Human Resource Specialist (Employee Benefits)

Summary

About the Position: This position is with the Army Benefits Center-Civilian.

Duties

• Serves as senior technical expert and shift leader in a consolidated benefits center responsible for advising the work force on federal benefits and entitlement legal and regulatory requirements.
• Executes requirements on behalf of the serviced Command for cases involving retirement plan determination, Non-Appropriated (NAF), Disability Retirement, Estimates, Civilian Death-In Service actions and Special Retirement Coverage (SRC) eligibility.
• Uses in-depth knowledge of federal benefits, entitlements and retirement programs to execute policies and provisions as defined by the Office of Personnel Management and/or the Department of Defense.
• Provides advice and guidance for highly difficult cases involving questionable requests, documents, or evidence providing sound justification and advisory as to reasons why benefits are or are not entitled.
• Provides oversight into settlement agreements, Equal Employment Opportunity and Merit Systems Protection Board cases to advise the employee, command representatives and/or legal officials.
• Assist management and employees in the completion of actions for Federal Employees Health Benefits, Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance, Thrift Savings Plan, Military Deposits, Civilian Re(deposits) and retirements
• Review difficult special retirement programs coverage retirement cases for Firefighters, Law Enforcement Officers, and Air Traffic Controllers that involve extensive reviews of employee service history and agreements that are complicated.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities. Current Department of Army Civilian Employees Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998 In order to qualify, you must meet the experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Specialized experience: One year of specialized experience includes work that involves 1) Experience analyzing and/or resolving complex HR federal benefits cases such as retirement, disability retirement, Special Retirement Coverage (SRC) retirement cases, death notifications and personnel issues 2) Utilize a variety of automated systems such as Government Retirement Benefits (GRB), Benefits Automated Tracking System (BATS), and Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse (CLER) to perform various benefits work 3) Develop reports, SOPs, recommendations, or technical guidance in support of health benefits, retirement, or survivor benefits 4) Support various projects by coordinating documentation process improvement reviews, increasing efficiencies, better business practices and developing external customer partnerships. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-11). You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas: Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-11).

Education

No education substitution for this grade level. 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), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the online assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork The USA Hire Assessments 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 the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Basis for Rating: Qualified candidates will be assigned to one of three quality categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified and Qualified. Veteran preference eligibles are listed ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category. Best Qualified. Candidates in this category possess exceptional skills and experience to exceed well above the minimum requirements for the announced position. Highly Qualified. Candidates in this category possess good skills and experience above the minimum requirements for the announced position. Qualified. Candidates in this category meet the minimum experience requirements for the announced position. You may claim Military Spouse preference. You may claim Priority Placement Program (PPP) preference. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. Other Information

Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration. You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship. One year trial/probationary period may be required. Direct deposit of pay is required. Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees. If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet. This is a(n) Human Resource Career Field position. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement. Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.