Staff Assistant

Summary
This position is located with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southwest Region, Office of the Regional Director, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The incumbent serves as principal assistant to the Deputy Regional Directors to coordinate a variety of administrative support services.
This job is open to

• Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
  Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
• Family of overseas employees
  Family members of a federal employee or uniformed service member who is or was, working overseas.
• Federal employees - Competitive service
  Current or former competitive service federal employees.
• Federal employees - Excepted service
  Current excepted service federal employees.
• Individuals with disabilities
• Land & base management
  Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency.
• Military spouses
• Native Americans
  Native Americans or Alaskan Natives with a tribal affiliation.
• Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista
• Special authorities
  Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations.
• Veterans

Clarification from the agency
Current or former career or career-conditional Federal employees in the competitive service
Indian preference eligibles (must submit a BIA Form 4432)
Veterans who are preference eligibles or who have been separated from the armed forces with an honorable discharge
Government employees eligible through an Interchange agreement
Candidates eligible under Non-Competitive special hiring authority
Current or former time-limited employees eligible under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
Duties

• Performs and coordinates a variety of administrative support services.
• Directs the procedural work of the office involving professional and technical functions.
• Provides continuity in the procedural workflow of the office according to operating procedures, policies, or precedents.
• Participates in planning, developing and executing special projects.
• Organizes functions to include budget, finance, property and supply, procurement, management of non-trust funds, records management, and facilities management.
• Reviews budget execution documents such as requests for allocation of funds, requests for personnel actions and travel orders.
• Determines the availability of funds for compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Encodes required actions maintaining records including expenditures and status of funds for accounts.
• Maintains reference files consisting of tribal government files, meetings, minutes, budgets, resolutions, ordinances, and resources ready for reference with tribal officials and general council members.
• Maintains reference files consisting of tribal government files, meetings, minutes, budgets, resolutions, ordinances, and resources ready for reference with tribal officials and general council members.
• Coordinates special projects which may involve working with tribal officials, agency officials, branch chiefs, regional staff and central office personnel.
• Receives visitors and telephone calls, determines the nature of the call or business and refers or handles personally.

Requirements
Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship Required.
• Indian Preference applies.
• You will be required to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit.
• You may be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period.
• A background security investigation will be required for all new hires. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication.
• If you are a male applicant born after 12/31/1959 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.
• Incumbent may be required to operate a government-owned or leased motor vehicle. If selected, you will be required to complete an Incidental Motor Vehicle Operator's Certification Form.

Qualifications
EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: (OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for Administrative and Management Positions, GS-0301).
Specialized Experience, GS-09: Qualifying is one year of specialized experience or the equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience includes work involving analyzing and organizing the daily flow of administrative/program activities; participating in or assisting with program operations or program policy matters; providing information regarding operations and services; reviewing program operations for compliance; planning and coordinating administrative related functions; collecting, compiling and tracking data; developing and maintaining files, records, spreadsheets, and reports.
OR
Education: Masters or equivalent graduate degree; OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree (36 semester hours, 54 quarter hours or equivalent); OR LL.B. or J.D., if related to this position.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: Appropriate combinations of graduate level education and specialized experience that together meet the requirement also qualify for this position.
All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
Merit Promotion candidates must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the announcement closing date.
Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Preference Act of 1934 (title 25, USC Section 472).
Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur in the same location within 90 days from the closing date.
Education
If you are qualifying based on your education, you MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.
If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.
One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.
If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education which shows the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: FOREIGN EDUCATION
Additional information
All new hires earn the beginning salary of their pay grade (Step 1). See 2023 Salary Tables and select the pay chart for Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The full performance level of this position is GS-09.
TELEWORK: Indian Affairs has determined that the duties of the position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.
Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp .
LAND MANAGEMENT WORKFORCE FLEXIBILITY ACT: If applying under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, you must provide documentation to support your eligibility (SF-50) and performance (references and/or performance appraisal). Under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) two groups of individuals are eligible to apply under this announcement: current and/or former employees serving or who have served under time-limited competitive appointments at land management agencies. Land Management Agencies include: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Forest Service.

• Current appointees: 1) must have been hired under competitive examining procedures to a time limited appointment with a land management agency; 2) must have served under one or more time limited appointment(s) by a land management agency for a period totaling more than 24 months without a break in service of 2 or more years; AND 3) must have performed at an acceptable level during each period of service.
• Former appointees: 1) must have been hired under competitive examining procedures to a time limited appointment with a land management agency; 2) must have served under one or more time limited appointment(s) by a land management agency for a period totaling more than 24 months without a break in service of 2 or more years; 3) must have separated for reasons other than misconduct or performance; AND 4) must have performed at an acceptable level through the service period.

Certain candidates may be eligible to apply under a special hiring authority including those for disabled individuals, Peace Corps employees, Foreign Service employees, veterans, etc. For more information, visit the following OPM websites: USAJOBS Information Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/; Vets Info Guide: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/.
Former Federal Employees are required to indicate whether they received a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) buyout in their previous employment with the Federal government, and are required to submit a copy of the applicable Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) regarding the VSIP. Most individuals who accept reemployment with the Federal government within 5 years of receiving the VSIP amount, must repay the gross amount of the separation pay prior to reemployment.

• Benefits
  A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
  Review our benefits
  Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application package will be evaluated against the minimum qualification requirements specified above. In order to qualify, your resume must specifically describe your work history and the duties you performed in each position. Your resume will be evaluated after the closing date of 11/30/2023 to determine whether you meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position. Qualified candidates will then be rated as best qualified, well qualified, or qualified depending on their possession of the knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies and experience requirements as demonstrated by your responses to the assessment questions. Competencies measured include:

• Clerical
• Information Management
• Organizational Awareness
• Problem Solving

We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If the information in your resume does not support your responses to the assessment questions, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your qualifications.
DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level.
Qualified Indian preference candidates will be referred to the hiring manager in order of veterans' preference.
Due weight will be given to performance appraisals and awards during the interview/selection process conducted by the hiring manager. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review.
You may preview the assessment questions here in the https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12190963. Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur in the same location within 90 days from the date the certificate was issued.

• Benefits
  A career with the U.S. government provides emplo...