Unemployment Insurance Program Specialist

This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), as described below: Undergraduate Education: Major study – economics, industrial relations, law, sociology, political science, public administration, or other related fields. Courses in statistics or mathematics applicable to the social sciences are creditable up to a maximum of 12 semester hours. Graduate Education: Major study – one or a combination of the social sciences that included social science research methodology and techniques, and provided a knowledge of the history, concepts, methods, and techniques of social insurance and/or the social and economic conditions under which social insurance programs operate. OR Specialized Experience: Experience related to social insurance. This includes experience applying statistics or mathematics to the social insurance field. Specialized experience must have demonstrated: A knowledge of current social and economic conditions under which social insurance programs operate, and the principles of Federal/State/local relationships; The ability to extend and modify existing techniques and methods or to develop new ones to identify, isolate, and resolve special problems; and The ability to develop effective collaborative relationships with personnel in other fields and with groups having conflicting objectives. Qualifying specialized experience may have been gained through work in the following or similar types of programs: unemployment insurance; old-age and survivors’ insurance; workers’ compensation; disability compensation; or other public or private programs covering common social insurance risks. In addition to the above, applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade levels, in the Federal Service. Specialized Experience for this position is defined as experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA’s) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. For the GS-11 Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-9, in the Federal Service. To qualify at the GS-11 applicants must meet 1 of the 6 examples below. Drafting departmental written guidance or providing official agency training on: Unemployment Insurance (UI) program requirements (such as: conformity with federal law, Core Measures, Secretary Standards, federal acceptable levels of performance, benefit payment accuracy, or due process) or procedures (such as: holding an appeals hearing, determining fraud or improper payment, or auditing an employer’s tax account); Drafting the state workforce agency State Quality Service Plan (SQSP) or conducting Benefit Timeliness Quality (BTQ) reviews, Appeals quarterly reviews, Tax Performance System (TPS) reviews, Benefits Accuracy Measurement (BAM) review, fraud investigation and making the determination of eligibility, or participating in an ETA or state audit of a UI program; Conducting or judging UI appeals hearings; such as ruling on the admission of documents, questioning witnesses, and signing the resulting decisions ruling on qualification for benefits; Analyzing UI law/regulations/Unemployment Insurance Program Letters (UIPLS) and providing legal analysis or operational guidance for state UI agency implementation to the state UI agency senior officials (including Assistant UI Director, UI Director, UI State agency UI Executive Director, State agency general counsel, State agency assistant general counsel, or State Administrator); Designing UI operational systems through automation, modernization, or process flow for system and benefit payment accuracy improvement; or Reviewing and approving, supervising, or directing staff accountable for any of the following tasks: conducting or judging UI appeals hearings; determining claim fraud or improper payment; reviewing UI law/regulations and providing legal analysis or recommendations to the state agency senior officials (including UI Director, UI State agency UI Executive Director, State agency general counsel, State agency assistant general counsel, or State Administrator); designing a UI automated system; or conducting BAM, Appeals quarterly reviews, TPS reviews, or UI program audits by ETA or state auditors. OR, Posses a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. OR, Posses a combination of education and experience. For the GS-12 Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-11, in the Federal Service. To qualify at the GS-12 applicants must meet 2 of the 6 examples below. Drafting departmental written guidance or providing official agency training on: Unemployment Insurance (UI) program requirements (such as: conformity with federal law, Core Measures, Secretary Standards, federal acceptable levels of performance, benefit payment accuracy, or due process) or procedures (such as: holding an appeals hearing, determining fraud or improper payment, or auditing an employer’s tax account); Drafting the state workforce agency State Quality Service Plan (SQSP) or conducting Benefit Timeliness Quality (BTQ) reviews, Appeals quarterly reviews, Tax Performance System (TPS) reviews, Benefits Accuracy Measurement (BAM) review, fraud investigation and making the determination of eligibility, or participating in an ETA or state audit of a UI program; Conducting or judging UI appeals hearings; such as ruling on the admission of documents, questioning witnesses, and signing the resulting decisions ruling on qualification for benefits; Analyzing UI law/regulations/Unemployment Insurance Program Letters (UIPLS) and providing legal analysis or operational guidance for state UI agency implementation to the state UI agency senior officials (including Assistant UI Director, UI Director, UI State agency UI Executive Director, State agency general counsel, State agency assistant general counsel, or State Administrator); Designing UI operational systems through automation, modernization, or process flow for system and benefit payment accuracy improvement; or Reviewing and approving, supervising, or directing staff accountable for any of the following tasks: conducting or judging UI appeals hearings; determining claim fraud or improper payment; reviewing UI law/regulations and providing legal analysis or recommendations to the state agency senior officials (including UI Director, UI State agency UI Executive Director, State agency general counsel, State agency assistant general counsel, or State Administrator); designing a UI automated system; or conducting BAM, Appeals quarterly reviews, TPS reviews, or UI program audits by ETA or state auditors. There is no substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level.
The mission of the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is to contribute to the more efficient functioning of the U.S. Labor market by providing high quality job training, employment, labor market information and income maintenance services primarily through state and local workforce development systems. Positions are located within the ETA, Dallas Regional Office. This position is inside the Bargaining Unit.