Federal

HR Officer (NSPS Office)

Office of the Secretary of the Interior ยท Department of the Interior
๐Ÿ“ Washington, District of Columbia GS-15 $169,279 - $197,200/yr
Posted: Jun 15, 2026 Deadline: Jun 23, 2026 (Closes in 7 days)

About This Position

The Department of the Interior is devoted to protecting and preserving the natural resources of this great nation, including National Parks, Landmarks, and the well-being of communities, including those of Native American, Alaska Natives and affiliated Islanders.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying. Specialized Experience To qualify for the GS-15, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is in or related to the work of the position to be filled.

Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Oversee daily human resources operations, evaluate performance, and improve service delivery across a large or nationwide organization. Advise senior leadership on HR policies, regulations, and workforce impacts. Develop or update operating procedures to ensure compliance with federal HR law and Departmental guidance.

Represent HR at high level meetings to disseminate information and resolve significant personnel program matters. Must meet all. Highly Desired: Skill in law enforcement, aviation, or fire staffing experience.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualification Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions and is available at OPM's website: https://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/num-ndx.asp All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Merit Promotion candidates must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

Major Duties

This position is located within the Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary (OS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget (ASPMB), Office of Human Capital (OHC), National Security and Public Safety (NSPS) Support Office, in Washington, D.C. At the full performance level (GS-15) the major duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following: 1. Leads HR operational functions, delivering accurate and timely human resources services in support of NSPS operations.

  1. Provides expert guidance on federal HR processes, resolves complex personnel issues, and ensures policy and regulatory compliance.
  2. Reviews, validates, and reconciles HR data and documentation to maintain accurate employee records and auditable files.
  3. Responsible for managing workload distribution, staffing priorities, and resource allocation across HR functional teams to ensure continuous support for hiring and personnel personnel processing operations.
  4. Coordinates with managers, employees, and HR partners to address inquiries, correct discrepancies, and improve operational efficiency. The Office of the Secretary has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and may be allowed with supervisory approval.

Salary Information GS-15 (Step 1) $169,279- (Step 10) $197,200 (Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA locality) Link to OPM Pay Tables: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2026/general-schedule/ This vacancy may be used to fill additional positions as vacancies become available.

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen.

You will be subject to a background/suitability investigation/determination.

You will be required to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit.

You must submit ALL required documents and a completed questionnaire. 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. See http://www.sss.gov/.

How You Will Be Evaluated

Please limit your resume to no more than 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications. Once the application process is complete, we will review your application to ensure you meet the job requirements.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses to the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

Your responses to the online assessment will be used to measure the degree to which your background matches the requirements for this position. However, your resume must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. The best qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview. In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessment(s), including a structured interview. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies: Customer Service Leadership Managing Human Resources Planning and Evaluating Technical Competence All qualified Non-Competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. DUE WEIGHT Due Weight Consideration is a review process used to provide consideration to performance appraisals and awards submitted with each application on a used merit promotion certificate and factoring the results into the merit promotion selection process. Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years.

Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available.

Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level. It is your responsibility to obtain and upload your performance appraisal/evaluation and/or list of awards prior to the closing of the vacancy announcement. To preview the assessment questionnaire click: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12983097

Additional Information

Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period (as applicable) 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 or trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation on the part of management to promote the employee selected at some future date. Promotion will depend upon administrative approval and the continuing need for and performance of higher-level duties.

This is a supervisory position that may require completion of a supervisory probationary period. The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361.

NOTICE: This employer participates in E-Verify and will utilize your Form I-9 information to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S.A preliminary background check must be completed before a new employee can begin work with the U.S. Department of the Interior. The preliminary background check consists of a search of Office of Personnel Management and Department of Defense background investigation files and an FBI National Criminal History Fingerprint Check; it may take up to 3 weeks to complete.

If selected for this position, you will be extended a tentative offer of employment pending a satisfactory background check. Current Federal employees or individuals with an existing completed background investigation may not be required to undergo another background check; these will be handled on a case-by-case basis in coordination with the Bureau security office.

How to Apply

Your complete application, including required documents, must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. To apply on-line, you must complete and submit an application by accessing the USAJOBS website at www.usajobs.gov.

