Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Office of Human Resources (OHR), Compensation, Benefits and Work Life Branch, Smithsonian Institution (SI). The Employee's Compensation/Benefits/Work Life Branch is responsible for providing advice and counseling services on a variety of programs in the areas of: compensation, benefits, employee assistance and work life.

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Responsibilities

The purpose of this position is to administer the calculation, payment, track and audit of foreign allowances, differentials and related compensation and benefits for overseas employees following the Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR), Smithsonian Directives and documented processes. The Incumbent will assist in the development of Smithsonian Directives and/or standard operating procedures relating to overseas compensation and benefits, as well as federal and trust benefits programs including health and welfare, transit and parking, retirement and workers compensation benefits. Incumbent will also assist in the administering federal and non federal benefits (including health, dental, vision, life, FSA's, retirement and transit benefits). The incumbent will also perform the following duties:

• Assists with the administration of the Federal and Trust Benefits, employee's retirement program including FERCCA, reemployed annuitants, CSRS, CSRS offset, all FERS categories, TSP, disability retirement, phased retirement and Medicare and Social Security to Federal employees.
  
• Assists with the administration of Department of Labor's Federal Employees Compensation Program's (FECA) (Worker's Compensation).
  
• Serves as an advisor to managers and employees (Federal and non-Federal) stationed outside the continental United States (OCONUS) on the process and procedures for overseas allowances in accordance with the Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR) and Smithsonian Institution Directives, Visa requirements and eligibility for work overseas.
  
• Assists in the development and interpretation of policy guidance, regulations, procedures, directives and issuances for Smithsonian Institution Federal and non-Federal employees related to allowances/differentials of OCONUS employees.
  

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
11

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.

Qualifications

Experience:

You qualify for this GS-11 position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the grade 11 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system.

For this position specialized experience is defined as 1) applying HR laws and regulations (5 CFR, DSSR) to review request for foreign allowances and differentials; 2) conducting HR audits on foreign allowances/differentials, and other benefits related audits; 3) assisting in the developing organization-wide policies and procedures, administration of federal or non-federal benefit and retirement programs, and/or 4) providing advice and guidance to managers and employees on benefits issues.

OR

Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

OR

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

OR

LL.M., if related

OR

Have a combination of education and experience that, when combined, equals 100% of the total requirement.

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.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

There is no education substitution.

Education

You must provide transcripts and/or other documentation as proof to support your Educational claims, and receive credit to meet the Education requirements for this position.

Additional information

Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/
Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp
Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp
Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp
Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com
Retirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

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

Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

• Knowledge and skill of Federal and Non-Federal employee benefits (e.g. health, life, retirement, workers compensation).
• Knowledge of and skill in applying Federal human resource laws and OCONUS regulations, e.g. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Federal Travel Regulations (FR), and Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR) guidelines and practices.
• Skill to research and interpret regulations, policies, and cases decisions, standards and apply to human resource management actions and issues in services organizations.
• Skill in written communication sufficient to develop and deliver policies, training and briefing materials, reports and correspondence to foster understanding and acceptance of findings and recommendations.

Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria:

Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job related competencies above.

Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job related competencies above.

Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but does not satisfy most of the job related competencies above to a substantive degree.

This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position.

Important Note:

Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

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Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

Your application package should include the following documents:

• Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. If you want to receive full credit for relevant experience your resume MUST contain the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary.
  
  USAJOBS has guidance on how to ensure that you submit a complete resume: If you have not written a Federal resume before, you may watch this Resume Writing Tutorial video on the USAJOBS YouTube channel , or read through a helpful Resume Writing FAQ article on the USAJOBS Help Site to learn what details you should, and should not, include in your resume. If any of the above information is not included in your resume we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience.
  
• Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy), if you are a veteran. Additionally, applicants claiming 10-point preference must complete Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, as well as additional documentation required by the SF-15, such as a VA letter.
• Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment.
• Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable

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.