Duties

Summary

About the Position: Fort Meade is located almost midway between the cities of Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC and is home to approximately 12,000 military personnel along with about 37,000 civilian employees. Approximately 6,000 family members reside on post. Fort Meade is virtually a city in itself, with a modern exchange mall, a commissary, state of the art fitness centers, historical library, jogging trails, RV Park and much more.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Provides professional and comprehensive advocacy services to individuals exhibiting a wide variety of issues related to being a victim or survivor of sexual harassment or sexual assault.
• Conducts professional level and administrative educational and interactive training workshops/seminars.
• Serves on the Sexual Assault Review Board (SARB).
• Coordinates professional and support services for victims with service support and community organizations and agencies - law enforcement, Staff Judge Advocate, legal aid, medical treatment facilities, crime victim's compensation offices.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• Position requires off-duty hour support to include a 24-hour rotation for advocacy services to victims.
• Position may require that the employee pass screening for illegal drug use prior to appointment and subsequent periodic drug screening thereafter.
• Incumbent must successfully complete SHARP Training Course(s) IAW SHARP Program requirements and obtain DOD certification within initial six (6) months of employment.
• Failure to complete SHARP training and obtain the DOD certification within prescribed timeframes may result in removal from the position and/or Federal service.
• The selectee's background will be checked against records maintained by the following prior to appointment and, as appropriate, on a recurring basis while employed in the position:
• -- Department of Justice National Sex Offenders Registry
• -- Army Family Advocacy Program Central Registry
• -- Army Criminal Investigation Command/Crime Records Center
• -- previous employer references
• -- State and Local Police
• -- Official Personnel Folder, including adverse action files, Army Inspector General, Army Military Human Resources and the Army Substance Abuse Program.
• Individuals found to have derogatory information in any check may not be eligible for this position and may be removed from further consideration.
• Must possess a valid driver's license and have the ability to operate a motor vehicle.
• Position is designated as a Public Trust position and requires a Moderate Risk Background Investigation on a post-appointment basis only.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a minimum of secret security clearance based on a Tier 3 background investigation, or equivalent, and enrollment in the Continuous Evaluation (CE) program.
• Submit to a State Criminal History Repository (SCHR) Check for all states of residence in the previous five years.
• Position is Emergency-Essential (E-E) in support of mobilization and wartime mission.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

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• Current Department of Army Civilian Employees
• Current Permanent Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army)
• Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
• Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473
• Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentality (NAFI)
• Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998
• Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA)

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document .

Basic Requirement for Victim Advocate (SHARP):

A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in behavioral or social science, or related disciplines appropriate to the position, such as sociology and psychology.

OR

B. Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

OR

C. Experience: Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience: To qualify based on your work experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-07) in the Federal service or equivalent. Specialized experience is defined as: (1) Providing professional advocacy services to victims or survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment; (2) Experience in conducting assessments with clients to evaluate needs and risks; (3) Experience in recognizing the need for professional intervention and referring to appropriate services and maintaining partnerships in the community; AND (4) Experience in conducting training/seminars on sexual assault/sexual harassment.

OR

Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: sociology and psychology.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Customer Service
• Education and Training
• Interpersonal Skills

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-07).

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Direct deposit of pay is required.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• This is a Career Program (CP) 53 - Medical position.
• You may claim military spouse preference (MSP).
• If a MSP applicant is determined best qualified and selected, placement must be at the full performance level for priority consideration.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS) allowances may be authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations and an agency determination that a PCS move is in the Government Interest.
• Advanced In-hire may be authorized.
• Relocation incentive may be authorized.
• Recruitment incentive may be authorized.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your résumé and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your résumé and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc). Please review the following links to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply: Applicant Merit Checklist and Proof of Eligibility .

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume .

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Proof of Eligibility to Apply: Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.
• Time-in-grade documentation: If you are applying for a higher grade and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one year time-in-grade requirement so you will need to provide an SF-50 which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-grade Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).
• This position has an individual occupational requirement and/or allows for substitution of education for experience. If you meet this requirement based on education you MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. See: Transcripts and Licenses

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

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.