To begin, click the Apply Online button near the bottom of this screen and follow the prompts to register into your USAJOBS account, answer the questions, and submit all required documents. To return to your saved application, log in to your USAJOBS account at www.usajobs.gov and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select Apply Online to continue. Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s), including within the same metro/commuting area.

Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration.

Required Documents

Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.

Your 2-page Resume must contain information sufficient to make a valid determination that you fully meet the specialized experience requirements as stated in this vacancy announcement and OPM qualification standards for each grade level(s) for which you are applying.

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text.. All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression.

Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications. It is strongly recommended that you use the USAJobs Resume Builder as it was designed to ensure that your resume includes the standard information needed. The Resume Builder is available at help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include Your application package must include: (1) 2-page resume showing relevant experience as written in your own words; (2) Completed online Assessment Questionnaire; (3) SF-50's showing (1) your highest FPL, and (2) most current SF-50 noting position, grade level, tenure, and duty station.

Please note that all SF-50's submitted must show that you are a status candidate or eligible under this announcement. Please refer to the eligibility in the online questionnaire for more information; (4) Form BIA-4432, Verification of Indian Preference for Employment, if claiming Indian preference for an Indian Preference position. No other form will be accepted; (5) Certificates, license, etc. (if applicable); (6) Form DD-214 OR VA letter and Standard Form 15, if eligible under VEOA or VRA; (7) Proof of eligibility if applying under a special appointing authority; (8) College transcript (if applicable) for verification of qualifying education.

Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; (9) Current or former Government employees are strongly encouraged to submit a recent performance appraisal.

NOTE: Applicants eligible under PL-114-47, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) must submit documentation verifying (a) initial selection under competitive examining procedures to a land management agency under a time-limited appointment in the competitive service , (b) service under this initial appointment, or in conjunction with subsequent competitive service time-limited appointments, to a land management agency was for a period of 24 months without a break in service of two or more years, and (c) performance was evaluated as being at an acceptable level for the entire applicable period(s). "Required documentation" includes first and last SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) for each appointment verifying the Position Occupied code (Block 34) is 1-Competitive Service, AND documentation of successful performance for each appointment. Applicants are encouraged to combine all required documents into one or more files and scan for uploading into the application. Each file must not exceed 3MB.

Grouping documents into files will simplify the application process. Failure to submit required documentation will result in loss of consideration.

You will find additional information on the following topics: (1) e-Verify; (2) Selective Service; (3) CTAP/ICTAP; (4) Education - accreditation; (5) Foreign education; (6) Veterans preference; (7) Special appointing authority documentation; and more can be found on our web site: https://www.bsee.gov/careers/usajobs-assistance OR http://www.boem.gov/USAJobs-Assistance/. If you are claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, you must submit proof by the closing date of the announcement that you meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(a) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP or you will not receive priority consideration. The proof includes a copy of the agency notice, your most recent Performance Rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty station.

To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, you must earn a minimum score of 85 or above (prior to the assignment of veteran's preference) on the rating criteria for this position.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the salary for the HR Officer (NSPS Office) position at Office of the Secretary of the Interior?
The salary range for this position is $169,279 - $197,200/yr. This is a GS-15 position on the General Schedule pay scale. Actual pay may vary based on locality adjustments.
Where is the HR Officer (NSPS Office) job located?
This position is located in Washington, District of Columbia. This is an on-site position.
What qualifications do I need?
Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying. Specialized Experience To qualify for the GS-15, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Oversee daily human resources operations, evaluate performance, and improve service delivery across a large or nationwide organization. Advise senior leadership on HR policies, regulations, and workforce impacts. Develop or update operating procedures to ensure compliance with federal HR law and Departmental guidance. Represent HR at high level meetings to disseminate information and resolve significant personnel program matters. Must meet all. Highly Desired: Skill in law enforcement, aviation, or fire staffing experience. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualification Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions and is available at OPM's website: https://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/num-ndx.asp All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Merit Promotion candidates must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
How do I apply for this position?
Apply through USAJobs.gov by clicking the 'Apply on USAJobs' button. You'll need a USAJobs account, a federal-style resume, and supporting documents. The deadline is Jun 23, 2026.
Is a security clearance required?
No security clearance is required for this position.
What benefits do federal employees receive?
Federal employees receive comprehensive benefits including health insurance (FEHB), retirement through FERS, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with government matching, paid annual and sick leave, paid parental leave, life insurance, and student loan repayment programs.