Investigative Specialist

Summary

This position is located in the Office of Civil Rights (S/OCR), Bureau of the Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State. S/OCR promotes fairness, equity, and inclusion through the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) administrative process, investigations of allegations of sexual and discriminatory harassment and/or workplace bullying, compiling, and analyzing statistics, and performing outreach and training in the State Department’s workplaces worldwide.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Status Candidates, Noncompetitive, Former Federal Employees with Reinstatement Eligibility, Land & base management, VEOA, Individuals with Disabilities, Military Spouses, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Vista, Eligible Family Member, Special authorities, ICTAP, and CTAP

Duties

Uses a variety of research methods and analysis to coordinate investigative activities. Gathers information through routine questionnaires or by conducting a thorough case specific intake interview with the alleged victim or knowledgeable party.

Informs interviewees of their rights and responsibilities, and obtains commitment under oath from interviewees. Conducts phone interviews, takes thorough notes, drafts memoranda of interview/ affidavits/interrogatories and finalizes them.

Interprets complex laws and regulations; develops new methods and procedures to gather and analyze data; Recommends corrective action and remediation for a variety of conventional problems and situations.

Prepares referral memos and case summaries for signature, organizing and attaching formal records of interviews and relevant documentary evidence for easy reference.

Maintains email and electronic case files according to standard procedures developed by S/OCR so as to facilitate records retrieval and compliance with Freedom of Information Act and other recordkeeping regulations.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizenship is required.

Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.

Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.

Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit:

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the required qualification requirements described below by the closing date of this announcement. If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application.

NOTE: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements, by the closing date of this announcement.

Time-In-Grade Requirements: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions, per 5CFR 300, Subpart F.

Applicants applying for the GS-11 grade level must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least 1 full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service which provided you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

Experience conducting investigations involving allegations of hostile work environment, documenting interviews and developing sources.

Experience gathering information, collecting documentary evidence, and preparing a formal record of interview.

Experience using a variety of research methods and analysis to coordinate investigative activities.

OR

B. Have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M., if related, from an accredited college or university.

OR

C. Have a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience (as described above), which is equivalent to the GS- 09 level in the Federal Service. This experience and education together meets 100% of the qualification requirements for this position.

Combination of Experience and Education: When an applicant has less than one year of specialized experience as described in the announcement, he or she may combine successfully completed graduate-level education with experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Generally, 18 graduate semester hours is equivalent to 1 full-time year of graduate study (your school and department determine what constitutes 1 full time year of graduate study). The percentage of specialized work experience and the percentage of graduate study must total at least 100%.

Note: All applicants WILL BE required to submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement. If you fail to provide requested information, or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility, you may lose consideration for this position.

Education

See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements.

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials, visit: .

Additional information

For at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations at or .

If eligible, telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval.

Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the application process is complete, a review of your will be conducted and compared against your responses to the assessment questions to determine if you are qualified for this job. Note: Responses to questions that are not fully supported by the information in your resume may result in adjustments to your rating.

Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements, as described in the “Qualifications” section of this announcement, will be assigned a score between 70 and 100. The assessment is used to measure the degree in which your background matches the competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) required for this position. Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies:

Skill in identifying complex problems and reviewing related information.

Ability to provide guidance.

Knowledge of communications and analytical methods and techniques.

Skill in investigative and compliance activities.

Ability to interpret and apply regulations and procedures.

Ability to evaluate and analyze a variety of data or information.

Applicants found to be among the top qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring official for further consideration and possible interview. Qualified non-competitive candidates must be deemed best qualified based on the applicant assessment in order to be referred to the hiring official for further consideration and possible interview.

Agency must be rated "Well Qualified" for the position and earn a score of at least 85 (when applicants are rated in a range of 70 to 100) to receive consideration for selection priority.

You may for this vacancy.

Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to our automated system by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

1. Resume showing relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours per week worked/volunteered. Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must support your answers to the completed online assessment questions.

2.Transcripts, if applicable and you are qualifying based on education. See the Qualification and Education sections of this announcement for more information. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.

3. Performance appraisal, if applicable. Most recent (i.e., usually within the last 18 months) final (not a mid-year review) official (i.e., signed by the rating official and in original format) annual performance appraisal must be submitted by reinstatement eligible applicants applying to a position with a higher grade or more promotion potential than previously held and current or former employees.

All other current and former Federal employees are strongly encouraged to submit their performance appraisal for the hiring manager’s consideration. If an appraisal is not available, you may provide a statement from you and/or your supervisor with an explanation along with your servicing HR Office contact information.

Note: You may be requested to provide an appraisal to the hiring official if one was not provided with your application. To receive a promotion, the current Federal employee’s most recent performance rating must be “fully successful” or an equivalent level or higher. Employees who are tentatively selected to receive a promotion will be required to provide performance documentation within two business days of request. Servicing HR Offices may be contacted to verify performance ratings.

4. Most recent SF-50s (Notification of Personnel Actions), if you are a current or former Federal employee (including those applying under a non-competitive or special hiring authority). The SF-50s must show: effective date, position title, series, grade, salary, tenure, position occupied, full promotion potential, and name of agency. Multiple SF-50s may be needed to show all required information (e.g., promotion, within-grade increase, and separation SF-50s). Award SF-50s often do not show the required information.

5. Veteran Documentation, if applicable.

Veterans who are preference eligible OR who have been separated from the Armed Forces under honorable conditions (honorable or general discharge) after 3 or more years of continuous active service may apply under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA). You must submit a DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (Member Copy 4 preferred) showing the dates you served as well as your type of discharge and qualifying service campaign medals OR if you are still on active duty, you MUST submit a certification on letterhead from your military branch which contains your military service dates, expected date of discharge or release, and the character of service to show that your military service was performed under honorable conditions. The expected date of discharge or release must be no later than 120 days after the certification is submitted for consideration for this job announcement. Current Federal employees applying under the VEOA must submit a qualifying SF-50 to show time-in-grade requirements.

If you are applying as a preference eligible with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, you must submit the documentation required by the to support your claim (e.g., DD-214, official statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs). For applicants claiming 10-point derived veterans’ preference (i.e., spouses, widows/widowers or mothers of veterans), a completed must be submitted with the application with all required supporting documents listed on the form.

For more veterans’ preference information, visit the .

6. Non-competitive or special hiring authority eligibility documentation, if applicable. Examples of such authorities include:,,

7. ICTAP/CTAP documentation, if applicable. Visit our agency’s and sites for required documentation.

8. Current or Former Land Management Employee documentation, if applicable. Visit the site for required documentation.

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

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 .

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