Human Resources Specialist (Employee Benefits)

Summary

The FMC is the federal agency responsible for regulating the U.S. international ocean transportation system for the benefit of U.S. exporters, importers, and the U.S. consumer. The FMC is dedicated to ensuring a competitive and dependable international ocean transportation system that supports the U.S. economy and safeguards the public from unfair or deceptive practices. Join the FMC and be part of a mission-driven organization during an important and exciting time in the maritime industry.

Duties

• As a Human Resources Specialist (Employee Benefits) at the GS-0201-13 level, the incumbent will be part of the Office of Human Resources, Office of the Managing Director, Federal Maritime Commission. The incumbent This position is responsible for administering the employee benefits program, which includes retirement, health insurance, life insurance, thrift savings plans, and Workers' Compensation Program. As an HR Specialist (Employee Benefits), if selected, you will: Develops and conducts new employee orientation and participates in onboarding. Ensures that new employees are appropriately entered on the agency rolls, counseled, and that all necessary actions related to benefits, obtaining information from prior Federal employment, employee rights and responsibilities, pay, etc. have been completed. Ensures proper completion of forms and follow up on due dates. Provides customized expert counseling and guidance to all levels of employees on matters of a highly sensitive/serious nature, relating to the areas of retirement, which can include retirement (CSRS/FERS), health, life, and long-term care insurance, thrift savings plans, Flexible Spending Accounts, death and survivor benefits, debt and overpayments, Work Life, workers' compensation, telework, and leave administration, as well as the use of the Employee Personal Page (EPP) self-servicing system. Counsels employees concerning service credit payments and post-1956 military service deposits. Assists employees with applications for retirement and verifies credibility of service. Provides employees and survivors of deceased employees estimates of expected benefits. Assists managers in making proper referrals to external resources for employees with highly personal and/or controversial problems, e.g., contested disability retirements. Identifies appropriate sources of training for FMC employees in the areas of benefits, retirement, and financial literacy. Arranges and/or conducts training to be presented to employees and develops metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Provides advice on benefits procedures, forms, eligibility requirements, and coverage. Computes benefits and processes actions to completion, advising appropriate agency staff of pending actions. Coordinates open seasons and enrollment periods for benefits and prepares and distributes guidance and relevant materials. Organizes the annual FMC Employee Benefits Fair held during open season. Prepares retirement estimates utilizing an automated retirement system (such as FedHR Navigator); prepares retirement packages, ensuring accuracy/completeness, and submits to NFC for processing. Prepares the FMC's Annual Employee Financial Education Plan for submission to OPM. Identifies strategies to help the Commission improve employee financial literacy and retirement readiness.

Qualifications

To Qualify for the GS-13: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position to be filled. Specialized experience required is expert knowledge of the advanced concepts, principles, practices, laws, and regulations of, and skill in applying, the program areas of retirement, benefits entitlements, health and life insurance, and Thrift Savings Plan; regulations governing military service, veterans' benefits, and prior Government service; and counseling techniques to administer the agency retirement and benefits programs and perform the full spectrum of advisory services on complex HR issues· relating to the assigned program areas. Skill and ability to analyze and solve particularly complex and sensitive problems and issues, such as those involving apparently conflicting laws or other requirements and those involving vague or untested areas of case law. NOTE: All experience statements (i.e., duties, specialized experience, or related applicable assessment) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. 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, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level) by the closing date of this announcement. This position requires that the successful candidate undergo personnel vetting, which includes a background investigation and enrollment upon onboarding into "Continuous Vetting." Enrollment in Continuous Vetting will result in automated record checks being conducted throughout one's employment with FMC. The successful candidate will also be enrolled into FBI's Rap Back service, which will allow FMC to receive notification from the FBI of criminal matters (e.g., arrests, charges, convictions) involving enrolled individuals in near real-time. For more information about individual rights, Noncriminal Justice Applicant's Privacy Rights - FBI, FD-258 Privacy Act Statement - FBI, and SEAD-3-Reporting-U.pdf (dni.gov). Optional Narrative Statements: The following four narrative questions provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate your commitment to public service to hiring managers and agency leadership. Although responses are optional and will not be scored, applicants are encouraged to address each question thoughtfully. Please limit each response to 200 words or fewer. At the beginning of your submission, please certify that the responses are your own work and that you did not use a consultant or any artificial intelligence (AI) tool, including large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT or Copilot. How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience. In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness? Provide specific examples where you improved processes, reduced costs, or improved outcomes. How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you and explain how you would help implement them if hired. How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements? Provide one or two specific examples and explain how those qualities would enable you to serve effectively in this position.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen. Must be registered or exempt from the Selective Service. See www.sss.gov A 1-year probationary period may be required. Must be able to obtain and maintain a background investigation. Time-in-Grade requirement must be met by the closing date of the vacancy. All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit. FMC participates in E-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that enables participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. May be required to file a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.

Education

Substitution of education may not be used in lieu of specialized experience for this grade level.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, and assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date (07/08/2026) of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about two (2) hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.