HUMAN RESOURCES ASSISTANT

Summary

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service seeks a Human Resources Assistant (GS-0203) for the HR Operations Division. This role provides critical clerical support, processes personnel actions, and manages records. Depending on placement, you will either support staffing workflows by reviewing application packages or assist with benefits administration and enrollment processing. The ideal candidate has strong customer service skills to resolve diverse employee inquiries.

Duties

• Provide guidance to employees on how to access Federal benefits information, explain eligibility requirements, application processes, and timelines.
• Receive, review and process enrollment forms.
• Determine benefits status and eligibility using programs, regulations and policies.
• Drafts and send letters and notifications related to life events, retirements and separations.
• Review submitted documentation for completeness and input data into appropriate databases.
• Develop reports, review data, and suspense files using approved methods.
• Participate in projects under the direction of a specialist or supervisor.
• Pay duties including research, verify, and resolve pay issues and personnel documents for employees.
• Participate in recruitment/examining activities for identified positions through databases.
• Respond directly to applicant inquiries, complete tasks for pre-employment processes.
• Assist with making job offers, preparing and coordinating Entry on Duty (EOD) dates, release dates, examining on-boarding documentation for completion.
• Ensure that personnel actions contain correct nature of action and legal authorities, employee data, pay data and remark codes.
• Review submitted documentation for completeness. Input data into appropriate databases.
• Responds to inquiries: Answers written and oral questions directly from job applicants.
• Issues job offers: Prepares and distributes tentative and official job offer correspondence to selected applicants.
• Validates onboarding forms: Reviews completed new-hire onboarding packets for accuracy and assigns new-hire tasks in automated HR systems.
• Reviews a variety of incoming personnel documentation for completeness and codes approved transactions in HR systems.
• Tracks SF-52s: Builds, reviews, monitors, and tracks federal personnel actions for assigned programs and districts.
• Verifies position data: Assesses personnel documents for accuracy regarding position data elements and required attachments.
• Manages system data: Uses human resources applications to input, modify, maintain, and inactivate official position data.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. Time in Grade: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet the time in grade requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. Specialized Experience: 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. GS-05: Experience performing basic office support, clerical, or data-entry tasks within a structured professional or human resources environment. Reviewing documents for administrative completeness against specific checklists. Inputting and retrieving simple database records into automated systems. Maintaining local files, logs, or tracker spreadsheets. Answering baseline customer inquiries by pulling information from pre-established reference materials. Following sequential, multi-step instructions provided directly by a supervisor or senior colleague. GS-06: Providing technical clerical assistance across routine human resources operations under established guidelines. Input or modify standard personnel actions (such as SF-52s, data entries, or benefits forms). Screening new-hire documentation to verify basic completeness. Identifying data entry errors and executing corrective updates within electronic records systems (Ex. Reviewing onboarding documents, requesting information, and applying changes). Providing information to employees regarding standard workplace procedures, benefits offerings, or onboarding steps by interpreting readily applicable instructions. GS-07: Experience independently processing a wide variety of interrelated, non-standard human resources support actions while interpreting regulatory guides. Evaluating, tracking, or auditing personnel actions (such as recruitments, mass realignments, or promotions) to verify regulatory compliance. Executing data-system actions across a broad spectrum of HR specialties like classification library management, recruitment tracking, or benefits administration. Resolving system transaction errors or technical discrepancies through collaboration with regional centers or external platforms. Providing technical guidance to internal managers or agency employees on the application of HR laws, rules, or local operating policies.

Education

If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of all relevant college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, official transcripts will be required prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation. 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): Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Oral Communication Problem Solving Administrative Support Time Management Computer Skills Written Communication The 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. Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Non-Competitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities need to meet minimum qualifications to be referred. NOTE: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service. Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply" button to the right. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13053405 Other Information

Selectees may be eligible for Creditable Service for Annual Leave Accrual (CSALA). Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100. Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after three years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA). Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period. For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as the Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA), 30 percent disabled veterans, certain military spouses, Schedule A Disabled, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website. Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary or term employees of federal land management agencies opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Refer to PUBLIC LAW 114-47-AUG. 7, 2015 for more information. If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed. 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.