About this role
Job SummaryIn this position, you will serve as a Reservist Human Resources Specialist (HRS). The ideal Candidate will have considerable experience applying and advising on human resource management policies. NEW! USERRA now protects the full-time employment of FEMA reservists when they are deployed to disasters, emergencies, and critical trainings on behalf of FEMA. Review the FEMA Crew Act FAQs.
QualificationsTo qualify for the Human Resources Specialist (HRS) position, you must possess experience in each of the following areas: Applying Human Resource Management rules, regulations, and/or policies applicable to a Human Resources Program area; and Advising management officials on a human resources program area such as recruitment, staffing, payroll operations, performance management, employee relations, and/or benefits. OR A Master's or equivalent graduate degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR L.L.B or J.D if related In addition: Minimum age of eighteen years of age is required. All candidates must be a high school graduate or possess a GED. 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. 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. Documenting your experience: Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, you must provide your job title (including series and grade if a federal position), start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), and the number of hours worked per week if part time. Current or former FEMA Reservists/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 each deployment, 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". Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. 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
Major DutiesWhat will I do in this position if hired? In this Human Resources Specialist position, you will be responsible for providing advice, assistance, and guidance to customers, supervisors, and managers. The HR Specialist carries out these functions while exercising sound judgement, communicating effectively (both verbally and in writing), and exhibiting strong interpersonal and analytical skills. Typical assignments include: Participate in the entire life cycle of FEMA's Local Hire Program including working with field leadership, hiring managers, and Headquarters through recruitment, interviews, and onboarding. Initiate, code and submit various personnel actions for local hires utilizing automated HR Information Systems (HRIS). Utilize the Deployment Tracking System (DTS) to execute the deployment of personnel to and from disaster events and maintain their accountability while at a disaster event. Provide routine advice and assistance to managers and supervisors regarding the implementation and administration of the agency disaster performance evaluations. Provide guidance to deployed Reservists on Federal Employee Health Benefits. What else do I need to know? At FEMA, our mission to help people before, during and after disasters; so, 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. As a Reservist Employee, your role is to support response or recovery efforts. Reservists are intermittent, on-call employees. Please note that this is not a full-time position, and you only are paid when deployed. Deployment frequency and length varies based on disaster response need. Due to the irregular nature of disasters, Reservist employees are not guaranteed regular recurring hours, deployments, or renewal of employment. The Civilian Reservist Emergency Workforce (CREW) Act protects the job rights of FEMA Reservists while they are deployed to disasters, emergencies, and critical trainings by including FEMA Reservists under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployments Rights Act (USERRA). This means that if you hold another job, you are able to deploy as a FEMA reservist and your job will be protected. It also protects you against penalization, discrimination, or loss of employee benefits as a result of your deployments to disasters, emergencies, and critical trainings. For more information, please visit FEMA.gov/careers or review the USERRA Resources from the Department of Labor.RequirementsTo ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for Moderate Risk as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office. Conditions of Employment: You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position. You must successfully pass a background investigation. Selective Service registration required. You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card. Travel will be required. Please review the Additional Information section for additional key requirements. This position is temporary and intermittent, and you may be deployed to work during disaster declarations. You will be paid only during times of deployment or when attending critical trainings. You will be paid sick leave and earn one hour of sick leave for every 20 hours in a pay status, up to four hours each pay period. You will be eligible to enroll in Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) within 60 days of check-in to support a disaster. Enrollment in FEHB is terminated after 365 cumulative days in non-pay status. You will be eligible for the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), when you are deployed to support a disaster and expected to work 130 hours or more per month for at least 90 consecutive days.