This position is located in the Office of Human Capital Services (OHCS), Workforce Relations Division (WRD), Retirement and Benefits Counseling Branch (RBCB), with a total of three vacancies, that can be filled in either Boulder, CO; Kansas City, MO; Norfolk, VA; Seattle, WA; or Silver Spring, MD. This position is also announced under vacancy number OHCS WRD-24-12281841-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Duties

As a Human Resources Specialist (Employee Benefits) you will perform the following: Serves as a benefits specialist providing guidance and support to employees located nation-wide as it relates to retirements and benefits. Provide guidance in administering a variety of benefits and retirements programs, such as health and life insurance, dental and vision insurance, Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS), Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), Long Term Care Insurance and Flexible Spending accounts. Apply knowledge of retirement and insurance laws, policies and regulations to interpret routine and complex issues such as the Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Correction Act entitlements. Perform research and interpretation of legal regulatory guidance as it relates to insurance and retirement programs. Perform individual and group retirement awareness training and counsel potential retirees on all aspects of the retirement process to include calculations. Provide consultative services and in-depth guidance, both orally and in writing, to leadership, internal and external customers, employees, Human Resources (HRs) staff, and survivors regarding all aspects of the federal employee benefits program.

Requirements

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. 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. To qualify at the ZA-3 or GS-11 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower pay band ZA-2 or GS-9 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Providing advice and assistance in the areas of employee benefits such as health benefits, life insurance, retirement, thrift savings plan, and/or FEDVIP Programs; and Providing counseling on Federal retirements (i.e., optional, disability, discontinued, FERCCA, phased retirement, and death-in-service cases) and retirement estimates/calculations. OR Educational Substitution: PhD or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or L.L.M. if related. OR A combination of education and experience. NOTE: Only graduate education in excess of two years is qualifying for combination.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities 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. 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 by the closing date of the announcement will result in lost consideration. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated visit: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.

Contacts

• Address NOAA Office of Human Capital Services (OHCS) 1315 East West Hwy SSMC4 Silver Spring, MD 20910 US
• Name: Applicant Inquiries
• Email: [email protected]