Duties

Summary

Come work for the USPTO, we have been ranked as one of the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government! The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been serving the economic interests of America for more than 200 years. We are responsible for granting US intellectual property rights for patents and trademarks. The USPTO is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and has over 12,000 employees. For more information about the USPTO, please visit the USPTO Careers Website

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The incumbent provides support to his/her supervisor and other senior security specialists on a variety of matters that are critical to the personnel security program of the agency and the office. As a personnel security specialist, the incumbent performs or assists in the following duties:

• Adjudicates contractor cases for suitability. Adjudicates suitability cases for USPTO employees as requested or that may require coordination with federal intelligence and law enforcement entities.
• Advises USPTO managers and supervisors on routine matters related to contractor and employee suitability as appropriate. Provides guidance on less complex personnel security issues to stakeholders, as required.
• Adjudicates less sensitive investigative reports and recommends suitability of employment.
• Assists senior specialist in developing minimum personnel security requirements, standards and regulations for USPTO personnel security program. Researches various information sources to recommend revisions of personnel security policies, procedures, and standards.
• Participates with senior specialist in the conduct of delicate or confrontational interviews with individuals to obtain information related to criminal activity, social misconduct, financial irresponsibility, and other personal and volatile issues.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Some travel may be required to travel to the satellite offices for Entry On Duty Orientation and HSPD-12 Issuance. This travel would not exceed more than two times per month.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
12

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
• Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.
• You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov)
• You must be suitable for Federal employment.
• Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs.

Review the "Required Documents" and "How to Apply" sections of this vacancy.

Qualifications

You must meet the following United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements for the advertised position. OPM's prescribed Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Administrative and Management Positions can be found at: 0080 . You must meet all qualification requirements including time-in-grade (refer to 5 CFR 300.604 for more information on time-in-grade) by the closing date of the job announcement.

Specialized Experience :is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, 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 in the federal service.

For this position, the next lower grade level is a GS-07 or have completed 2 full years of progressively higher graduate education or possess a master's or equivalent graduate degree (such as an LL.B or J.D.) or possess combination of specialized experience and graduate level education that together meet 100% of the qualification requirements for the position.

Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Experience processing personnel security forms to ensure the scope of information requested in the instructions are met, (e.g. reviewing the forms to identify any incomplete or inconsistent data and contacting relevant subject to obtain omissions, corrections, or required signatures); and/or
• Experience processing employee or contractor background investigations in accordance with HSPD-12 and 5 C.F.R, 731.

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.

Education

As a general rule, education is not creditable above the GS-5 for most positions covered by clerical and administrative support standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education . Another listing of services that can perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) website. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

NOTE: Only education and experience acquired before the filing deadline will be considered. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional information

Applicants applying for this position must be a United States Citizen.

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.

This is a Non-Bargaining Unit position.

This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of "HIGH".

Background Investigation - If selected for this position, you may be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306), which includes a fingerprint and credit check, to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation.

The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website .

Probationary Period- If selected, you may be required to complete an initial one-year probationary period.

All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.

Relocation Expenses are not authorized and will not be paid.

CTAP and ICTAP candidates will be eligible for selection priority if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a "well qualified" rating of 85 out of 100. Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management's Career Transition Resources website at: OPM CTAP/ICTAP . CTAP/ICTAP documentation requirements are listed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 90 days from the date the certificate was issued.

All application materials become the property of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. If you believe that you have been discriminated against and would like to file an EEO complaint, you must do so within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act. Claims of employment discrimination must be submitted to the attention of the USPTO's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity via email ( oeeod@uspto.gov ) or phone (571-272-8292).

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation will be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the job opportunity announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to your responses on the self-assessment questions (True/False, Yes/ No, Multiple Choice questions) and place you in one of three pre-defined categories. These categories are "GOLD," "SILVER," and "BRONZE". Your resume and/or optional cover letter must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. Candidates placed in the "GOLD" category will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview.

How you will be evaluated for preference eligibility: Within each category, those entitled to veterans' preference will be listed at the top of the pre-defined category for which they are placed.

The scored self assessment questions in the job announcement will evaluate you on the following competencies. Please do not provide a separate response to the KSAs.

KSA 1 - Knowledge of personnel security procedures in order to administer and advise on the personnel security program for USPTO.

KSA 2 - Knowledge of the basic principles, concepts, policies, practices, and methods of security administration in the functional area of personnel security and information security (i.e. security education and awareness) to resolve well-defined questions or conditions.

KSA 3 - Knowledge of standardized applications or established variations in personnel security criteria to consider suitability level required, and the adjudication of cases when clear-cut derogatory information is present in the investigative information.

KSA 4 - Ability to communicate in writing & orally to present information to a variety of customers/stakeholders, internally and externally.

For more information on category rating, please go to: DOC Bulletins

If you are invited for an interview, you will be asked to bring a copy of your most recent performance appraisal.

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the "Required Documents" section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness , National security

Required Documents

Your application and all required documents must be received by 11:59 pm ET on the closing date of this job announcement.

A complete application consists of:

1. A resume or any other written format you choose to describe your job-related qualifications; optional cover letter: Your resume should indicate your citizenship and should list your educational and work experience including titles, salary, employment dates, duties, experience and how it relates to the specialized experience in the job announcement. Please Note: Responses to job questions that are not fully supported by the information in your resume may result in adjustments to your rating. Any experience claimed in a cover letter should be substantiated by information contained in your resume. A HR Representative will validate the qualifications of those candidates eligible to be referred to the hiring official.

2. Transcripts: You MUST submit copies of your college transcripts for verification of the education requirements. Unofficial copies are accepted, however, if selected you will be required to furnish official transcripts. It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the above educational requirement. Inadequate or illegible information could result in non-qualification and loss of consideration.

Supporting Documents:

1. Veterans' Preference Documentation: If you are a veteran with preference eligibility, you will be asked to submit a copy of your DD-214 containing your discharge disposition, dates of service, and rank. If you are a preference eligible claiming a service connected disability of 10 percent or more, you will be asked to submit documentation (i.e. a letter dated 1991 or later from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from a branch of the Armed Forces) certifying to the veteran's present receipt of compensation. Veterans must include dates of military service within the automated application process, and submit a copy of each Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD-214. For more information, please visit Special Appointing Authorities for Veterans .

2. Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) documents - Applicants will be asked to submit:
(1) A copy of your specific RIF notice, written notice of your expected separation or other documents of priority consideration status;
(2) A copy of your latest SF-50 noting current position, grade, and duty location;
(3) A copy of your last performance appraisal and the rating; and
(4) Any documents from your agency that shows your current promotion potential.

You can choose ONE of the following methods to submit Supporting Documents:

1) You can upload your documents when you register or update your information on the Dept. of Commerce site which you access through the USAJobs site.

OR

2) You can fax your documents to 571-258-4254 using the system generated fax cover sheet.

NOTE: The preceding documents requirement are based on job requirements and individual applicant eligibility. Not all documents are applicable to all applicants; if you are unsure which documents apply to you, contact the HR Specialist listed on this announcement.

Review your resume and responses carefully. Responses to job questions that are not fully supported by the information in your application package may result in adjustments to your rating. A Human Resources Representative will validate the qualifications of those candidates eligible to be referred to the hiring official.

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.