Project Management Specialist

Duties

The individual selected for this position will:

• Analyze proposed jobs and new projects, staying abreast of necessary revisions required for work in progress to successfully accomplish all phases of processing.
• Communicate and work closely with customers, providing technical advice and necessary information, such as postal regulations, envelopes styles and availability, cost effective processing methods, address file requirements, etc., to efficiently plan, organize/manage their projects.
• Conduct studies and review selected operations to determine effectiveness of current or projected activities. The studies often involve analysis of operations of considerable complexity.
• Review and approve work in progress for accuracy and to ensure that the customers specifications are met.
• Initiate and maintain detailed production schedules for the branch of ongoing and/or periodic census survey related activities that will be used to project and/or adjust fluctuating workloads, equipment availability, and staffing levels.
• Prepare cost estimates, as requested by the sponsor, including labor, printing costs, postal costs, etc.
• Review and analyze all such cost estimates and advise branch management of the most efficient and economical processing method.
• Identify potential problems, maintain and control production records, and provide progress reports necessary to track and adjust work in progress to ensure that critical deadlines are met.

Qualifications

Time in Grade: Current Federal employees must have held a position for least 52 weeks in the Federal service at the grade 05 for promotion to the grade 07, and at the grade 07 for promotion to the grade 09.

Specialized Experience:

Grade 5: You qualify at the grade 05 level if you possess one year of specialized experience that equips you with the skills needed to perform the job duties. Candidates must have 3 years of progressively responsible general experience, 1 year of which was equivalent to at least a grade 4, that demonstrates the ability to: analyze problems to identify significant factors, gather pertinent data, and recognize solutions; plan and organize work, and communicate effectively in person and in writing.

Grade 07: You qualify at the grade 07 level if you possess one year of specialized experience that equips you with the skills needed to perform the job duties. This specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the grade 05 level to meet the qualification requirements in the Federal Service. Examples include experience that demonstrates the ability to assist higher level managers in initiating and maintaining detailed production schedules, prepare cost estimates, identify potential problems, maintain and control production records, conduct studies or segments of studies, and review and approve work in progress for accuracy.

Grade 09: You qualify at the grade 09 level if you possess one year of specialized experience that equips you with the skills needed to perform the job duties. This specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the grade 07 level to meet the qualification requirements in the Federal Service. Examples include experience that demonstrates the ability to conduct studies and review selected operations to determine effectiveness of current or projected activities, initiate and maintain detailed production schedules, prepare cost estimates, identify potential problems, maintain and control production records, provide progress reports to track and adjust work to meet deadlines.

Education Substitution: Grade 05: 4 year course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree. Grade 07: 1 full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement; Grade 09: 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. Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet qualifications.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., PeaceCorps, 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.

Qualification requirements contained in this vacancy announcement are based on U.S. Office of Personnel Management Qualification (OPM) Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on OPM's website.

Education