Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Office of the Chief Financial Officer. The Budget Officer serves as the principal advisor on budget matters within FRA and is responsible for the formulation, presentation and execution of FRA's annual budget. The position provides oversight, review, and support of FRA programs and initiatives to more efficiently and effectively function and improve productivity in FRA operations.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

As a Budget Officer, you will:

• Serve as the Chief Financial Officer's principal representative in dealings with the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Congressional Committees regarding FRA Budgetary affairs. The Budget Officer is authorized by the Chief Financial Officer to speak for and commit the FRA in matters concerning the functions of the Office of Budget.
• Serve as the agency's expert on the formulation of the agency budget to include all phases of the submission as well as briefing/persuading senior management on technical issues.
• Provide financial management leadership, technical assistance, and problem solving advice to agency management staff including administrative personnel for all phases of the budget process; conduct analysis of new or revised legislation to ascertain financial impact on the Agency's operations; provide leadership and advice on budget policy issues which cut across the full spectrum of FRA's programs; establish controls, provide analysis, and offer recommendations on resource allocations, including both funds and personnel ceilings.

The ideal candidate for this senior level position would be an individual who (1) has worked closely with the Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Appropriations Committee staff; (2) has expert verbal and written communication skills and is able to interpret complex budgetary issues for use in justifying budgetary resources; and (3) is familiar with the Federal Budget process and its impact on an agency's mission, programs and operations.

Travel Required

25% or less - Some travel is required.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Must meet specialized experience stated in Qualifications section
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
• TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the specialized experience qualifications for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.

To qualify for the Grade 15, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equal or equivalent to the GS-14, it must include:

• Experience with the Federal budget formulation process and ensuring that the Agency's key policy objectives and legislative requirements are reflected in all budget justification materials.
• Experience with budget execution, including allocating Agency resources to accomplish the mission, administering fiscal controls, and tracking and analyzing uses of funds.
• Experience analyzing and interpreting of appropriation bill and report language for the purpose of working and communicating with the Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Appropriation Committee staff.
• Experience leading and/or managing a workforce to promote a uniform understanding and application of laws, rules and regulations.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

Budget Administration - Knowledge of the principles and practices of budget administration and analysis; including preparing, justifying, reporting on, and executing the budget; and the relationships among program, budget, accounting, and reporting systems.

Compliance - Knowledge of procedures for assessing, evaluating, and monitoring programs or projects for compliance with Federal laws, regulations, and guidance.

Leadership - Influences, motivates, and challenges others; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations.

Workforce Planning - Knowledge of HR concepts, principles, and practices related to determining workload projections and current and future competency gaps to align human capital with organizational goals.

For all types of consideration, 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.

For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

Applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

This vacancy may be used by any DOT agency to fill similar positions within 90 days.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level.

If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be scored based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position.

Eligible Federal employees also seeking consideration for noncompetitive reassignment for this position, must indicate interest in the assessment. In eligibility question 14: select Yes/Other/Former Incumbency of a Position brought into the Competitive Service. Noncompetitive federal candidates must have competitive status on a SF-50, meet minimum qualifications, have served at the same grade or higher, and held or exceeded the promotion potential of this position.

Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package. If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be updated on your behalf or you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review. The Automated Staffing Office is ultimately responsible for determining your final rating.

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

Required Documents

ALL Applicants must provide a resume that fully supports the required specialized experience and was created within USA Jobs Resume Builder and respond to the vacancy questions by the closing date of the vacancy. Formatted resumes can be uploaded when you arrive at the DOT application system. For assistance with the resume builder, please visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/account/documents/resume/build/

The following is a list of documents that are only required based on the type of position and consideration for which you are applying.

Required for ALL Applicants

• RESUME - Must include resume created within USA Jobs Resume Builder. Resume must show relevant experience, education and fully support the required specialized experience. May also upload resume, if desired, but application must include USAJobs BUILT resume.
• COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE - answered online as part of application process

TRANSCRIPTS: Transcripts are REQUIRED if there is a stated education requirement for the series OR if you are substituting education for experience. The transcripts need not be official, but must show that you meet the stated education requirements, including specific major or class requirements.

FEDERAL APPLICANTS: You must submit your most current and other SF-50(s) that verify your current position, highest competitive grade, full performance level, and eligibility as a federal applicant. DO NOT submit an award SF-50 as these often do not verify grade or eligibility. For consideration for a promotion, Box 4 of the SF-50 must show a date that is at least 52 weeks prior to the job announcement closing. We recommend submitting your last promotion SF-50, current SF-50 or within-grade increase SF-50. Pay adjustment raise SF-50s for the current year will not support the 52 weeks' time-in-grade requirements. https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/service/SF-50/

PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS/INCENTIVE AWARDS: If applicable, performance appraisals and/or Incentive award documentation may be submitted and will be forwarded to the selecting official as support in consideration of your application in the evaluation process. To receive due weight, you must submit a recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable (do not submit a performance plan) and/or incentive award documentation dated within the last 18 months (i.e. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increases, etc.)

If requesting consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP):

• your most recent performance appraisal,
• the proof of eligibility letter from the Agency, and
• your most current SF-50, displaying current series and grade.
• YOU MUST SUBMIT ALL 3 documents and meet the well qualified standards for this vacancy (meeting minimum requirements for position and scoring at least an 85) to be considered under CTAP.

Displaced employees may be eligible for CTAP priority consideration. For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition .

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system.