Program Specialist

Federal Emergency Management Agency

$80K — $95K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of experience in financial program management or related fields
  • Demonstrated expertise in grant funding processes and budget execution
  • Strong understanding of federal regulations and compliance requirements
  • Experience in stakeholder engagement and communication
  • Ability to improve operational efficiency in program management
  • Track record of preparing accurate documentation and reports
  • Experience in coordinating readiness activities for emergency response teams

Responsibilities

  • Coordinate and track readiness activities for Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces
  • Monitor compliance with federal regulations and agency policies
  • Prepare and submit reports and drawdown documentation on schedule
  • Document stakeholder meetings and capture key decisions
  • Assist in program evaluation and compliance assessment

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and life insurance
  • Retirement plan and Thrift Savings Plan (similar to 401(k))
  • Flexible Spending Accounts and Employee Assistance Programs
  • Paid personal leave days and federal holidays
  • Access to training and professional development opportunities
  • Potential for flexible work schedules and other work-life benefits
Full Job Description
Summary

This position is located in Response and Recovery, Response Directorate, Urban Search and Rescue Branch. The ideal candidate for this position will need to be highly skilled financial program manager with expertise in grant funding processes, budget execution, compliance, and readiness assurance for Urban Search and Rescue. Demonstrates strong stakeholder engagement, technical proficiency, and initiative in improving operational efficiency.

Duties

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What will I do in this position if hired?

In this position, you will serve as a Program Specialist.Typical assignments include:

  • Coordinating and tracking readiness activities for all Task Forces, maintaining accurate records and ensuring timely updates.
  • Monitoring and ensuring compliance with federal regulations, agency policies, and Cooperative Agreement requirements.
  • Preparing and submitting required reports, drawdown documentation, and extension notifications accurately and on schedule.
  • Participating in and documenting stakeholder meetings, capturing key actions and decisions for agency records


Requirements

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Conditions of employment

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for Public Trust-High as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

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, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

Key Requirements:

  1. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
  2. You must successfully pass a background investigation.
  3. Selective Service registration required.
  4. Current federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements.
  5. You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
  6. You must be able to deploy with little or no advance notice to anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period of time.
  7. Please review the Additional Information section for additional key requirements.


Qualifications

The qualification requirements listed below must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

To qualify for this position at the GS-13 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following:

  1. Developing, executing, and monitoring grants and/or cooperative agreements and budgets; AND
  2. Monitoring grants and/or cooperative agreements and budgets; AND
  3. Coordinating readiness activities; AND
  4. Ensuring compliance and preparing reports


Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application:

  • Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.
  • Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.


Are you qualifying based on your work experience?

  • Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the grade level, occupational series and dates in which you held each grade level.
  • Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE)? To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments, you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.
  • Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified.
  • 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 provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.


  • For additional information on crediting experience and/or education, please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards.


Education

No Educational Substitution: There is no educational substitution for this position, and you must meet the qualifications listed in the "requirements" section of this announcement.

Interview Requirement: Interviews may be required for this position. Failure to complete the interview may result in removal from further consideration

Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed at the top of the referral list, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. This position is not considered scientific/professional. Other 10-point preference eligibles and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligibles with the same score. View information on veterans' preference.

Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP/CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not ICTAP/CTAP eligible. View information about ICTAP/CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet eligibility criteria for CTAP or ICTAP; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position; and, 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility (see "Required Documents" section of this announcement). Well-Qualified is defined as those applicants who are rated with a minimum score of 80.00 for this position.

Additional information

  • 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.


Benefits

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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.

DHS offers competitive salaries and an attractive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care insurance; retirement plan; Thrift Savings Plan [similar to a 401(k)]; Flexible Spending Account; Employee Assistance Program; personal leave days; and paid federal holidays.

Other benefits may include flexible work schedules; tuition reimbursement; transportation subsidies; uniform allowance; health and wellness programs; and fitness centers. DHS is committed to employee development and offers a variety of employee training and developmental opportunities. For more information, go to the DHS Careers website and select "Benefits." Disabled veteran leave will be available to any federal employee hired on or after November 5, 2016, who is a veteran with a service- connected disability rating of 30 percent or more.

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.

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