This position serves as a Reporting Compliance Specialist for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Office of the Chief Accountant, Division of Reporting Compliance. The Division of Reporting and Compliance ensures that the ERISA database contains timely, complete, and accurate information about the regulated plan community. This division is also responsible for the administration of the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program. This position is inside the bargaining unit.

Duties

As a Reporting Compliance Specialist, duties will consist of but is not limited to the following: Plans and conducts a variety of comprehensive studies and analyses which lead to the development or revision of Agency policies, procedures, guidelines, or instructions. Reviews and analyzes factors such as trends and patterns in filing error rates, types of deficiencies and their causes, filer behavior and characteristics or plans making specific errors, both intra and inter-agency policy and procedural differences, and inconsistencies in EBSA and IRS interpretations and administration of statutory and regulatory reporting compliance requirements. Coordinates regulatory, accounting, enforcement, research, and database issues with appropriate EBSA components, participates in intra-agency standing or ad hoc committees to develop new or amended regulations, policies, and procedures. Evaluates the ramifications of a particular case, proposed decision, or proposed penalty assessment on existing precedents and policies and future filings. Works with other EBSA components, external agencies, industry, and special interest groups, to resolve accounting, interpretive, enforcement, or database concerns; identifies opportunities to provide regulatory guidance to plan fiduciaries, participants, and beneficiaries; and ensures coordination of programmatic activities. Maintains liaison with senior personnel of appropriate IRS and PBGC components to define statutory, regulatory, and exemption provisions and assure appropriate and consistent application of reporting exemptions. Based on report analysis and research conducted, the incumbent prepares a digest of the case setting forth noted deficiencies and issues and develops a recommended course of action including the assessment or abatement of civil penalties. Reviews responses submitted by the filers and recommends whether a determination as to "reasonable cause" for delinquent or deficient filing is appropriate. Evaluates whether there is a need to assess filing penalties per ERISA, determines the amount of such penalties for routine cases, and recommends assessment of and amount of penalties for novel cases. Based on research conducted and evaluation of its results develops recommendations for policy alternatives, case selection criteria, criteria for assessment of penalties for filing deficiencies within the statutory and regulatory requirements.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must be at least 16 years old.
• Candidate required to obtain the necessary security/investigation level.
• Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.

Qualifications

Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-7) in the Federal Service. Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the duties of the position successfully, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Qualifying specialized experience for this position is experience developing reports, briefing documents, data spreadsheets, or presentations related to a civil enforcement program. OR You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: Master's or equivalent graduate degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. OR J.D., if related OR You may qualify on a combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of the first 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) may be combined to be considered for qualifying education.

Education

Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.

If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.

Contacts

• Address Employee Benefits Security Administration 200 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20210 US
• Name: Jodine Uppole
• Phone: 312-353-8809
• Email: [email protected]