Transportation Specialist (Planning)

Transportation Specialist (Planning)

This position is in the Office of Tribal Transportation (OTT) within the Office of Federal Lands Highway (FLH). The OTT administers the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) and provides support for all FHWA activities affecting Tribal Transportation. The purpose of the TTP is to provide safe and adequate transportation and public road access to and within Indian reservations, Indian lands, and Alaska Native Village communities.

The ideal candidate is a mid-career professional with experience with Tribes as required to improve Tribal transportation systems, in particular in the areas of planning, programming of projects, and safety.

Duties include:

• Serve as an authoritative source to ensure that transportation planning regulations and requirements are being met by the Tribal governments receiving TTP funding, including requirements for public involvement.
• Coordinate meetings with Tribal leaders and transportation specialists, the BIA, and state and local governments regarding the transportation planning process, and its application to Tribal activities and the programming of highway projects.
• Advise and provide technical assistance and guidance to Tribal governments and BIA to help improve the Tribal transportation systems from an operational, performance, and safety aspect.
• Identify issues and areas of concern and risk when carrying out the TTP and works with the Program Administration Manager to establish procedures to ensure coordination between BIA and FHWA in delivering the TTP.
• Participate in BIA Regional program reviews and/or individual TTP Tribal reviews, to identify and recommend procedural, financial, or technical improvements.
• Prepare or assist in the preparation of various program statuses, summary, activities, and accomplishment reports.
• Ensure that the Tribes carry out comprehensive Long-Range Transportation Plans (LRTPs). Review and comment on LRTPs for evaluation of the full range of transportation modes, appropriate land-use planning, considerations for economic development, consideration for health and safety concerns, cultural preservation, coordination with surrounding governmental entities, and potential funding sources.

Requirements include:

• You must meet specialized experience to qualify.
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.
• You must be a U.S. Citizen and eligible for consideration.

Conditions of employment include:

• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: If you are not a current Federal employee, you will be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: Applicants may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
• GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel. A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
• TELEWORK ELIGIBILITY: This position is approved for occasional telework. The number of telework days approved is determined by the agency policy, emergency situations, the approval of your immediate supervisor, and if applicable, approval of additional officials. You are required to report to the office on a regular basis since this is not a full-time telework position, or approved as a remote work position.

Qualifications:

For the 2101 series, specialized experience that demonstrated a knowledge of the transportation function(s) of the position to be filled is required.

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the specialized experience for the grade at which you are requesting consideration. You will be asked related questions as part of your application, but you need to verify how you meet the specialized experience in your resume and applicable documentation or you may be deemed ineligible.

For the GS-13:

On Experience, you must have at least one year of experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-12 grade level, which included:

• Experience applying transportation legislation, regulations, polices and guidance in partnership with localities including tribal governments to develop and implement transportation programs; AND
• Experience reviewing transportation planning or environmental products/documents and preparing comments and recommendations; AND
• Experience providing advice and guidance on transportation planning and/or environmental program development processes at a local, Tribal, regional, state, or national level.

You cannot qualify based on education, you must meet the specialized experience.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will also be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

• Knowledge of Federal and Tribal laws, regulations and processes related to the Federal highway programs, project development processes and the development, review and approval of Plans Specifications and Estimates.
• Transportation Planning Legislation, Regulations and Guidance.
• Transportation Planning Practices and Analysis Environmental Analysis.
• Oral & Written Communication.

For all types of consideration, 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.

Additional information:

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.