Human Resources Specialist

Summary

We seek only the best. With a talented workforce of over 100,000 people, the mission of the Department of Justice is to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe, and protect civil rights. You will be part of a dedicated team enforcing Federal criminal laws to protect life, liberty, and the property of citizens.

This position is located in Detroit, MI.

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

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Duties

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If selected, you will serve as a Human Resources (HR) Specialist within the United States Attorney's Office - Eastern District of Michigan. The work involves providing a variety of human resources management services in two or more of the following functional areas: recruitment and placement, position classification, employee relations and performance management, employee benefits, labor relations, and human resources development. Assignments include both day-to-day case processing, advice and assistance to management and staff, and special projects.

Duties may include:

• Providing management with a wide range of flexible and innovative strategies in administering staffing and placement activities for the district.
• Providing advice and assistance in situations requiring extensive analysis.
• Providing a full range of classification and position management services for the district.
• Providing advice and assistance on the processes and procedures of performance management systems and incentive award programs.
• Planning, developing, and administering programs to train and develop district employees.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
• You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

Qualifications

GS07: To be eligible at the GS-07 level, you must have at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service as defined below ; or education; or a combination of both specialized experience and education.

Specialized experience is defined as experience advising on various benefits programs to include, but not limited to the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB), Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), or the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP); providing customer support to internal and external customers; providing office automation support (e.g. creating, copying, editing, storing, retrieving a variety of documents); maintaining electronic official personnel files; processing personnel actions; using computers and software programs in an office environment to extract, revise, or sort information from files, records, or databases; or researching regulations, policies, and/or personnel guidance.

Education: One full year of graduate level education or a bachelor's degree (or expect to complete within 9 months all the requirements for a bachelor's degree) AND meet one of the following Superior Academic Achievement provisions listed in the Education section below.

GS-09: To be eligible at the GS-09 level, you must have at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service as defined below ; or a master's degree or an equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher level graduate degree or LL.B or J.D. from an accredited college or university in a related field; or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

Specialized experience is defined as experience performing a variety of recruitment and placement tasks such as, preparing job analyses and job announcements; maintaining electronic official personnel files; processing personnel actions; providing advisory services to management and employees regarding recruitment, classification, employee benefits, retirement, compensation or performance management; researching, interpreting and applying applicable laws, regulations, and policies related to HR matters; or communicating factual and procedural HR information clearly both orally and in writing.

Education: master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B. or J.D from an accredited college or university in a field of study that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of Human Resources.

GS-11 : To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must have at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service as defined below ; or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education, or LL.M.,from an accredited college or university in a related field; or a combination of both specialized experience and education as explained below.

Specialized experience is defined as experience advising management officials on various HR processes and procedures governing HR functions such as recruitment and placement, classification, employee relations, benefits, HR development, or performance management; researching, interpreting and applying applicable laws, regulations, and policies related to HR subjects; planning, developing, and managing a personnel records program; ensuring accurate processing of all personnel actions; experience analyzing data and proposing solutions to HR matters; preparing detailed documentation and/or responses for resolution of formal and informal inquiries; or communicating factual and procedural HR information clearly both orally and in writing.

Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such degree, or LL.M.,from an accredited college or university in a field of study that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of Human Resources.

GS-12: To be eligible at the GS-12 level, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the federal service as defined below .

Specialized experience is defined as experience providing a wide range of services across varies HR components such as recruitment and placement, pay and compensation, classification, employee relations, performance management, federal benefits and entitlements, or HR development; applying qualification standards; applying category rating procedures; adjudicating veterans preference; performing highly structured work designed to develop and enhance HR practices; communicating factual and procedural HR information clearly both orally and in writing; experience independently gathering, researching, and analyzing data or facts to identify and propose solutions to HR matters; preparing/providing detailed documentation and responses for resolution of formal and informal inquiries, grievances, or complaints; experience advising management officials on various HR processes; advising on the procedural and regulatory requirements governing HR functions and or processes; or experience supporting and training other HR personnel.

To determine how to combine education and experience for the pay grades above, please review the requirements listed below in the Education section.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in the announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at:

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) & Special Employment Consideration: Additional information and eligibility criteria may be found in the Additional Information section below.

Education

Requirements for Combinations of Education & Experience:

GS-07 c ombination of experience and education: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond a bachelor's degree.

Superior Academic Achievement provisions: (1) class standing in the upper one-third of the graduating class; (2) a grade point average (GPA)of 3.0 or higher as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or a GPA of 3.5 or higher based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (3) election to a membership in a national scholastic honor society.

GS-09 combination of experience and education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of the first full year can be used in this calculation. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 18 semester hours (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of specialized experience, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

GS-11 combination of experience and education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of the first two years can be used in this calculation. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 36 semester hours (or your school's definition of two years of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of specialized experience, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see

OR

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA): VEOA allows eligible veterans to apply and compete for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the hiring agency is recruiting from outside its own workforce. To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, a veteran must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed three (3) or more years of continuous active military service. If you are applying for a Merit Promotion announcement and wish to be considered under VEOA, you must submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214, in addition to any other required documents listed on this announcement.

Special Employment Consideration: Persons with disabilities, veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, certain other veterans, spouses of certain members of the armed forces, and returning Peace Corps volunteers are examples of individuals who are potentially eligible for non-competitive appointments. For further information, click on the links provided below . You must specify in your online questionnaire under what authority you wish to be considered and submit appropriate documentation to verify your eligibility.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities Links:

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See

Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal Agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. More information can be found here:

Political Appointees (Current or Former): The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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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.

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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.