The position is located in the Office of the Commissioner (OC), Office of Policy, Legislation and International Affairs (OPLIA), Office of Legislation (OL), Silver Spring, Maryland. The Administrative Support Assistant (Congressional Affairs Assistant) performs a wide variety of administrative tasks associated with maintaining and supporting the work performed within the organization.

Duties

Receives a variety of requests for program-related information or data, and gathers data, prepares reports, and makes recommendations consistent with established practices, under supervisory guidance. Performs office automation duties to prepare documents such as correspondence, forms, and reports which can include technical material, graphs, and charts, with some supervisory guidance. Performs a wide variety of administrative tasks associated with maintaining and supporting the work of the organization. Receives, routes, or otherwise handles incoming and outgoing materials such as controlled or routine correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication.

Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship or nationals is required for this appointment.
• Selective Service Registration: All applicants born male, on (or after) 12/31/1959, must be registered with the Selective Service System OR have an approved exemption. Visit www.SSS.gov for more info.
• FDA participates in e-Verify: All new hires must complete the I-9 form; this information will be processed through e-Verify to determine your employment eligibility. If a discrepancy arises, you must take affirmative steps to resolve the matter.
• Background Investigation Requirement: All employees must pass a security investigation. Failing to pass the background check may be grounds for removal or legal action. If hired, you may be subject to additional investigations at a later time.
• You must meet ALL requirements by the closing date of this announcement to be considered. Only education, experience, and qualifications attained by this date will be considered. You must continue to meet all requirements through the hiring process.
• Certification of Accuracy: All information concerning eligibility and qualification is subject to investigation and verification. False representation may be grounds for non-consideration, non-selection, or appropriate legal action.
• Direct Deposit: You will be required to have all federal salary payments electronically deposited into a bank account with a financial institution of your choice.
• Must sign FDA Pathways Program Participant Agreement.
• Must serve one year trial period or the duration of the program.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements to participate in this Recent Graduate Program: A. Completed all requirements for an associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, or technical degree or qualifying certificate from an accredited educational institution within the 2 years preceding the closing date of this announcement. -OR- B. Released or discharged from active duty within the previous two years by 09/05/2024, where as a veteran who, due to a military service obligation, was precluded from applying to the Recent Graduate Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period following completion of degree or certificate requirements, are entitled to a full 2-year period of eligibility upon release or discharge from active duty. In no event, however, may the eligibility period extend beyond 6 years from the date on which the preference eligible veteran completed the requirements of the degree or certificate. -OR- C. Individuals who are expected to graduate with a qualifying Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate, professional, vocational or technical degree or certificate program by the closing date of this announcement. Current students must meet all eligibility and qualification requirements before a final offer can be made. NOTE: You must submit transcripts or official documentation to verify your eligibility under the Recent Graduate Program. Transcripts MUST reflect the degree/certificate program and the degree conferred date. If your degree/certificate has not been conferred, you must provide proof of the anticipated graduation date. Selectee's entry on duty date will be upon degree conferment. In addition to the eligibility requirements for the Pathways Recent Graduate Program, you must also meet the following OPM Qualification Requirements listed below by 09/05/2024 in order to qualify for the Administrative Support Assistant, 0303, at GS - 5/6. For GS-5: A. Applicants must have at least one full year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-04 level in the Federal service which includes performing administrative office duties; gathering information for evaluation; utilizing a personal computer and a variety of software applications. -OR- B. Four-year course of study (120 semester or 180 quarter units) above high school leading to a bachelor's degree; -OR- C. Have a combination of experience as described in "A" above and education as described in "B" above. For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester units (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester units) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. When combining education with experience, first determine the applicant's total qualifying education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then determine the applicant's experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; finally, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. GS-6: Applicants must have one year of experience, equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal service which includes performing administrative office duties; gathering information for evaluation; utilizing automated office systems to manage data; reviewing documents for accuracy and completeness. NOTE: As a general rule, education is not creditable above GS-5 for most positions covered by this standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume. 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.

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION

Foreign Education is education acquired outside of any State of the U.S., the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or any territory or possession of the U.S.

Applicants using part, or all of their education completed outside of the U.S. to meet the qualification requirements, must have their foreign education evaluated by an accredited organization to ensure that the foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the U.S. We will only accept the completed foreign credential evaluation.

To be acceptable, the foreign credential evaluation must include/describe at a minimum, the following information: (1) The type of education received by the applicant; (2) The level of education in relation to the U.S. education system, and state that its comparability recommendations follow the general guidelines of the International Evaluation Standards Council; (3) The content of the applicant's educational program earned abroad, and the standard obtained; (4) The status of the awarding foreign school's recognition and legitimacy in its home country's education system; and (5) Any other information of interest such as what the evaluation service did to obtain this information, the qualifications of the evaluator, and any indications as to other problems such as forgery. Note: Some positions require the completion of specific courses or a specified number of credit hours. Therefore, the foreign credential evaluation should provide information similar to that of an official transcript, to include a list of the courses taken, quarter and/or semester hours awarded, the cumulative grade point average (GPA), honors received, if any, date degree awarded.

Applicants can request an evaluation from a member organization of one of the two national associations of credential evaluation services listed below:

1. National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES)
2. Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE)

Credential evaluations are not free, and applicants are responsible for the cost of the selected service.
For more information about this requirement, please visit the U.S. Department of Education website for Foreign Education Evaluation

SUBMITTING YOUR TRANSCRIPTS: Positions which are scientific or technical in nature often have very specific educational requirements. A transcript is required to verify educational achievement. Pay careful attention to the Qualifications and Education sections to identify vacancies where a transcript is required. Even if you hold a similar position or are a current employee, you are not exempt from transcript requirements.

Electronic Transcript Caution: If you have obtained your transcripts electronically, the file might contain security measures that could prevent our application system from reading the file. Therefore, you should consider asking the institution to provide the file in a non-secured electronic format. Alternatively, you could scan or take a photo of the printed copy of the transcript. If your uploaded transcript cannot be read by our system, you may receive consideration and credit for the information we can access.

Contacts

• Address FDA Office of the Commissioner 10903 New Hampshire Ave Silver Spring, MD 20993 US
• Name: FDA Applicant Help Desk
• Phone: 866-807-3742
• Email: [email protected]