The incumbent serves as Realty Specialist and provides support and expertise relating to real estate laws, principles, and concepts associated with easement program acquisition, administration and enforcement. Direct Hire Authority: This position is being filled through the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Direct Hire Authority for this occupation.

Duties

Provides technical support and guidance to the State Conservationist and ASTC-P or ASTC-E, including in real estate laws, concepts, and principles relating to the easement acquisition, administration, and enforcement of conservation easements. Serves as technical expert on the public laws, regulations and agency policies relating to the full range of conservation program activities. Reviews real property title documents, appraisals and Easement Warranty Deeds and attachments, subordinates, affidavits, and other documents required by the Office of General Counsel to determine their correctness, and completeness. Responsible for receiving/reviewing final deliverables such as surveys, title searches, final title policies, and vendor invoices and processing of vendor invoices with Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). Provides assistance in the review and preparation of administrative appeal documents related to conservation easement programs.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. If selected you will be sent instruction on obtaining fingerprints. Please note we are not able to reimburse any fees incurred for fingerprints.
• Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/
• Must possess and maintain a valid state motor vehicle operator's license for the type of vehicle(s) operated to perform the duties of this position.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. Specialized Experience to qualify for the GS-11 level: To qualify for the GS-11 grade level, you must possess at least one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level or higher in the Federal service (or private sector equivalent) that has equipped you with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position. For this position specialized experience is defined as: Assisting with acquisition management or enforcement of conservation easements; Assisting with procuring, reviewing, and summarizing due diligence, including title, for the acquisition of conservation easements; Assisting with obtaining and reviewing documents for legal entities to determine program eligibility and performing review of legal surveys to ensure accuracy of descriptions and consistency OR Substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience for the GS-09 level: Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Real Estate, Law, Business, Agribusiness, Engineering, Natural resources management, or a directly related field of study.? 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 second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. Specialized Experience to qualify for the GS-12 level: To qualify for the GS-12 grade level, you must possess at least one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level or higher in the Federal service (or private sector equivalent) that has equipped you with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position. For this position specialized experience is defined as: Acquisition management or enforcement of conservation easements; Procuring, reviewing, and summarizing due diligence, including title, for the acquisition of conservation easements and recommending the appropriate agency action on the basis of this review. This may be demonstrated by successfully acquiring defensible conservation easements or similar real property interests; obtaining and reviewing documents for legal entities to determine program eligibility and performing review of legal surveys to ensure accuracy of descriptions and consistency. Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted at the GS-12 level. For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=GS-PROF 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 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

If you have not yet conferred your degree or certificate but expect to do so within 120 days of the closing date of this announcement, you are still eligible to apply to this opportunity. The transcript you supply (may be unofficial) should include any remaining course work that will be taken prior to graduation. HR must be able to review all qualifying coursework that will be credited toward your degree. All application information must be received by the closing date of this announcement, and non-submission of all required documents/documentation will result in non-consideration.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

You must submit a copy of your transcripts to include course number, title, completion and grade. 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. If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement.

Important: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. Click on this link for more information.

Failure to provide all of the required documents/information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

Contacts

• Address Natural Resources Conservation Service 1400 Independence Ave SW Washington, DC 20250 US
• Name: Talent Acquisition Branch
• Email: [email protected]