Debt Management Specialist

Summary

The incumbent serves as a Debt Management Specialist on the Accounts Receivable Team Servicing APHIS. The Accounts Receivable Team is the focal point for agency collections and debt management. As a Debt Management Specialist, the primary responsibilities include providing excellent customer service, managing account debt using a variety of tools, and working well with others.

Duties

• The duties described are for the full-performance level. At developmental grade levels, assignments will be of more limited scope, performed with less independence and limited complexity.
• The duties may include, but are not limited to:
• Continually monitors customer accounts and pursues delinquent debt following agency guidelines.
• Oversees customer accounts, including account reconciliations, refunds, payment tracking, collection modifications, etc. for assigned functional areas.
• Provides excellent customer service by accurately responding to both internal and external customers in a timely and respectful manner.
• Reviews and analyzes financial reports ensuring problems, disputes, and errors discovered are corrected and follows through to resolution.
• Participates in projects and activities to determine better methods and tools for performing customer account services and debt management activities.
• Tailors correspondence appropriately using email, phone, letter, etc.
• Analyzes customer financial statements; measuring the strengths and weaknesses of potential accounts and evaluating the degree of risk in situations where the customer's financial condition is marginal.
• Works with other agencies and program field offices to decide the most effective course of debt management action to use in the case of serious delinquent accounts.

Qualifications

To qualify, you MUST meet all program and qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement. To be eligible, applicants must meet one of the following requirements; Completed all requirements for an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the previous two (2) years. OR Individuals who, due to military service obligation, were precluded from applying to the Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period described above shall have a full 2-year period of eligibility upon release or discharge from active duty. This eligibility period cannot extend more than 6 years from the date on which the requirements for the academic course of study were met. Applicants must meet the following specialized experience and/or education requirements listed below: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AT THE GS-GS-07 GRADE LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent in level of difficulty and responsibility to the next lower level in the Federal Service (GS-05). This experience may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors. Examples of qualifying experience include, but are not limited to: Providing financial information regarding proper collections of funds, billings, and interpretation of customer accounts balances. Assisting with debt management processes, from billings to final collecting including, aging analysis, dunning and write-offs. Identifying collections/billings clearing issues to reconcile customer accounts and makes the necessary adjustments to clear transactions. Using automated spreadsheet software (such as Microsoft Excel) and financial systems to create reports, perform reconciliations, and analyze data. OR 1 year of graduate education towards a degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Management or closely related. OR Superior Academic Achievement: To qualify based on superior academic achievement, you must have completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution AND 1) have a class standing in the upper third of the graduating class, 2) membership in a national scholastic honor society (excluding Freshman honor societies), or 3) must meet certain GPA requirements. GPA requirements: 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on official transcripts or as computed based on 4 years of education, or courses completed during the final 2 year of the curriculum; OR 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required course completed in the major field or courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum (GPA will be rounded to one decimal place, e.g., 2.95 rounds to 3.0 and 2.94 rounds to 2.9). TRANSCRIPTS are required. COMBINATION OF EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE AT THE GS-07 GRADE LEVEL: Applicants may have combinations of successfully completed education and specialized experience to meet total qualification requirements. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Applicants may have combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience to meet total qualification requirements. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level.

Education

Please see above for education qualification requirement information. Transcripts including the date your degree was conferred are required. Applications will not be considered without this documentation.

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, assessments, and 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 of the announcement to receive consideration. Resume cannot exceed two pages. The application process is as follows: 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application. 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement). 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue. 4: If you are required to take the USA Hire Competency Based 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. 5: 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. 6: Set aside at least 1-2 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.7: 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: Click on this: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/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. NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Only one resume will be reviewed. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration.