Training Specialist (National Programs Advisor - Community Services Division)

Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.

Duties

This position may be located at the Central Office in Washington, D.C., or at an authorized satellite location within the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Serves in one of the following NIC divisions: Academy, Jails, Prisons, or Community Services with a primary purpose of supporting the mission of the NIC in assisting Federal, state, and local correctional agencies through the provision of correctional training, policy guidance, and technical assistance expertise.

Oversees and participates in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of strategic and operational plans and training and development programs. Employs conceptual, critical, analytical, and creative thinking abilities and uses the best evidence base to plan, manage, and evaluate projects and programs.

Analyzes emerging issues for criticality, pervasiveness, and NIC’s ability to effectively address them within its mission, service delivery strategies, and resources.

Develops a variety of highly specialized curricula for presentation to state and local correctional, pretrial, probation, parole and/or reentry services personnel, legislators, and other elected officials.

Serve as a member of one or more NIC intra-agency teams, with responsibilities such as short and long-range planning; reviewing and evaluating policy and procedures; developing policy recommendations for consideration by Executive staff.

Salary

• $121,785 - $158,322/year

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is Required.
• See Special Conditions of Employment Section.
• Selective Service Requirement: http://www.sss.gov

Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must:

• 1. Meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria;
• 2. Be rated well-qualified for the position, scoring at least half of the total possible points for the vacancy KSAs or competencies; and
• 3. Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility.

NOTE: Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must complete all assessment questions to be rated under the established category rating criteria.

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements:

Basic Requirements:

Education:

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- education or a subject area related to the position to be filled.

OR

Specialized Experience:

Experience that demonstrated a practical knowledge of the subject area of the position and of the methods and techniques of instruction. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:

• Teaching or instructing in an adult education program, secondary school, college, military installation, or industrial establishment in the appropriate field(s).
• Supervising or administering a training program.
• Development or review of training/course materials, aids, devices, etc., and evaluation of training results.
• Work in the occupation or subject-matter field of the position to be filled that required training or instructing others on a regular basis.

AND

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements, applicants must have the following:

Education:

There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for this position.

Experience:

You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

• Experience in the supervision of one or more of the following areas: training curricula design, delivery, or management of training program for senior or mid-level executives in jails, prisons, or community services.
• Experience with the administration or implementation of one or more of the following: the design, management, development, or implementation of a national, state, regional, or local level initiatives for jails, prisons, or community services.
• Experience utilizing innovative/evidence-based practices in community services, prisons, and jails to develop operational policy and procedures.
• Experience engaging and working with criminal justice stakeholder groups, such as judges, prosecutors, treatment providers, advocacy groups, and other state and local government agencies to plan a significant criminal justice system change or improvement of practice.
• Experience in conducting assessments/operational gap analysis for a community service agency, prison, and jail to determine agency needs and design a recommended plan of action.

AND

Selective Placement Factor:

Applicants applying for this position MUST also possess the following Selective Factors. In the event that you do not possess the Selective Factor, you will be found ineligible for the position.

Applicants must have the following:

• Applicant must demonstrate at least five (5) years of executive-level experience in a Federal, state, or local agency leading and managing pretrial, probation or parole community supervision, or a paroling authority agency in the capacity or equivalent to Executive Director, Commissioner, Administrator, Chief, Assistant/Deputy Director, Assistant/Deputy Commissioner, Assistant/Deputy Administrator, Assistant/Deputy Chief or Regional Director; OR five (5) years of current, demonstrated experience providing expert technical assistance, guidance and training at the national level to local pretrial, probation or parole agencies related to operations, policy development and the implementation of a research based innovation aimed to improve pretrial, probation or parole agency operations and outcomes; AND
• Applicant must have at least four (4) years in a managerial or supervisory capacity with included responsibility for designing and implementing system-wide community supervision policy, procedure, and practice, effectively engaging criminal justice and community stakeholders, to reach desired outcome and the application of emerging research into innovative new community supervision practices; AND
• Applicant must demonstrate significant experience designing and implementing system-wide policy; AND
• In this capacity the applicant must have a minimum of five (5) years of experience training senior executive staff in a community supervision system.

NOTE: All applicants MUST clearly address the Selective Factor in their resume and upload any required documentation (i.e., licensure, certification, or transcripts) at the time you apply.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable. ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here. Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications. If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty. Other Information Special Conditions of Employment Section: For non-law enforcement positions, the Fair Chance Act prohibits specific inquiries concerning an applicant's criminal or credit background unless the hiring agency has made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant. An applicant may submit a complaint, or any other information, to the agency within 30 calendar days of the date of alleged non-compliance by contacting the EEO Office in the Central Office at BOP-PRD-EEOOffice-S@bop.gov. The incumbent is subject to geographic relocation to meet the needs of the agency. Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a pre-employment and panel interview, urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to, and must satisfactorily pass all screening requirements in relation to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit check. Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate. Current Federal Law Enforcement Employees: This is a National Institute of Corrections (NIC) position. Individuals selected for these positions will lose law enforcement coverage and will need to return to a position with "primary" law enforcement coverage to regain coverage. 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 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. Exceptions may apply. See 5 CFR part 11. Required Documents

Failure to provide legible required documents and/or follow the prescribed format often results in removal from consideration.  If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc.  Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD-214, or Transcripts.

•  Veterans' Preference Documentation:
  • Failure to submit all required documents at the time of application will result in the loss of claimed preference eligibility.
  • DD-214: Veterans MUST provide a DD-214 demonstrating that they have been discharged or released from active duty under honorable conditions (i.e., the individual must have received either an honorable or general discharge).
  • SF-15: If you are a disabled veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, widow/widower of a veteran, the spouse of a disabled veteran or the parent of a disabled or deceased veteran, you must submit:
    • A completed Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference" AND all required documentation identified on the SF-15. 
    • NOTE: A Department of Veterans Affairs letter must contain the Veteran’s Name and Combined Service-Connected Evaluation. For a copy of the most current SF-15, Click Here.
  • If you are on active duty and expect to be discharged or released from active duty service within 120 days, you may submit a Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty from the appropriate Branch Personnel Office containing the following information: (1) the military service dates including the expected discharge or release date; (2) and the character of service (must be an honorable or general discharge); and (3) any qualifying service/campaign/expeditionary medals.
• Resume: Resume (includes name and contact information) limited to 2 pages showing relevant experience (cover letter optional). Experience that would not normally be part of the Federal employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence of qualifying experience (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, Human Resource Manager, SF-52, etc.)
• To receive credit for experience contained in an application, the experience must be documented:
  • Reflecting start date and end date in month/year format (MM/YYYY) AND
  • Include the number of hours worked per week.
• College transcript: includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree, and Date Awarded (if applicable).
  • NOTE:  If you are selected, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day.
• SF-50: for proof of prior LEO coverage, if applicable.

For more help, visit USAJOBS Help Center - What should I include in my resume?

We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, delays in mail service, applicant application errors, etc.

How to Apply

You must apply through the online application system at www.USAJOBS.gov. Follow the prompts to register, answer a few questions and submit all required documents.

Limit your resume to 2 pages. If the only resume(s) received is/are longer than two pages, your application is ineligible for further consideration. Submission of a resume alone is not a complete application. This position may require the completion of additional forms and/or supplemental materials as described under the Required Documents section. Please carefully review the complete job announcement and the "How to Apply" instructions. Failure to provide the required information and/or materials will result in your application not being considered for employment.

We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. USAJOBS Help Center - How to add a resume to your profile

Claiming Veterans Preference? If yes, you MUST claim preference on-line during the application process and upload documentation to support preference claimed. Failure to claim Veterans Preference or provide supporting documentation may result in you not receiving appropriate consideration during the assessment process.

Required supporting documentation must be electronically uploaded or transferred from USAJOBS (uploaded).

All required supporting documentation MUST be received by the Consolidated Staffing Unit by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. You MUST include the vacancy announcement number on your supporting documentation.

Supporting documentation for announcements with an application limitation MUST be uploaded the same day you apply, as these positions may close earlier than stated in the announcement.

Paper applications: If applying online is impossible, please contact the Consolidated Staffing Unit at the telephone number listed below, prior to the closing date of the announcement for the alternate application procedure.

If applicable see Notice for Preference Eligible Veterans Applicants. 

Contact for Assistance in Applying On-Line:
DOJ, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Consolidated Staffing Unit
346 Marine Forces Drive
Grand Prairie, TX 75051
E-Mail: BOP-HRM-HRSC-ConsolidatedStaffingUnit-S@bop.gov
Phone: 972-352-4200

Benefits Summary This job announcement is for employment with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), an independent federal agency of the U.S. Department of Justice that is administratively positioned within the Bureau of Prisons. NIC serves the nation's jails, prisons, and community supervision agencies by providing them with training, information services, and targeted technical assistance. NIC staff work directly with federal, state, local, and tribal corrections agencies and community partners to ensure the safe and humane administration of the nation's correctional system and the advancement of correctional policy and practice.