Staff Accountant

The mission of the Division of Examinations is to protect investors ensure market integrity and support responsible capital formation through risk-focused strategies that: (1) improve compliance; (2) prevent fraud; (3) monitor risk; and (4) inform policy.

This role as a Staff Accountant you will be responsible for:

• Working as a member of a team of examiners with various levels of experience and professional backgrounds to conduct examinations of registered self-regulatory organizations investment companies investment advisers broker-dealers transfer agents and clearing agencies;
• Evaluating possible risks to investors and the financial markets of registered securities-related financial institutions business models and practices based on review and analysis through modern quantitative techniques when possible of information reported by the institutions to the SEC and other internal and external data sources;
• Executing risk-based examination plans which frequently involves: (i) analyzing a financial institutions operations and procedures sales practices supervisory systems books and records and financial statements (ii) reviewing investigatory complaints (iii) investigating new financial products (iv) examining specialized securities (v) interviewing principals of registrants and/or (vi) analyzing performance calculations to assess the level of compliance with federal securities laws and/or self-regulatory requirements; AND
• Developing recommendations and reports presenting and defending findings and collaborating as required with legal staff.

• CITZENSHIP: You must be a US Citizen.
• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see CLEARANCE: Entrance on duty is contingent upon completion of a pre-employment security investigation. Favorable results on a Background Investigation may be a condition of employment or selection to another position.
• DRUG TESTING: This position may be subjected to drug testing requirements.
• PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION (PCS): Moving/Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• DIRECT DEPOSIT: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: This appointment may require completion of a one-year probationary period.
• The selectee is required to report to the duty station(s) listed.
• Typical Examiner Travel: Examination staff routinely travel to the offices of registered entities to conduct on-site inspections of facilities to meet with and interview entity personnel and to examine certain business records.
• Duplicative applications to this announcement over the period of time the announcement is open will not be considered.

Applicants are responsible for confirming all required materials are submitted by the closing date of the announcement. Please check the How You Will Be Evaluated and Required Documents sections carefully as missing documents will render the application incomplete and ineligible for review.

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sector. 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 the closing date of this announcement.

BASIC REQUIREMENT:

A. Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration finance or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term accounting means accounting and/or auditing in this standard. Similarly accountant should be interpreted generally as accountant and/or auditor.)

OR

B. Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting or an equivalent combination of accounting experience college-level education and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicants background must also include one of the following:

1. Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;
2. A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor obtained through written examination; or
3. Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing e.g. 15 semester hours but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting auditing or a related field e.g. valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth depth currency and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting the applicants education training and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: In addition to meeting the basic requirement applicants must also meet the minimum qualification requirement.

1. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS/SK-07 level: 1) Assisting with the audits examinations investigations or internal compliance reviews of federally regulated financial institutions; AND 2) Applying public accounting and auditing standards such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); OR
2. A Masters or equivalent graduate degree OR 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a masters degree.
3. A combination of experience and education as described above.

1. One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS/SK-09 level: 1) Assisting with the audits examinations investigations or internal compliance reviews of federally regulated financial institutions; AND 2) Assisting with projects related to the control functions of a financial services firm; e.g. the review of procedures practices and records related to the issuance distribution and trading of securities risk management accounting treatment capital treatment financing structures or assessment of risk controls; AND 3) Applying public accounting and auditing standards such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); OR
2. A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; LL.M. or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree;
3. A combination of experience and education as described above.

• Competency 1: Information Gathering - Ability to gather and process large amounts of information and make connections to understand possible deficiencie.
• Competency 2: Analysis and Risk Assessment - Analyzes information to assess an entitys level of risk for deficiencies in various focus areas.
• Competency 3: Examwork - Effectively conducts examwork activities (whether onsite correspondence etc.) in a professional manner to procure information from an entity under examination.
• Competency 4: Teamwork and Collaboration - Interacts with internal and external others in a manner that advances examinations and SEC goals and objectives.