior Policy Advisor

Department of the Treasury

Treasury, Departmental Offices

Summary

This position is located at Departmental Offices,Domestic Finance - Financial Institutions. As a/an Senior Policy Advisor, you will be serving as an expert advisor on matters pertaining to legislative and policy proposals for a wide range of issues, including financial literacy and education, wealth building, and economic opportunity or small business access to capital, community development, and affordable housing policy.

This job is open to

The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

1. U.S. citizens or U.S. Nationals; no prior Federal experience is required.

Duties

**IMPORTANT PLEASE READ** This announcement contains a two-phase process. Upon completion of Phase 1, you must click on the exclusive link to complete the manual assessment. The next phase it will take one hour, at a minimum, to complete.

As a Senior Policy Advisor, you will:

Provide authoritative advice, data, information, and reporting on a wide range of issues related to the policy areas of the Office of Community & Economic Development or Office of Consumer Policy, including market and regulatory developments.
Develop and implement policies relating to the Office of Community & Economic Development or Consumer Policy.
Advise the Director of Community and Economic Development or Consumer Policy and other senior officials within the Office of Financial Institutions on matters related to policy areas.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

Key Requirements:

Must be U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be serving in a position in Schedule Policy/Career of the excepted service. You will obtain competitive status after two years of service in this position. Your employment in this position will be at-will. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) appeals of adverse actions concerning performance, discipline, and other matters arising under chapters 23, 43, and 75 of title 5, United States Code will not be available to an individual serving in this position. Prohibitions on prohibited personnel practices will be enforced by Treasury and not the Office of Special Counsel.
All newly appointed employees to the competitive (or excepted) service are subject to a probationary (or trial) period. During this time, your performance, conduct, and suitability for continued employment will be evaluated. You will not automatically convert to permanent status at the end of the probationary (or trial) period. Your supervisor must affirmatively determine that continued employment is in the best interest of the Federal service. If no certification is made before the probationary (or trial) period ends, your appointment will be terminated. You are encouraged to actively engage with your supervisor, seek feedback, and understand role expectations. Additional guidance and support will be provided during onboarding.
Must successfully complete a background investigation.
All new hires will be required to comply with federal ethics laws. A review of financial or other interests may be conducted to determine if they create any real or apparent conflict of interests with official Treasury duties.
Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
Please refer to the "Additional Information" section for additional Conditions of Employment.

Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Specialized Experience for the GS-15, you must have one year (full 52 weeks) of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-14 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting both A and B below:

A. Experience in writing, researching, analyzing data, or providing policy advice in at least THREE of the following five areas of focus:
1. Consumer financial products; OR
2. Economic opportunity; OR
3. Child-savings accounts; OR
4. Access to credit; OR
5. Financial fraud and scams perpetrated against individuals.

AND

B. Experience in at least TWO of the following three activities:1. Developing national policies, strategies, or plans to improve individual financial literacy, economic mobility, and utilization of financial services. OR
2. Implementation of national public awareness and/or consumer education campaigns related to federal programs and initiatives designed to promote life-long financial security through wealth-building, fraud prevention, payment security, or other means. OR
3. Developing in-depth written reports analyzing access to credit, financial services, and trends in financial literacy or capability based on independent research of geographic and income-based population data.

The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your resumé.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

OTHER INFORMATION:

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.
This is a non-bargaining unit position.
Relocation expenses will not be paid.
We offer opportunities for telework on an ad-hoc basis.
We offer opportunities for flexible work schedules.
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 Treasury. The successful candidate will also be enrolled into FBI's Rap Back service, which will allow Treasury 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).

Our comprehensive benefits are very generous. Our benefits package includes:

Challenging work, opportunities for advancement, competitive salaries, bonuses and incentive awards.
Eleven paid holidays, 13 days of sick leave, and 13 to 26 days of vacation time each year.
Access to insurance programs that may be continued after you retire.
A wide choice of health insurance plans, coverage for pre-existing conditions, and no waiting periods. We pay a substantial amount (up to 75%) of the health insurance premiums.
A retirement program which includes employer-matching contributions.
Learn more about Federal benefits programs at: USAJOBS Help Center - Benefits

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.

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.

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 application includes your resumé, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resumé includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resumé may result in a "not qualified" determination.

THIS IS A TWO-PHASED PROCESS.

Phase 1: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas:Strategic Thinking, Technical Competence, and Written Communication

Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. Depending on your responses to the online questions regarding your qualifications, experience, education, and training related to this position, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories, A, B, or C. Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application. Your application may be reviewed by a Subject Matter Expert.

