Business Development Specialist

Summary

This position is located in the Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Field Operations - Region VI in San Antonio, TX. The incumbent provides information on the purpose of the 8(a) Business Development program, the eligibility requirements for participation in the 8aBD program and explains the application process. Actively engages in recruiting, training, educating, and developing small businesses interested in working business with the government (federal, state and local level).

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

United States Citizens. If you are a current or former federal or eligible under a special hiring authority (VEOA, Schedule A, etc.), you may be eligible to apply under the concurrently advertised merit promotion vacancy announcement: 24-366-JH-MP.

Duties

As a Business Development Specialist, GS-1101-9/11, you will be responsible for:

businesses to aid in development of small business principles and strategies to enhance their ability to compete successfully for both 8(a) and non-8(a) contracts.

researching and coordinating training related materials to meet the needs of small businesses and SBA organizations/agencies.

coordinating with the Office of Government Contracting Business Development as appropriate to meet compliance requirements.

Providing advice/counseling to assist firm in the development of realistic and attainable objectives for their business regarding federal contracting.

providing written guidance to small businesses to aid in development of small business principles and strategies. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

This is a bargaining unit position with AFGE Local 228.

This is not a drug testing designated position (TDP).

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen

You must successfully complete a background investigation.

You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience for GS-9: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-7 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector that demonstrates the ability to work in all of the following:

assisting in reviewing, researching and referencing federal procurement laws, regulations, policies, and procedures; and

participating in outreach, training, presentations and education on a variety of business management and financial management topics; and

providing support to senior staff in promoting an organization's programs and services through outreach and marketing. These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume.

OR

Education (see Education section of the vacancy announcement)

Specialized Experience for GS-11: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector that demonstrates the ability to work in all of the following:

reviewing, researching and referencing federal procurement laws, regulations, policies, and procedures; and

assisting and coordinating training, educating or developing businesses interested in working with the government or with prime contractors; and

promoting an organization's programs and services through outreach and marketing These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume.

OR

Education (see Education section of the vacancy announcement)

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's Qualifications web site:

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 can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 06/29/2024.

Education

If you do not meet the specialized experience requirements, you may also qualify with education. You MUST submit transcripts (official or unofficial) with this application if you wish to qualify based on education.

Education Substitution for Specialized Experience (GS-9): Successful completion of a Master's or equivalent graduate degree OR Two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree ORLL.B. or J.D., if related.

OR

Combination of Experience and Education (GS-9) that when taken as a percentage of the required education and experience total 100% or more. For example, an applicant who has 1.0 full year of Masters level education (i.e. 50% of education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. Transcripts (official or unofficial must be submitted in support of this response. If selected, official transcripts will be required.

Education Substitution for Specialized Experience (GS-11): Successful completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M.

OR

Combination of Experience and Education (GS-11) that when taken as a percentage of the required education and experience total 100% or more. For example, an applicant who has 1.5 full years of Ph.D. level education (i.e. 50% of education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position.

APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE: 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 (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.) Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Verify . All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. *** 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. *** For further information, click on: .

Additional information

Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the here:

Career and InterAgency Career Transition Assistance Programs: Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) is a program that helps "surplus" or "displaced" federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job in their current agency (intra-agency, i.e. SBA employees only). Inter-Agency Career Transition Assistance (ICTAP) is a program that helps "surplus" or "displaced" federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job at another agency (inter-agency; i.e. not applying to their current or former agency). You are eligible for CTAP/ICTAP if:

You are a current federal employee who meets the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee meaning you have received official notice that your job is no longer needed or that you will lose your job by Reduction-in-Force (RIF).

Your agency, or the agency to which you are applying, is accepting applications from within or outside of the permanent workforce.

The position to which you are applying MUST BE in the Local Commuting Area of the position of record from which you are being displaced.

You meet the qualifications and other requirements of the job for which you are applying. This includes being rated as well-qualified for the position (score of 85 or better based on your responses to the competencies and associated questions listed within the assessment).

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. For additional information visit .

Consistent with work requirements and current SBA Policy, and all applicable provisions of the collective bargaining agreement with AFGE the SBA offers employees opportunities to perform work at an alternative location (e.g. home).

Telework may be available. For information on Telework visit:

Additional vacancies may be filled from this vacancy announcement if additional vacancies occur within 180 days of the date the certificates were issued.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Applicants meeting basic eligibility requirements will be further evaluated based on the information provided in the Occupational Questionnaire. To preview this questionnaire, click on the following link: . You will be rated based on your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The occupational questions relate to the following Competencies required to do the work of this position:

Attention to Detail

Business Development

Compliance

Customer Service

Education and Training

Flexibility

Integrity/Honesty

Interpersonal Skills

Learning

Oral Communication

Reading Comprehension

Reasoning

Self-Management

Stress Tolerance

Teamwork

Writing

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Your application will be evaluated under the Category Rating method based on your responses to the assessment questions. You will receive a score based on the responses to the assessment questions. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities. If you meet basic requirements for the position, your application will be evaluated and placed into one of three categories:

1. Best-Qualified: highly proficient with an overall comprehensive level of knowledge, skills and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.

2. Well-Qualified: competent in the position with an overall accomplished level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, training, and education as applicable, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.

3. Qualified: an overall basic level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.

Candidates eligible for veterans' preference will be placed ahead of other candidates in the appropriate category for which they have been rated. Additionally, preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent and who meet Minimum Qualification Requirements will automatically be placed in the Best Qualified Category.

Career and InterAgency Career Transition Assistance Programs: To receive selection priority for this position, you must:

1. meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria as described under "Additional Information" above; and

2. submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility claim which can be found under the Required Documents section of this vacancy announcement.

Required Documents

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date/time of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.

1. Your Resume - must contain the following information:

Name, address, telephone number, email address;

Supervisor's contact information, if available (indicate if you would prefer to be notified before your supervisor is contacted);

Job Title (if Federal Service, provide series and grade; if not in GS plan, provide GS equivalent grade);

If qualifying based on related unpaid (e.g. volunteer service) experience, you must provide hours worked per week and beginning/ending dates (mm/dd/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy);

If other than full time you must provide hours worked per week.

An integral part of our selection process includes the completion of reference checks. Please provide the names and telephone numbers of three professional references (e.g., current and/or former supervisors, college or university professors, managers or coordinators of volunteer activities, etc.) who know your qualifications relative to this position and who we can contact to verify your credentials. Do not list personal friends or relatives.

PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates (mm/dd/yyyy - mm/dd/yyyy) of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level.

If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you will not be considered for this vacancy.

Should you submit multiple resumes, only the latest uploaded resume will be reviewed.

If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form