This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of National Continuity Programs (ONCP), Policy, Plans, and Evaluation Division, Continuity Exercise and Evaluation Branch. The ideal candidate will have experience in exercise development, conduct, and evaluation of emergency management programs; analyzing emergency preparedness policies and doctrine; and presenting assessment results orally and/or in writing.
Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The time-in-grade and qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. To qualify for this position at the GS-11 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following: Assisting in the development of continuity-related exercises or evaluations and, Providing assistance in the planning of responses to major event occurrences and, Assisting in the development of scenario-based continuity exercises including developing documentation, and tracking and evaluating exercise activities. OR Successful completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, OR 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, OR LL.M., from an accredited college or university that is related to the work of the position to be filled. Please provide a copy of your transcripts. OR An equivalent combination of education and experience that is directly related to the work of the position and specialized experience. Please provide a copy of your transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-12 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-011 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following: 1. Planning and developing continuity-related exercises and evaluations. 2. Providing guidance on the planning of responses to major event occurrences. 3. Developing full-scale, scenario-based continuity exercises including developing documentation, and tracking and evaluating exercise activities. No Educational Substitution: There is no educational substitution for this grade, and you must meet the qualifications listed in the "requirements" section of this announcement. Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application: Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. Please limit your resume to two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages. Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience. Are you qualifying based on your work experience? Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series, grade level, and dates in which you held each grade level. Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE)? To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments, you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment. Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified." 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 provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. For additional information on crediting experience and/or education, please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards.
What will I do in this position if hired? In this position, you will serve as an emergency management specialist working with senior level management and professional staff in the headquarters and regional offices relative to short- and long-range emergency preparedness, to include exercise development, conduct, and evaluation for interagency stakeholders. Typical assignments include: Conducting and facilitating scenario-based continuity exercises to include developing supporting documentation. Building consensus with key stakeholders (e.g. Federal partners, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial leaders) on exercise development and evaluation requirements. Developing evaluation criteria for assessing continuity exercises, as well as coordinating continuity exercise concepts and objectives. Writing after-action reports and quick look reports following a continuity exercise. Promotion Potential: Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and administrative approval. What else do I need to know? At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, and every employee at FEMA has a role in emergency management. Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.