Clarification from the agency

Current Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) employees in the competitive service on a career or career conditional appointment. Eligible displaced and surplus Department of Justice (DOJ) employees in the local commuting area.

As a Staff Assistant your typical work assignments may include:

• Schedules meetings, prepares and distributes meeting materials, including preparing meeting materials such as notices agendas, and supporting documentation for internal and external meetings called by the Regional Director.
• Manages the RD's calendar and arranges appointments.
• Opens and screens incoming mail.
• Receives and reviews incoming correspondence.
• Performs budget execution and administration work involving the monitoring of obligations incurred and the actual expenditures of funds.
• Directs day-to-day building management operations including initiation of work orders and service orders.
• Researches and resolves problems on travel, pay, leave, etc.
• Prepares Requests for Personnel Actions.
• Holds the Government Purchase Card (GPC) for supplies, services, printing and training.

ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION:
A. Length of Tour: The initial tour of duty for this assignment is 3 years. Employees are limited to a maximum of 5 years of service in an overseas assignment. After the initial tour of duty has been completed, extensions may be granted in one-year increments up to the six-year maximum. Employees who wish to remain on an overseas assignment in excess of the six-year maximum must request a tour extension or renewal before the end of their current assignment. Employees who are approved to extend their overseas assignment beyond the six-year maximum will forfeit the right to return to an office of preference. They will be placed in an appropriate position at an DEA domestic office where a vacancy exists.
B. Rest & Recuperation: 2
C. Post (Cost of Living) Allowance*: 5%
D. Post (Hardship) Differential*: 15%
E. Danger Pay Allowance*: 20%
F. Relocation Incentive: None
G. Educational Allowances**: Yes, see below
H. Housing: Housing paid for by U.S. Government. Bogota is a furnished post.
I. Language Requirement: None
J. Home Leave: Allowed after the initial 24 months incident to tour renewal.

*Post (Cost of Living), Post (Hardship) Differential, and Danger Pay rates (if applicable to the advertised post) are subject to change. Detailed post (cost of living) information can be found here. Detailed post (hardship) differential information can be found here. Detailed danger pay information can be found here and here.

Overseas Transition Preparation: Please contact DEA Family Liaison Officers Kieran Mandato (kieran.g.mandato@dea.gov) or N'Dorah Z. Walker (ndorah.z.walker@dea.gov) for Post Reports that detail living conditions for employees and their families at post. Click here for a Prospective Post Priorities Worksheet that can help you consider what is important to you and your family in the foreign PCS decision-making process. For more information regarding the foreign PCS process, please see the PCS Foreign Assignment Relocation Handbook and the Foreign Orientation Handbook.

At the conclusion of an overseas tour, DEA will attempt to return employees to their home location. If such a placement is not possible, employees' office of preference lists will be considered. However, employees are reminded that assignments are determined based on the needs of DEA.

Individual and dependents are required to pass a physical examination given by the State Department (details available here).

Training Requirements: Selectees for this position must successfully complete five mandatory foreign assignment courses on DEALS: Serving Abroad for Families and Employees (SAFE); Personnel Recovery 1 (PR1); Foreign Orientation Program (FOP); Counter Threat Awareness Training (CTAT), and Promoting International Religious Freedom (PIRF). Selectees must also successfully complete Personnel Recovery Emergency Preparedness (PREP), a two week in-person course conducted by the DEA Office of Training in Stafford, Virginia and West Virginia.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Employment is subject to the successful completion of a background investigation. Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
• Incumbent is subject to random drug testing.
• 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/.
• Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).
• Applicant must possess and maintain a valid motor vehicle operator's license while employed in the position and will be required to operate the motor vehicle in accordance with applicable OPM regulations and related requirements of DOJ/DEA.

Qualifications

For more information on eligibility requirements see: DEA Employment Eligibility

Applicants must meet the required qualification requirements described below by the closing date of the 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 transcripts with your application.

Applicants applying for the GS-09 must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least one full year of specialized experience that is at least equivalent to work performed at the GS-07 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) Tracking requests and communication to ensure timely and accurate responses; 2) Developing, maintaining, and keeping current a variety of files and records that are involved in the operations of the office, which may also include the maintenance and access to a computerized database of key documents; and 3) Gathering internal operating guidance's/procedures for review to ensure efficiency and consistency with administrative and office procedures.

B. A master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B or JD., if related.

OR

C. A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Applicants applying for the GS-11 must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least one full year of specialized experience that is at least equivalent to work performed at the GS-09 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) Tracking pending action items and confirms staff responsibilities and timelines for completion; 2) planning and coordinating travel, accommodations and transport for senior officials and special guests; 3) Working closely with senior officials in management and meeting planning, coordinating policy activities, analyzing logistical issues and recommending alternatives; and 4) Developing internal operating procedures to ensure efficiency and consistency with administrative and office procedures.

B. A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.

OR

C. A Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

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), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

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

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12927714

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.

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.

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): 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. Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable. (e.g., reduction-in-force (RIF) separation notice, RIF separation SF-50 personnel action, certification of expected separation, etc.), most recent Performance Rating and more recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level, and duty location.
5. Other Qualification documents (e.g. certificates, certifications, etc.), if applicable. See the Qualification section of this announcement for more information.

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