Summary This position is with the Small Business Administration, Office of the Executive Secretariat in Charlotte, North Carolina. Operate the SBA Answer Desk for questions from the public about how the agency can help small businesses and other general information. The incumbent provides higher-level assistance to inquirers and monitors and suggests refinements to Answer Desk workflows, indicators of success and levels of compliance. Responsibilities Accepts and resolves the hardest and most delicate questions and requests. Researches programs, services and events available to the small businesses using www.sba.gov, SBA calendars, standard operating procedures, the Code of Federal Regulations and other websites. Serves as primary SBA liaison to the vendor team providing Answer Desk services. Distributes, balances, monitors and reports on workload in accordance with established workflows. Provides outreach assistance to program offices to ensure Agency correspondence is following business workflows rules. Assists with Freedom of Information Act (FIOA) liaison reviews. Performs other duties as assigned. Requires occasional evening hours. Requires fluency in written and spoken Spanish. This is a bargaining unit position with AFGE Local 228. This is not a drug testing designated position (TDP) Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications GS-09 Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector which demonstates the following: 1) Independently research an organization's policies and procedures to answer inbound and outbound inquiries in a high-paced call center environment to resolve complex issues; AND 2) Strong data entry skills with knowledge of call center databases and responds to technical inquiries; AND 3) Calmly deals with highly emotional persons. These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume. OR Education: Master's or equivalent degree from an accredited college or university or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B or J.D., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. You must submit transcripts (official or unofficial) to support this response. If selected, official transcripts will be required. OR Combination: Combination of education and experience. For example, an applicant who has 1 full year of Masters level education (i.e. 50% of education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level as described above (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equate to 100% of the required experience for the position. You must submit transcripts (official or unofficial) to support this response. If selected, official transcripts will be required. AND Selective Factor: This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified. Must have the ability to fluently speak and write in Spanish. Applicants will be required to pass an interview designed to assess possession of this ability. 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: Management and Program Analysis Series 0343 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 12/09/2024. 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. 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 School accreditation. 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: Foreign Education. 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 Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable\_Accommodations\_for\_USA\_Hire 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: 1. 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). 2. Your agency, or the agency to which you are applying, is accepting applications from within or outside of the permanent workforce. 3. 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. 4. 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 www.sss.gov. 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: http://www.telework.gov/ Additional vacancies may be filled from this vacancy announcement if additional vacancies occur within 180 days of the date the certificates were issued.