Duties

Summary

Why work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons?

You can have a meaningful career with an agency that truly values a diverse workforce. You will find a diverse workforce employed from entry level jobs to senior management positions. We protect public safety by ensuring federal offenders serve their sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are safe, humane, and provide reentry programming. Employees at correctional facilities perform correctional work regardless of their specific occupation.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

Incumbent serves as an Accountant in a Regional Office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The incumbent serves as facilitator and interpreter of bureau policies and procedures applicable to the accounting operations of field installations located within the Region. Incumbent has oversight responsibilities for the accounting operations of field installations and the Regional office.

The incumbent monitors the accuracy and completeness of accounting data entered into the automated Financial Management Information System (FMIS) by the field installations. Data covers a wide variety of appropriations and subsidiary accounts necessary for the control and management of financial resources allocated to the Region. Appropriations include Salaries & Expenses (S&E), Building and Facilities (B&F), Deposit Fund (15x6085), and Trust Fund (l5x8405), each of which contains numerous subsidiary control accounts and is surrounded by different legislative restrictions and accounting requirements.

The incumbent analyzes, interprets, and consolidates accounting data from the region's facilities in order to determine trends, and prepare forecasts. The incumbent prepares reports covering the status of accounting operations, identifying problem areas, and recommending effective solutions to resolve issues.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Travel may be required for training and/or work related issues.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
12

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is Required.
• See Special Conditions of Employment 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 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 score 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (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 eligibility, 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 score 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: Click Here

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements:

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: Accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting.

The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.")

OR

B. Combination of education and experience: At least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge.

The applicant's background must also include one of the following:

1) Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;

2) Certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; OR

3) Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

AND

In addition to meeting the above Basic Requirements, applicant must have the following:

Education:

GS-11: Three (3) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.

GS-12: There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for this position.

OR

Experience:

GS-11 and GS-12: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level in federal service. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

GS-11:

• Experience in monitoring the accuracy and completeness of accounting data entered into the automated Financial Management Information (FMIS).
• Experience in monitoring and verifying the accuracy of the proof checks, SF-224, draft systems, general ledger, and other on-line systems.
• Experience in thorough knowledge of accounting principles, theories, concepts and practices, Federal fund, property, payroll, grantee and cost accounting.

GS-12:

• Experience in preparing reports covering the status of accounting operations, identifying problem areas, and recommending effective solutions to resolve issues.
• Experience in providing training and serving as a liaison between the Finance Branch, Central Office, Washington, D.C. and accounting personnel.
• Experience in analyzing, interpreting, and consolidating accounting data from the region's facilities in order to determine trends, preparing forecasts, and suggesting management actions or alternative that can be taken.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience:

GS-11 only: A combination of education and experience. This experience must have equipped you with the qualifications to perform the major duties of this position as described above.

Credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as number of hours worked per week) spent in the activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). 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, Click Here .

Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Additional information

This position IS included in the bargaining unit.

The representative rate for this position is $91,740 per annum ($43.96 per hour).

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit checks.

The addresses listed on the USAJOBS account/resume must be the primary residence at the time of application. You may be required to provide proof of residence.

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

Current Federal Law Enforcement Employees:

Individuals selected who are under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and who have not had three years "primary" law enforcement retirement coverage, will not be covered by law enforcement retirement while in this position. To regain coverage, individuals must return to a position with "primary" coverage.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

If your composite score exceeds the average score for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your online assessment questionnaire responses and utilized to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed in this announcement. If you rate yourself higher than what is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

There are several parts of the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application:

• Your resume, which is part of your USAJOBS profile;
• Your responses to the eligibility questions;
• Your responses to the online assessment questionnaire;
• Your supporting documentation, if required.

Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements for consideration. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

If you applied to more than one grade level, BE ADVISED that you may be selected at ANY grade level for which you applied and are found qualified (i.e., if the job is announced at the 9/11 grade levels and you apply for the GS/GL-9 and the GS-11,and you are found qualified at BOTH grade levels, you may be selected at either grade level).

What Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities are Required for this Position?

The following Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) are required:

GS-11 and GS-12:

• Ability to communicate in writing.
• Ability to meet and deal with people.
• Ability to interpret and apply financial policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Ability to apply accounting concepts, theories, and practice to derive solutions.
• Knowledge of principles, theories, techniques, and methodology of accounting.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

• Resume showing relevant experience (cover letter optional).
• In order to receive credit for experience contained in an uploaded resume, your employment history must be documented in month/year format (MM/YYYY), reflecting starting date and ending date and include the number of hours worked per week. Failure to follow this format may result in disqualification.
• Current or former Federal employees NOT employed by the Bureau of Prisons MUST submit a copy of their SF-50 Form which shows competitive service appointment, tenure group, and salary. If you have promotion potential in your current position, please provide proof. If you are applying for a higher grade, and your experience was gained at a Federal agency other than the Bureau of Prisons, you MUST provide the SF-50 Form which verifies the length of time you have been in your highest grade and supports your claim for time in grade.
• Employees applying with an interchange agreement must provide proof of their permanent appointment.
• Current federal employees NOT employed by the BOP and former federal employees MUST submit a copy of their latest yearly performance appraisal/evaluation.
• Documentation supporting eligibility for consideration under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) includes a DD-214 Member 4 copy and/or VA Letter.
• Military Spouses who meet the requirement of Executive Order 13832 - must include marriage certificate and copy of active duty military members orders OR letter from VA OR DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse, OR SF-50. For more information Click Here.
• ICTAP/CTAP, Click Here , if applicable.
• A college transcript which includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). (Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day.)

Failure to provide these documents could possibly result in removal from consideration for this vacancy. If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc. Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD214, or Transcripts.

We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, delays in mail service, applicant application errors, etc.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.