Phase 2: You will be given an exclusive link in the last question of this application to complete a manual assessment for Phase 2. Please be sure to allow sufficient time to complete the questions before the close date of the second announcement. Failure to complete the narrative questions will result in an incomplete application and no further consideration will be given. Your narrative responses will be rated and ranked by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to determine your level of proficiency.

In all cases, preference-eligibles on the certificate(s) will be considered. However, preference-eligibles do not "float" to the top of the list of referred candidates nor have extra points added to any numerical score, and selection of a non-preference-eligible does not require "passover" procedures. Veteran's preference will be followed as far as administratively feasible

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.

Optional Essay Questions:
Applicants may choose to respond to four short essay questions (200 words max each) to help us better understand your alignment with the agency's mission. These responses are optional and will not affect the applicant's eligibility.

Required Documents

A complete application includes:

1. A resume: All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.)

Please limit your resume to two-pages. Applicants with resumes exceeding two-pages will be removed from consideration.
To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume.
It is suggested that you preview the online questionnaire, to ensure that your resume thoroughly describes how your skills and experience align to the criteria defined in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement and support your responses to the online questionnaire.
For resume writing guidance, please visit How do I write a resume for a federal job?
Are you unsure how to write your federal resume? We are here to help. The Treasury Recruitment Service regularly offers Writing Your Federal Resume training sessions, and other career-related information sessions, to assist you in your career search journey. To register for a session, click here to go to our Career Information Sessions webpage.

2. Vacancy question responses: All applicants are required to complete vacancy question responses by clicking the apply online button of this vacancy announcement.
3. Submission of any required documents identified below, if applicable: Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).

VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans preference, please see applicant guide for required documentation. In order to be considered for veterans preference, you must submit all required documentation as outlined in the applicant guide.

How to Apply

The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.

Departmental Offices provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.

To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application.
Follow the prompts to select your resumé and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.

IN ORDER TO COMPLETE BOTH PHASES, YOU WILLNEED TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION IN BOTH ANNOUNCEMENTS.

To do this:
1. Click on the link provided in the last question of announcement number 1 (this announcement). This will open a new window to the second announcement.
2. Before completing the application in the new window, click back to announcement number 1 (this announcement) and finish the remaining steps through submitting your application.
3. Click back on the second (new) window for announcement number 2. You will need to click on the APPLY button on the second announcement and go through the 5 steps in USA Jobs to get to the narrative questions.
4. Review and submit your second announcement application.

Once completed, BOTH announcements should show the Application Status as Application Submitted.

Please do not share the link with anyone else, as the exclusive link is for you to complete your application.

There is a 2,500 character limit on each response. Please allow sufficient time to complete before midnight on the close date of the announcement. The narrative responses are expected to take one hour, at a minimum. Non-detailed and answers such as N/A, see resumé, etc. will be deemed ineligible.

To verify the status of your application:
-Log into your USAJOBS account (USAJOBS Login). A list of announcements in which you have applied is at the Welcome screen.
-Under "application status," click "Track this application" and you will be taken to the agency website where you can check your application status.

For more information regarding the job and applicant status, please refer to USAJOBS Help Center - How to see your application and job status

If you wish to make changes/updates to your application and the vacancy is still open, you can click on the job announcement and "Update Application" to be taken back to your application. No updates can be made once the announcement has closed.

Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.

For additional information on how to apply, please visit the Partnership for Public Service's Go Government website.

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Treasury and its bureaus from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to the Department of Treasury by email at, FairChanceAct@treasury.gov.

To learn more, please visit our page at: Treasury.gov/fairchanceact.

To preview the questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13005666

Agency contact information

Applicant Call Center

Phone: 304-480-7300
Email: doinquiries@fiscal.treasury.gov

Address: Domestic Finance - Financial Institutions
Treasury Common Services Center
Parkersburg, WV 26101
US

Next steps

Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful.

YOU MUST COMPLETE THE PHASE 2 QUESTIONS. Failure to complete the narrative questions will result in an incomplete application and no further consideration will be given. After the Phase 2 announcement closes, we will review your resumé and transcript(s) (if appropriate) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements and your application will be reviewed by a SME and rated to determine your level of proficiency. We may interview the best-qualified applicants. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct any required suitability and/or security background investigation.

Please note, you will only receive status updates in the first announcement.

Senior Policy Advisor Job in Washington, DC