Program Specialist (Special Assistant)

You will:

• Serve as a senior special assistant to the Regional Administrator that plans directs and executes a number of significant policy and/or programmatic-related directives.
• Represent the Regional Administrator and lead special projects and cross-organizational teams on behalf of the Regional Administrator on a variety of environmental issues throughout the regions states and territories including managing long-term strategies responses to high-profile and controversial issues with significant political press and/or community interests.
• Serve as the Senior liaison between the Divisional program offices and the Immediate Office of the RA/DRA.
• Coordinate with the Administrative Specialist to ensure that the regional Administrators appointment schedule for meetings and events is in accordance with the RAs priorities.

You will spend less than 25% of your work time on contracts grants/cooperative agreements and/or interagency agreements.

One or more positions may be filled (in the organization advertised and/or in other organizations) if appropriate to the position.

#LI-Onsite

You must be a U.S. citizen.

You must meet time-in-grade requirements no later than 30 calendar days after the closing date of this announcement.

If you are selected you may be required to complete a one-year probationary period if appointed as Competitive Service or a two-year trial period if appointed as Excepted Service.

This position is designated as Moderate Risk and requires a background investigation. Unless an appropriate background investigation is already on record with the Office of Personnel Management you must undergo a background investigation. All conditions of the pre-employment security process must be met before an official letter of employment can be issued with a report for duty date.

EPA participates in E-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that enables participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. For additional information: E-Verify.

REAL ID requirements became effective on 05/07/25. If you are selected for this position and plan to use your drivers license or identification card during the onboarding process (i.e. for employment eligibility verification or to obtain your EPA identification card) the document must be a REAL ID-compliant state-issued drivers license or identification card that includes the REAL ID-compliant star marking or must be an Enhanced Drivers License (EDL). You will receive information about alternative acceptable documents (e.g. passport) prior to onboarding. For more information about REAL ID see Dept. of Homeland Security and REAL ID FAQs.

If you are selected you will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure form within 30 days of your first day of employment and annually thereafter.

NOTE: You must meet qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

To qualify for the GS-14 level you must have 1 year of full-time* specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level defined as preparing briefings reports correspondence talking points and related materials for senior leadership based on input from multiple sources; coordinating cross-program activities related to environmental programs; and developing and implementing plans or strategies to support and improve programmatic goals.

You will need the following competencies in order to perform the duties of this position successfully:

• Manages and Organizes Information*
• Organizational Performance Analysis*
• Policy Planning and Execution*
• Political Savvy*
• Problem Solving*
• Strategic Thinking*
• Interpersonal Skills*
• Oral Communication*
• Written Communication*
• Critical Thinking*
• Stakeholder Management*
• Teamwork*

*You will be evaluated on these critical competencies.

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.

*If you have part-time work experience read this: Part-Time Experience.