Senior Policy Program Specialist

This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement, located in Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job).

Salary: The salary range indicated in this announcement will be adjusted to include locality payment for selected duty location. General Schedule locality pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages.

Qualifications:

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic AND Specialized Experience requirements as noted below.

Basic Requirement: You must meet one of the items listed below (A, B, or C):
A. Possess a degree in behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position. (Must provide transcripts)
B. Possess a combination of education and experience -- that provided you with the knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. (Must provide transcript)
C. Possess four years of appropriate experience that demonstrates acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

Specialized Experience:
GS-14: You must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-13 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing (3) of the (4) duties listed below:

1. Advising on various policy questions, program initiatives, technical assistance, and/or legislative proposals affecting childhood welfare programs;
2. Planning policy reviews and/or studies to develop recommendations to organizations policy needs;
3. Implementing procedures to analyze policy changes in relation to unaccompanied children and/or refugees;
4. Conducting policy research to provide policy recommendation to senior officials.

Documenting Experience:

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume.

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.

In accordance with Office of Personnel Management policy, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable, however, when documented by satisfactory evidence, such as a signed memorandum from the employee's supervisor or an SF-50 or SF-52 documenting an official detail or other official assignment. The documentation must indicate whether the duties were performed full time or, if part time, the "percentage of times" the other duties were performed. It is expected that this documentation is included in the employee's official personnel record. In order to receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your official position, you must provide a copy of the appropriate documentation of such experience as indicated above.

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; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to gain employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. If such experience is on a part-time basis, you must provide the average number of hours worked per week as well as the beginning and ending dates of the experience so it can be fully credited.

Time-in-Grade Requirement: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying). You must include an SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one) that supports meeting this requirement with your application package.

OPM Qualification General Policies Website
www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=app

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

Responsibilities:

The purpose of this position is to provide authoritative advice, consultation, and technical assistance on the design, development, implementation, and coordination of policies for the ORR federal custody of UCP. The incumbent develops and drafts policy and authoritative advice for ORR management in compliance with the Flores v. Reno Settlement Agreement, Homeland Security Act of 2002, Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA of 2008), and Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013.