Human Resources Specialist (Labor/Employee Relations)

Summary

Who May Be Considered: Status Candidates Veterans Land Management Eligibles under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act. View common definitions of terms found in this announcement.

Duties

In this position, you will serve as Human Resources Specialist (Employee/Labor Relations). Typical work assignments include: Providing definitive counsel to senior leadership on complex, sensitive, or high-risk employee misconduct, systemic performance deficiencies, and formal grievances. Conducting comprehensive regulatory and policy analysis of case files to evaluate risk, determine factual sufficiency, and defend agency actions before third-party adjudicators. Formulating independent, evidence-based recommendations and write final agency decisions for adverse actions, removals, and multi-issue grievance resolutions. Leading labor-management contract negotiations, interpret collective bargaining agreements, and resolve unfair labor practice charges or formal union information requests. Designing and delivering agency-wide training programs, standard operating procedures, and strategic templates based on shifting federal employment laws and OPM guidance. Requirements

You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position. You must successfully pass a background investigation. This may include a credit check, a review of financial issues, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs. Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/). Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required One-year probationary period may be required. Status Candidates must submit an SF-50 and recent appraisal. Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level). Time-in-Grade must be met by the closing date of the announcement Only experience obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered. If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application. All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing. Promotion Potential: When promotion potential is shown, the agency is not making a commitment and is not obligated to provide future promotions to you if you are selected. Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level Qualifications

In order to Qualify for this position, you must meet the following requirements: Specialized Experience: GS-11: You qualify for the GS-11 grade level if you possess one year of specialized experience at the GS-09 grade level performing the following duties: Researching human resources statutes, regulations, policies, or case law to support assigned employee relations cases; Drafting disciplinary notices, performance improvement plans, or grievance responses under the guidance of a senior specialist; Maintaining confidential labor and employee relations case files; and Tracking compliance deadlines to prepare basic status reports. OR You have completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited college or university that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform this work. NOTE: A copy of your transcripts must be included with your application to support this response. OR You have a combination of specialized experience (less than one year) and graduate education (beyond 2 years of graduate education), that when combined equals 100% of the qualification requirement. Note: Only graduate education in excess of two years may be used in this calculation. You must submit a copy of your college transcripts (official or unofficial), and your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet the experience to support your claim. NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience. Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the advertised grade level or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer and part time experience. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the dates worked and total number of hours per week. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS resume template. However, if you do not use the template you must ensure that your resume contains ALL required information which includes hours worked, starting & ending month and year, and if Federal employment (series, pay plan, and grade). Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are best qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided. Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive and Special Hiring Authorities procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume, supporting documentation submitted and their responses to the assessment questionnaire. Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office. Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA): To be eligible for a VEOA appointment under Merit Promotion procedures, the veteran must be a preference eligible or a veteran separated after 3 years or more of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Education must be from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For additional information, refer to the U.S. Department of Education web site at http://www.ed.gov. Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) or you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the courses. Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. For example, specific courses accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university, or foreign education evaluated by an organization recognized for accreditation by the Department of Education as education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. college or university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement. How You Will Be Evaluated

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): The USA Hire Assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employeeguides/careertransition.asp Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Program (I/CTAP) Eligibles: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employeeguides/careertransition.asp Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA): To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, the veteran must 1) be a preference eligible; or 2) be a veteran separated after 3 or more years of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions (you must submit a DD214-member copy 4). Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above. Other Information

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities: For more information on noncompetitive appointment authority eligibility requirements: Persons with Disabilities-Schedule A Special Hiring Authority for Certain Military Spouses Other Special Appointment Authorities, Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service, Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, persons with disabilities, and those covered under the Interchange Agreement possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the NEA mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the documentation that is required, click on the links in Who May Be Considered section or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply online if at all possible. Applying online, through your USAJOBS account, will expedite the application process and allow you to check your application status as well as verify the documentation submitted with your application. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) 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 RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA 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, based on your adjudication decision. 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 RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire Additional selections may be made from this vacancy.