Staff Assistant

Clarification from the agency

Open to current and former Federal employees with competitive status and VEOA Applicants.

As a Staff Assistant, you will:

• Identifies sensitive issues that may important. Arranges and coordinates with appropriate program offices to orchestrate the presentation of special briefings for the Deputy Secretary and/or other senior level officials. Performs special studies of projects or initiatives that have department-wide impact. Conducts analyses leading to recommendations and implementation of programs and prepares reports on findings and recommendations. 
• Reviews, issues, requests and makes determinations on highly sensitive, complex matters that should be brought to the attention of the Deputy Secretary and as necessary to the Secretary and/or other senior officials and independently handles matters and/or provides recommendations on the course of action to be taken. In addition, consults with staff and coordinates with other departmental organizations to research and/or gather facts and information.
• Independently executes, analyses, revises, and coordinates packages for the signature of the Deputy Secretary, and/or other senior level officials. Common work products are briefing materials, reports, internal/external processes, special DOT studies, and sensitive White House/Congressional/DOT issues. Reviews for sound public relations principles, intelligibility, reasonableness and compatibility with the supervisor's personal viewpoints and general policy and precedents.
• Develops written responses to inquiries from the public, special interest groups, state and local government officials, and top-level federal officials to include Congressional staff and White House correspondents as well as confidential sources. Acts as liaison between the Deputy Secretary and the staff, and other officials. Participates in meetings and provides information regarding the supervisor's views on issues or DOT programs, answers questions, and arranges with them for implementation of commitments made by the Deputy Secretary.

The ideal candidate is a strategically minded, highly discreet professional with proven experience delivering analytical briefings, risk assessments, and policy recommendations to senior executive leadership. They possess exceptional political acumen and communication skills to serve as a key liaison between agency leadership, Congressional staff, the White House, and interagency stakeholders. Additionally, the candidate will excel at managing complex executive workflows, refining high-level decision packages, and independently maintaining operational continuity in high-stakes environments.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S.Citizen and eligible for consideration.
• You must meet specialized experience to qualify.
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance the organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.  A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
• TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the competitive or excepted service in the executive branch to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
• DRUG TEST: This position has been determined to be a critical safety/security position as defined in the Department of Transportation (DOT) Order, DOT 3910.ID entitled "Drug and Alcohol-Free Departmental Workplace." Therefore, is selected for this position you will be required to submit to a pre-employment / pre-appointment drug test. you will also be subject to Random Drug Testing.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the specialized experience qualifications for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.

To qualify for the Grade 12, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-11 it must include:

• Experience performing program analysis, briefing senior officials, and coordinating initiatives that impact programs across organizational boundaries.
• Experience providing oral and written advisory services to senior leadership and conducting studies to identify and resolve management or operational issues.
• Experience managing executive office operations, administrative workflows, and communications between the office and other internal or external organizations on behalf of senior officials.

To qualify for the Grade 13, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-12, it must include:

• Experience conducting studies of agency-wide initiatives, evaluating operational effectiveness, and submitting written recommendations on program and management issues to leadership.
• Experience independently scrutinizing, revising, and clearing decision packages, briefing materials, and official correspondence bound for secretarial or senior official signature to ensure accuracy and clarity.
• Experience coordinating briefings, managing meeting commitments for senior officials, tracking action items, and ensuring operational continuity on assignments requiring coordination across multiple program offices.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs):  Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

1. Administration and Management: Knowledge of planning, coordination, and execution of business functions, resource allocation, and production.
2. Communication: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately. Writes in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.
3. Problem Solving and Analytical Skills: Identifies problems; determines the accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives; and makes recommendations to resolve difficult problems.

For all types of consideration, 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.

For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

All applicants must meet all qualification 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.

