Supervisory Program Analyst (Staff Chief for Engagement and Response)

Summary

This position is located in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of Budget and Program Analysis (OBPA). Oversees OBPA's Engagement and Response Branch, which serves as the Department's primary liaison to Congressional Appropriations Committees, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and other oversight partners. Serves as the Department's senior analytical authority for coordinating USDA's engagements.

Duties

• Works closely with agency leadership, program managers, analysts, and policy specialists to clarify assumptions, verify impacts, and ensure alignment across evaluative products.
• Serves as liaison to Congressional Budget Office for scoring and legislative cost estimates, and coordinate briefings for Appropriations staff.
• Ensures the branch supports senior officials in hearings, briefings, and technical assistance engagements with Appropriations Committees.
• Interprets legislative proposals and appropriations language to assess projected changes in program operations.
• Directs comprehensive assessments of resource requirements, identifying emerging program needs, and evaluating how proposed program changes, legislative directives, and shifting national priorities impact USDA’s budget posture.
• Assesses the policy implications of emerging funding trends, Congressional directives, and Executive Branch initiatives, translating these into actionable guidance for USDA program offices.
• Oversees development of strategies to shape General Provisions in appropriations bills.
• Leads Department-wide efforts to ensure that all information provided to external decision-makers is accurate, reliable, consistent, and analytically defensible.
• Provides senior leaders with deeply informed, data-backed advice that guides both near-term and long-term budget strategies.
• Leads sophisticated, Department-wide evaluative efforts that assess and interpret the effectiveness, efficiency, and outcomes of USDA programs and major policy proposals.
• Applies advanced evaluative concepts such as impact modeling, scenario analysis, trend forecasting, and workload-to-resource correlation to identify strengths, vulnerabilities, and strategic opportunities in current and proposed programs.
• Advises senior leadership on policy risks, constraints, and opportunities to strengthen USDA’s strategic posture and ensure alignment between policy development and program performance outcomes.

Requirements

You must be a US Citizen or US National. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt. Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/. If selected, you may be required to serve a probationary or trial period as applicable to appointment type. Refer to Next Steps section for additional information. Subject to one year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period. 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 time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. Minimum Qualifications: Applicants must meet the Specialized Experience and/or Education requirements as shown below. If qualifying based on experience, your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the specialized experience requirements. Specialized experience is defined as experience that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. FOR THE GS-15 LEVEL: Specialized Experience: GS-15: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal service or equivalent responsibility in the private sector/pay systems that has equipped the candidate with the particular competencies to successfully perform as a Supervisory Program Analyst. For this position, the specialized experience is experience developing multi-dimensional analyses that integrate quantitative data sets, qualitative evidence, performance metrics, risk indicators, and program cost structures to evaluate how resource decisions influence mission delivery; and, developing high-quality, evidence-based evaluations for coordinating engagement with Appropriations and Authorizing committees. 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.

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 to the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. All applicants are required to complete the online USA Hire assessment administered by OPM in order to be considered for this vacancy. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability Customer Service Decisiveness Flexibility Interpersonal Skills Problem Solving Resilience 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. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13062992 Other Information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP or RPL eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP 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 applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100. 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. 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.? Incentives may be authorized.