Summary
This position is located in the Human Resources Operations (HRO) Talent Acquisition Team, Office of the Secretary (OST). This position is established to provide comprehensive human resource management services to assigned organizations in the areas of recruitment and staffing, pay, leave and position management.
Duties
As a HR Specialist (Recruitment and Staffing), you will: Provides staffing and placement services to managers regarding standard recruitment strategies and the application of common program flexibilities. The incumbent identifies appropriate hiring flexibilities to support workforce planning, including Schedule A, Veterans' Recruitment Appointment (VRA), and Military Spouse Authority. Manages internal talent acquisition by posting announcements for internal solicitations and details on the DOT internal website. Assists managers in conducting job analyses by identifying required knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) utilizing established question libraries. Coordinates rating panels and provides instructions to managers on candidate evaluation criteria. Manages the lifecycle of the selection process, including calculating initial pay, extending job offers, and coordinating entry on-duty dates. Assists in the implementation of pay schedule adjustments and administrative rulings regarding federal compensation. Coordinates General Schedule and locality pay updates. Determines eligibility for special salary rates and common allowances. Manages routine pay issues including work schedules and premium pay. Administers programs for grade and pay retention and severance pay under closer review. Provides advice on the use of standard recruitment and relocation incentives (3Rs), ensuring justifications meet regulatory requirements. Reviews and codes a variety of personnel actions—including promotions, reassignments, and pay adjustments—to ensure technical and legal accuracy. Maintains knowledge of Nature of Action (NOA) coding procedures and legal authorities. Researches personnel and pay laws to provide basic advice to managers and ensures compliance with standard organizational policies. Independently performing the full range of recruitment and placement functions to include developing job analyses, advising on assessments, drafting job opportunity announcements, reviewing applications for eligibility and qualifications, issuing certificates, setting pay, extending job offers, and processing personnel actions. The ideal candidate for the Human Resources Specialist position will be highly organized, detail-oriented, and committed to delivering accurate, timely, and high-quality customer service. This candidate will have proven experience providing HR advisory and compliance support across multiple functional areas, including classification, restructuring, and consolidation, while specifically demonstrating the ability to execute End-to-End Recruitment, apply Federal HR Policy, leverage excellent written and verbal communication skills to advise leadership, collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, and present complex information clearly and professionally, and independently manage and execute multiple high-priority tasks in a fast-paced environment.
Requirements
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance the organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service. GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel. A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only. BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A background security investigation is required for all selected individuals. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of the security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to meet these requirements will be grounds for termination. PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed). TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the competitive or excepted service in the executive branch to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
How you will be evaluated
DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: Please be clear and specific when describing your experience, as HR evaluates applications strictly on the facts provided and will not make assumptions. To receive full credit, your narrative responses must be written in paragraph format and explicitly match your resume. Begin each response by listing the exact position title, organization, employment dates (MM/YYYY–MM/YYYY), full- or part-time status, average weekly hours, and federal series/grade (if applicable). Within the body of the paragraph, clearly describe your specific duties, actions taken, tools used, and measurable outcomes. HR will cross-check these details against your resume; if your resume does not fully support every claim and timeframe, the experience will not be considered for credit, which may result in an ineligible determination." Eligible Federal employees also seeking consideration for noncompetitive reassignment for this position, must indicate interest in the assessment. Noncompetitive federal candidates must have competitive status on a SF-50, meet minimum qualifications, have served at the same grade or higher, and held or exceeded the promotion potential of this position. All applicants: Your application will be reviewed in two phases determine how you move forward in the hiring process. Phase I: Your resume will be reviewed to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. ONLY two (2) pages of your resume will be reviewed. Additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume) will not be reviewed. Applicants passing “Phase I” will move on to the “Phase II” of the assessment process where your application will be reviewed and rated based on the KSAs/Competencies listed in the vacancy announcement by a Subject Matter Expert (SME). You may preview questions for this vacancy.