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. ITo receive full credit during evaluation, your assessment responses must explicitly point back to your resume, as HR cannot make assumptions about your experience. You must write your narrative answers in full paragraph format, beginning each response with the exact position title, organization, employment dates (MM/YYYY–MM/YYYY), full-time/part-time, average hours worked per week, and federal series/grade (if applicable) as listed on your resume. Within the paragraph, clearly describe your specific individual duties, actions taken, tools used, and measurable outcomes to prove your level of expertise. HR will cross-check your narrative against your resume; if your resume does not fully support every detail and timeframe claimed in your written response, the claimed experience will be disallowed, which may result in an ineligible determination.

You will not be considered for the position if any part of the application or supporting documentation is incomplete. Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you or adverse action after hiring.  

Your application will be reviewed in two phases determine how you move forward in the hiring process.  Phase I: Your resume will be reviewed to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. ONLY two (2) pages of your resume will be reviewed. Additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume) will not be reviewed.  Applicants passing “Phase I” will move on to the “Phase II” of the assessment process where your application will be reviewed and rated based on the KSAs/Competencies listed in the vacancy announcement by a Subject Matter Expert (SME).

RESUME: In accordance with the OPM memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, resumes with a maximum of two (2) pages in length will be accepted as part of your application.  These should be legible and in a readable font size. A determination of your eligibility and/or qualifications will be based only on those two (2) pages. 

Your resume MUST contain specific information that can be used to make a qualification determination, including employment beginning and ending dates for each position, whether employment is Full-time or Part-time, or average number of hours worked per week,  and position titles.  If the position is/was in the Federal government, you will need to provide the position series and grade level.  The resume should show relevant experience and education, as well as support the required specialized experience.

PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS/INCENTIVE AWARDS: If applicable, performance appraisals and/or Incentive award documentation may be submitted and forwarded to the selecting official in consideration of your application. To receive credit, submit a recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable (do not submit a performance plan) and/or incentive award documentation dated within the last 18 months (i.e. performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increases, etc.).

VETERANS: Your last DD214 (member 4 copy), Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty, that shows the type of discharge and all dates of active duty is required to verify your eligibility.  

• If applying to a vacancy opened to all US Citizens under category rating and wish to be considered as a preference eligible, you need to submit a copy of your DD214 (member-4 copy).
• If claiming preference eligibility as a disabled veteran, you must submit proof of entitlement of this preference which is normally a valid letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs certifying to the present existence of the service-connected disability and indicating the percentage of your disability.  An SF-15 is desired, but not required.
• If applying to a vacancy opened Status and you are requesting consideration under Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) (https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/shav/#veoa), you need to provide a copy of your last DD214 (member-4 copy), which verifies your military service dates, reason for separation, OR certification of separation that shows a discharge date within 120 days of the closing of this announcement, and eligibility for consideration under the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act.

FEDERAL APPLICANTS: You must submit SF-50(s) that verify your highest competitive grade, full performance level, and eligibility as a federal applicant.  DO NOT submit an award SF-50 as these often do not verify grade or eligibility. For consideration for a promotion, Box 4 of the SF-50 must show a date that is at least 52 weeks prior to the job announcement closing. We recommend submitting your last promotion SF-50 or within-grade increase SF-50.  Pay adjustment raise SF-50s for the current year will not support the 52 weeks’ time-in-grade requirements.  https://help.usajobs.gov/working-in-government/service/sf-50

NON COMPETITIVE APPLICANTS: If requesting concurrent consideration for Non-competitive (NC) appointment eligibility, you must provide the appropriate SPECIAL APPOINTING AUTHORITY DOCUMENTS, such as PCS orders (military spouse) describing move & marriage certificate; letter from VA or DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse; letter from State Vocational Office certifying disability (schedule A), etc. For more information, visit military spouse NC appointments or Persons with Disabilities NC appointments.

DISPLACED EMPLOYEES: If requesting consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency CTAP program (ICTAP), you must meet the well qualified standards for this vacancy (meeting minimum requirements for position and scoring at least an 80) and provide all of the following documents:  

• your most recent performance appraisal,
• the proof of eligibility letter from the Agency, and
• your most current SF-50, displaying current series and grade.

Displaced employees may be eligible for ICTAP or CTAP priority consideration. For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition.

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date 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.

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