Unemployment Insurance Program Specialist

Summary

These positions are located in the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Unemployment Insurance (OUI). OUI is responsible for providing leadership direction oversight and assistance to state workforce agencies in the implementation and administration of state unemployment insurance (UI) programs Federal unemployment compensation programs and other wage-loss worker dislocation and adjustment assistance compensation programs.

These positions are inside the bargaining unit.

Duties

Major duties for this position are listed below:

• Serves as an Unemployment Insurance (UI) program expert on behalf of the agency.
• Serves as lead for the provision of program technical assistance and guidance to regional staff grantees and other stakeholder groups on specific program activities and/or legislative initiatives.
• Studies new and proposed legislation and regulations to determine impact on the program. Researches and/or analyzes problems issues or program requirements. Provides expert analysis and advice on complex program issues.
• Position involves the review and analysis of Federal and State UI laws regulations and administrative procedures to determine grantee compliance with legal requirements or the review and analysis of project plans and proposals to determine compliance with legal requirements and/or responsiveness to the needs of the customers.
• Develops national guideline materials. Develops and applies new methods and techniques to solve problems where existing guides are largely inapplicable.
• Plans and/or accomplishes unemployment insurance projects. Manages program issues of broad impact. Conceives and implements new initiatives and projects to strengthen facilitate and integrate programs.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must be at least 16 years old.
• Candidate required to obtain the necessary security/investigation level.
• Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.

Qualifications

You must meet the Basic Requirement s listed and the Specialized Experience to qualify for this position as described below.

Basic Requirements (Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR):

Undergraduate Education:
Major Study - economics industrial relations law sociology political science public administration or other related fields. Courses in statistics or mathematics applicable to the social sciences are creditable up to a maximum of 12 semester hours.

Graduate Education:
Major study - one or a combination of the social sciences that included social science research methodology and techniques and provided a knowledge of the history concepts methods and techniques of social insurance and/or the social and economic conditions under which social insurance programs operate.

OR

Experience:
Experiences related to social insurance. This includes experience applying statistics or mathematics to the social insurance field. Specialized experience must have demonstrated:- A knowledge of current social and economic conditions under which social insurance programs operate and the principles of the Federal/State/local relationships;- The ability to extend and modify existing techniques and methods or to develop new ones to identify isolate and resolve special problems; and- The ability to develop effective collaborative relationships with personnel in other fields and with groups having conflicting objectives.

Qualifying specialized experience may have been gained through work in the following or similar types of programs: unemployment insurance; old-age and survivors insurance; workers compensation; disability compensation; or other public or private programs covering common social insurance risks.

In addition to the basic requirements above you must also meet the specialized experience listed below.

GS-13: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level GS-12 in the Federal Service. Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge skills and abilities (KSAs) to perform the duties of the position successfully and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level.

Specialized experience for this position must include at least three (3) out of five (5) of the following: (Note: Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience.)

• Researching and performing data analysis related to Unemployment Insurance program data.
• Writing analytical reports and/or making assessments on compliance with federal reporting requirements.
• Providing technical assistance and guidance on Unemployment Insurance requirements.
• Developing and/or implementing policy guidance or operating procedures for State/Federal Unemployment Insurance programs/systems.
• Analyzing state or federal laws legislation or regulations for the impact on the Unemployment Insurance program.

WHEN DOCUMENTING EXPERIENCE IN YOUR RESUME PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. NO ASSUMPTIONS WILL BE MADE ABOUT YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE.

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Education

Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.

If your education was completed at a foreign college or university you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.

Additional information

The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to protect the welfare of workers and job seekers improve working conditions expand high-quality employment opportunities and assure work-related benefits and rights for all workers.

Refer to these links for more information: GENERAL INFORMATION REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

As a condition of employment all personnel must undergo a background investigation for access to DOL facilities systems information and/or classified materials before they can enter on duty: BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION

This position is inside the bargaining unit. If the duty location is within the Washington D.C. metropolitan area the position will be included in the Local 12 AFGE bargaining unit.

For more information click Telework Position Information. This is not a remote work position. The selectee will report to an assigned DOL office location on a regular basis and is eligible for participation in telework as determined by management in accordance with DOL policy.

Based on agency needs additional positions may be filled using this vacancy.

The Fair Chance Act (FCA) prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicants criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment. If you believe a DOL employee has violated your rights under the FCA you may file a complaint of the alleged violation following our agencys complaint process Guidelines for Reporting Violations of the Fair Chance Act.

Note: The FCA does not apply to some positions specified under the Act such as law enforcement or national security positions.

All Department of Labor employees are subject to the provisions of the Drug-Free Workplace Program under Executive Order 12564 and Public Law 100-71.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e. physical or mental) covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position after notification of the adjudication of your request you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

Required Experience:

IC