Health Benefits Specialist - Federal Hire

Summary

The Peace Corps shares a unique relationship with the countries and people our community has worked alongside in pursuit of world peace and friendship for more than 60 years bringing together skilled, committed Volunteers with welcoming host communities for service opportunities in more than 60 countries. Volunteers live and work side by side with community members on locally prioritized projects, building relationships, exchanging cultures and knowledge, and helping transform lives.

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Duties

This position is located in the Office of Health Services (OHS), Peace Corps headquarters, Washington DC. Office of Health Services provides and operates a comprehensive, international health system designed to maintain and improve the health of Trainees, Volunteers and, as authorized, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers; and determines medical eligibility/clearance for Volunteer services. OHS assesses the medical needs and qualifications of applicants, provides clinical and preventive health services to Volunteers and Trainees (collectively the Volunteers), clinical supervision and support, technical advice, training and education, and administrative support services through multidisciplinary professionals.

The Health Benefits Specialist Performs The Following Major Duties

Independently manages fiscal resources for the office, ensuring that programs operate within budgetary milestones and within overall budget constraints.Monitors use and rate of expenditure of budget to conform to allocations, and Agency standards and guidelines. Initiates transfer of funds within project lines to correct requirements in accordance with change in mission, personnel, or operating proceduresManages budget operations, including both budget formulation and execution of the offices, sub-offices, and overseas medical hubs.Develops and manages budgets, procurements, and contracts. Responsible for ensuring the office abides by all federal and agency regulations and policies applicable to administration of the budget execution process for the office.Provides guidance on administrative management issues affecting contract and procurement management for the assigned organizations.Oversees the OHS HR Liaison to ensure that OHS managers have accurate and timely guidance on human resource issues such as recruiting, interviewing, selecting and on-boarding employees; performing job analysis; and workforce planning and analysis.Serves as a first-line supervisor to employees performing work at FP-7 to 2 level.Provides supervision and regular oversight on assignments and review of staff member projects to ensure timely high-quality results.Other duties as assigned within the PD.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Please read this announcement in its entirety prior to submitting your application.

You must be a U.S. Citizen.You must be at least 18 years of age.All Federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so. For additional information, see www.sss.gov.You must complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.You must go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. These documents must be unexpired originalor certified copies.You must successfully complete a background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination.Prior to employment, and in compliance with statutes 5 USC 3322 and 22 USC 2507b, Peace Corps will conduct a check of Peace Corps records for both Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and former Peace Corps employees.All new employees are required to certify and submit a state of understanding acknowledging adherence to the Peace Corps condition of employment prior to day 1 of employment with the Peace Corps.This position requires a public trust background investigation.This is a bargaining unit position.A one-year probationary period is required.

Qualifications

All qualification requirements must be met by 04/22/2024 (the closing date of the announcement). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. To ensure full credit for your experience, please indicate the start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and the location of employment in your resume. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

Specialized Experience

This vacancy is being announced at two grade levels

Specialized Experience At The FP-05

To be minimally qualified for this position at the FP-05 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression, FP-06 or GS-07 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Experience applying analytical and evaluative techniques to the identification, consideration, and resolution of issues or problems of a procedural or factual nature; Experience applying theory and principles of management and organization; Experience using qualitative and quantitative analytical techniques; and Experience conducting interviews with supervisors and employees to obtain information about organizational missions, functions, and work procedures.

~OR~

master's or equivalent graduate degree

~OR~

2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree

~OR~

LL.B. or J.D., if related

~OR~

Specialized Experience At The FP-07

To be minimally qualified for this position at the FP-07 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression, FP-08 or GS-05 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Experience applying analytical and evaluative techniques to the identification, consideration, and resolution of issues or problems of a procedural or factual nature; Experience applying theory and principles of management and organization; Experience using qualitative and quantitative analytical techniques; and Experience conducting interviews with supervisors and employees to obtain information about organizational missions, functions, and work procedures.

