Duties

Summary

At Federal Student Aid (FSA), we are proud sponsors of the American mind. As a principal office of the U.S. Department of Education (ED), FSA provides students and families financial assistance for higher education, and we promote the value of postsecondary education to society. We ensure that all eligible students and families can benefit from federal financial aid for education or training beyond high school.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

This position is in the Department of Education (ED), Federal Student Aid (FSA), Finance Directorate, Financial Management Group (FMG), Audit Coordination & Validation Division (ACVD). The ACVD manages FSA financial statement audit activities and provides timely and accurate data and information to the independent auditor of the FSA financial statements, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and FSA management. The ACVD also manages the corrective action plan (CAP) process to ensure effective CAPs are developed, implemented, and closed.

As an Accountant, GS-0510-14, you will:

• Provide advice to financial and program managers and other accountants on unusual, complex, and difficult accounting systems and/or operational problems.
• Develop and maintain expertise in federal financial accounting standards and requirements, including the Federal Credit Reform Act.
• Conduct financial analysis and review of major public and/or private sector entities; review, analyze, and validate financial data; develop and coordinate surveys and systems for gathering, analyzing, and validating data; and resolve accounting discrepancies in reported data.
• Review legislations and regulations determining impact on accounting, reporting, and financial management and makes recommendations to management.
• Develop and monitor accounting internal controls, identify problem areas, and identify and develop solutions improving operating program effectiveness.
• Analyze Title IV program financial statement fluctuations identifying and explaining trends and significant variances.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S Citizenship
• Background investigation and fingerprint check (if applicable)

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week.

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. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements

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

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:

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

A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; OR

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.

In addition to the Basic Requirements shown above, you must also meet the Specialized Experience as described below.

Specialized Experience: For the GS-14 level, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience that is in or directly related to the line of work of this position and has equipped you with the knowledge and competencies to successfully perform the duties of this position. More specifically, specialized experience must include performing at least two (2) of the following three (3) duties or work assignments:

Experience with reviewing, prioritizing, and addressing issues impacting planning, implementation, and evaluation of FSA wide finance and accounting management programs.

Experience in analyzing and responding to audits, inspections, and other review findings and recommendations.

Experience with reviewing and evaluating existing accounting and financial management policies, standards, and procedures, and develops improved working processes using effective and automated accounting principles.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement).

• Knowledge of the theory, concepts principles and practices of accounting and, as required, financial and performance auditing, and financial management.
• Knowledge of accounting policies and requirements established by ED, FSA, OMB, GAO, FASAB (Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board), Treasury or Congress.
• Skill in effectively and efficiently communicating verbally and written developing recommendations, writing, and presenting written agreements and policy guidance, briefing recommendations and program concepts and coordinating with points of contact at all grade levels, from the lowest levels to senior leadership, along with an expert ability to work effectively with all levels of FSA staff completing projects, accomplishing tasks, and resolving problems.

Education

Additional information

Equal Employment Opportunity: We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a parent, marital status, or political affiliation.

People with Disabilities: We are committed to expanding access to employment by hiring people with disabilities; providing reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities; and, identifying and removing barriers to work. Persons with disabilities, including disabled veterans, may apply for jobs filled either competitively (where qualified individuals compete with one another through a structured process), noncompetitively (where a qualified individual may be selected based on a special hiring authority), or through an excepted appointing authority for people with disabilities (i.e., Schedule A). If you require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, please contact us. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation is made on a case-by-case basis. For more information, please visit: http://opm.gov/disability/PeopleWithDisabilities.asp

Veterans' Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a Federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email Iwork@ed.gov to schedule a session with a career counselor ("Veterans Counseling Session" should be placed in the subject line of the email).

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after 12/31/1959, you must have registered for the Selective Service. For more information, please visit: https ://help.usajobs.gov/index.php/Registering_with_the_Selective_Service_before_you_apply or
http://www.sss.gov/default.htm .

Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment.

Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and subject to a pre-appointment investigation/background check.

Level of Risk and Sensitivity: Level and sensitivity of this position is Non-sensitive/Moderate Risk.

Probationary Period: If selected for this position, you may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period.

Essential/Non-Essential: This position may be considered essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures.

Financial Disclosure: This position does require financial disclosure.

Telework: This position is telework eligible.

Bargaining Unit: This position is included in the bargaining unit.

Time After Competitive Appointment:
Candidates who are current Federal employees serving on a non-temporary competitive appointment must have served at least 90 days in that appointment before the agency can promote, transfer, reinstate, or detail an employee to a different position or different geographical area. When moving employees is consistent with open competition principles, OPM may waive the restriction against movement to a different geographical area upon written request from an agency.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Current or Former Political Appointees: 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.

Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles, and we may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized, including competitive appointment from a list of eligibles, noncompetitive appointment under special authority, reinstatement, transfer, reassignment, change to lower grade, or promotion. We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.

We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:

1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications
Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors. You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements.

2. Rating and Ranking
If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by comparing your submitted resume and documents against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. Your application may be referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation.

Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be assigned a numerical score (out of 100 possible). If your responses to the occupational questionnaire are not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration.

3. Referral and Selection
If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official. As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
NCS/High Risk

Trust determination process
Credentialing , Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):

• A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire
• Transcripts showing course titles, number of credits, and dates of completion. A copy of your degree is not sufficient.
• A completed occupational questionnaire

If you are a current or former federal employee (including current or former U.S. Department of Education employees), you must also submit:

• A Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), which demonstrates your competitive status eligibility. To verify your eligibility, we will review your SF-50 to determine your tenure (block 24) and position occupied (block 34). Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments, promotions, within-grade increases, and pay adjustments.
  
  If you currently hold or previously held a federal position at or above the highest grade of this position or you have/had promotion potential at or above the highest grade of this position, you must also submit an SF-50 documenting your highest grade level held or promotion potential. Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments and promotions.

If you are claiming eligibility under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA), you must submit:

• A copy of your DD214, member copy 4 (Separated Members only).
• Current Active Duty members must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within the last 120 days.
• A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions. A "certification" is any written document from the armed forces that certifies the service member is expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions within 120 days after the certification is submitted by the applicant. The certification letter should be on letterhead of the appropriate military branch of the service and contain (1) the military service dates including the expected discharge or release date; and (2) the character of service. (Current Active Duty Members only).
• The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) • The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15 .pdf AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference (e.g., a letter from the Department of Veterans' Affairs certifying the service-connected disability and percentage of disability) (if VEOA eligibility is based on a service-connected disability or derived preference).
• Certain Military Spouses Eligible under E.O. 13473: Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders, issued within the last 2 years, that lists you as authorized to accompany the Military member to the new duty permanent station; OR verification of the member's 100% disability (VA Letter); and/or verification of the member's death while on active duty (DD-1300 and Death Certificate) AND verification of the marriage to the service member (i.e., a marriage license or other legal documentation verifying marriage).

For information on priority consideration under Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), please visit:

CTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ctap.html
ICTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ictap.html

If you are claiming eligibility under any Special Hiring Authority, you must submit:

Adequate proof of your eligibility (e.g., Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility for employment under Schedule A as a person with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities.)

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.