Grants Management Specialist

Summary

This vacancy is for a Grants Management Specialist in the Office of the Secretary within the Department of Commerce. Serve as the subject matter expert on federal financial assistance policy and oversight and the program manager over suspension and debarment and vendor responsibility matters.

Duties

• As a Grants Management Specialist, you will: Conduct the research, review and analysis of federal financial assistance management policies, procedures, guidelines, protocols, and requirements in relation to pre- and post-award actions providing expert insight and consideration of higher-level effects. Maintain knowledge of relevant financial assistance management statutory requirements, regulations, policies, and procedures such as Executive Orders, Code of Federal Regulations, OMB Circulars and the Department of Commerce Federal Financial Assistance Manual. Contribute senior level expertise to the maintenance of the DOC Suspension and Debarment Program and to the development of responsive suspension and debarment or other vendor responsibility packages. Advise on how decisions may affect agency financial assistance business processes. Stay current on relevant federal financial assistance laws, polices and regulations. Provide guidance on how these rules may affect agency programs and operations. Maintain the Department of Commerce's Suspension and Debarment Program. This includes working with the Office of Inspector General on cases involving potential instances of waste and abuse of federal funds and directing the development of case packages. Use program management skills on assigned projects to identify and engage the right resources, leverage technology, track progress and ensure deadlines are met. Lead communication of policy and guidance to the Grants community based on supervisor's instructions. Facilitate partnerships with other federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, industry and academia by participating in meetings on behalf of the organization and communicating policy and procedure. Represent the organization in forums with both internal and external stakeholders and actively contributes to discussions. Lead drafting of policy and training documents for the financial assistance community. Lead drafting of suspension and debarment documents for the suspension and debarment program. This Job Opportunity Announcement may be used to fill other Grants Management Specialist, ZA-1109-5, FPL ZA-4, positions within the Department of Commerce in the same geographical location with the same qualifications and specialized experience.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Occupational-Series Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. 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. This position is being filled under the Department Of Commerce Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). Under CAPS, positions are classified by career path and pay band. The ZA-V is equivalent to the GS-15 grade levels. To qualify at the ZA-5 level you must meet the following: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZA-4 or GS-14 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience: Serving as a principal advisor on Federal financial assistance policy at the agency or subcomponent level, interpreting and applying complex Federal grants policies and requirements; developing, updating, and maintaining a comprehensive policy portfolio; and Managing an enterprise-wide financial assistance program encompassing the full life cycle of Federal financial assistance (pre-award, award, post-award monitoring, and closeout), including development and implementation of program-wide policies, procedures, and oversight mechanisms to ensure compliance with applicable statutes, regulations, Executive Orders, and agency guidance; and Leveraging financial assistance data to deliver concise, persuasive briefings to senior executives and to support high-level discussions with stakeholders.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position. You must successfully pass a background investigation. This may include a credit check, a review of financial issues, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use of possession of drugs. A probationary or trial period may be required. Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/). If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application. All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing. Bargaining Unit Position: No Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE form 450): No Permanent Change of Duty Station (PCS) Expense: Will not be paid License required: No Drug Test Required: No Pre-employment physical required: No Time-in-grade/band requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement unless eligible for special hiring authority, reinstatement eligible, non-current Federal employee applying as a VEOA eligible which do not require time-in-grade/band.

Education

There is no positive education requirement for this position. See Qualifications Above. NOTE: Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. You MUST provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

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 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 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.