~AND~

Time-in-Grade (TIG) Requirements

Current or Formal Federal employees, including current Peace Corps employees, must meet applicable TIG requirements to be considered eligible. To meet TIG for positions above the FP-09 (GS-05) grade level, you must have served at least one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade (or equivalent) in the normal line of progression for the position to which you are applying.

All current or former Federal employees (including internal employees) must provide a copy of their SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one), "Notice of Personnel Action" that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position, title, series, grade, step, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).

Please Note

If qualifying based on education or a combination of education and experience, please review the "Education" section of this announcement.Past experience that satisfies the Specialized Experience MUST be well documented within your resume. Failure to provide this information in your resume with corresponding start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and location of employment may result in disqualification from further consideration.Specialized Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector, or through volunteer work done with National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) or other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.Additional information on qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site.Peace Corps employees are employed using the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale. The FP pay plan does not follow the same structure as the GS pay plan. In the FP pay plan, as the grade-level numbers decrease the level/pay for the position increases. The FP-09 is the lowest entry-level grade and the FP-01 is the highest senior-level grade.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Transcripts can be official or unofficial.

Class standing--Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.Grade-point average (G.P.A.)--Applicants must have a grade-point average of: 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) 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 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) 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. Grade-point averages are to be rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0 and 2.94 will round to 2.9.Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society--Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies listed below. These honor societies are listed in the Association of College Honor Societies: Booklet of Information (1992-95) and/or Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (1991). Agencies considering eligibility based on any society not included in the following list must ensure that the honor society meets the minimum requirements of the Association of College Honor Societies. Membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision.

A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Education must be accredited by an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be used towards qualifications. Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by recognized institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at this website.

Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

The minimum and maximum salaries listed on this announcement include locality pay.

If you are a current federal employee, your agency may grant you reemployment rights in accordance with Section 310 of the Foreign Service Act, 22 USC 3950. You must request and be granted reemployment rights prior to separation from your current federal agency.

Peace Corps Information

This is a federal civilian job in the Excepted Service. Peace Corps employees are paid on the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale.Telework eligible positions do not guarantee telework. See Peace Corps Manual Section 623 for agency policy regarding telework.The Peace Corps uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.This is a drug-free workplace and we promote a drug-free environment.Additional hiring needs may be filled through this vacancy.

Intelligence Background Information

Peace Corps Manual Section 611 is applicable to this position

This prohibits the employment of certain persons previously engaged in intelligence activities or connected with intelligence agencies within the past 10 years.If you have ever worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), you are not eligible for employment at the Peace Corps in any capacity, and you should not apply for employment.Acceptance of employment with Peace Corps precludes employment by certain intelligence organizations for a specific period of time, determined by the employing agency, after Peace Corps employment ceases.

Applicants who are found to be otherwise qualified will be required to submit a completed Intelligence Background Questionnaire upon request, indicating whether the applicant has been involved in or has had any connection with intelligence activities or related work and, if so, the nature and dates of his or her involvement. Failure to meet this requirement will result in disqualification from further consideration. If you have any other type of possible intelligence connection, your application will not be further considered until you submit this form.

Except when the CIA or the National Security Agency (NSA) is involved (see below), if your connection with an Intelligence Agency involves an immediate family member who works or has worked in intelligence, the immediate family member should complete the form, not the applicant. Usually relying on memory is sufficient to answer most if not all of the questions.

If you have an immediate family member who works or has worked for the CIA, you should not give them this form to complete. Please contact your relative in person-not by phone, email, social networking, or any other means that is not in person- and ask him or her to contact the Office of General Counsel at the CIA.

If you or an immediate family member have been employed by or associated with the NSA, you or your family member must contact the NSA Prepublication Review Office at 443-634-4095.

Read more

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.

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.

Office of Health Services

1275 First St. NE

Washington, DC 20526

US