Unemployment Insurance Program Specialist
- US Employment and Training Administration
- Chicago, IL, USA
- $118,984 - $154,682 yearly
Job Description
Summary
The United States Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration, Chicago Regional Office is recruiting for Unemployment Insurance Program Specialist at the GS-13 level.
This position is inside the bargaining unit.
Learn more about this agency
This job is open to
The public
Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
Clarification from the agency
All US Citizens. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) eligibles must be in the local commuting area. Also advertised as job# MS-26-DAL-ETA-12936584-KGM (for internal to ETA applicants only). To be considered for each, apply to BOTH jobs.
Duties
Duties for this position include:
Provides authoritative advice and consultation to others on highly complex Unemployment Insurance (UI) issues and concerns.
Participates in reviews and evaluations of unemployment insurance benefit and tax functions, systems, and/or activities designed to enhance program integrity, performance, or quality to improve service to claimants and employers.
Establishes and maintains systems for the assessment of unemployment insurance program accuracy and quality.
Reviews State unemployment insurance legislation for conformity with Federal requirements.
Interprets Federal requirements and procedures to grantees to assist them to comply with Federal requirements.
Works with grantees to identify potential issues and conducts research on policy guidance and legislation.
Reviews policy and guidance for application.
Communicates Federal and grant award requirements to grantees to ensure understanding of grant requirements.
Ensures that grantees deliver agreed upon products and services, achieve negotiated performance outcomes, and operate in accordance with programmatic, administrative, and budgetary requirements.
Leads and conducts on-site compliance monitoring reviews and Enhanced Desk Monitoring Reviews (EDMRs) of grantees to: evaluate the grantee's progress towards meeting the goals specified in the grant agreement with Department of Labor and Employment & Training Administration (ETA).
Assess the quality of the program and services; ensure that grant activities are being conducted in compliance with the grant agreement and applicable Federal regulations.
Prepares highly complex monitoring reports upon the completion of a monitoring review.
Serves in a senior capacity in the development of policy guidance and technical assistance resources for ETA grantees and workforce system stakeholders.
Develops and applies new methods and techniques to solve problems where existing guides are largely inapplicable.
Communicates Federal and grant award requirements to grantees to ensure understanding of grant requirements.
Leads and provides technical assistance to grantees to assist them in accomplishing the goals and objectives of the grant by applying problem solving techniques to address deficiencies.
Recommends new approaches and alternatives to address current or anticipated problems.
Requirements
Conditions of employment
- Must be a U.S. Citizen.
- Must be at least 16 years old.
- Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.
- Candidate required to obtain the necessary security/investigation level.
Qualifications
Basic Requirements for Occupational Series 0106 Unemployment Insurance:
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-
Experience
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 meeting the Basic Requirements described above, you must have the Specialized Experience described below.
Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the duties of the position successfully, 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.
Qualifying specialized experience for GS-13 includes (Applicants must demonstrate only four(4) of the following):
- Interpreting legislation, regulations, policies and guidance for Unemployment Insurance (UI) and applying interpretations to manage Federal and/or state UI grant programs.
- Conducting oversight monitoring reviews of Unemployment Insurance programs and evaluating and/or developing compliance reports with applicable laws, regulations, policies and program guidance.
- Providing policy advice, delivering technical assistance, and training on operational and performance issues related to administering Unemployment Insurance programs.
- Applying expert knowledge, with minimal assistance from higher level staff, to provide sound guidance to state agencies in a variety of Unemployment Insurance program areas, including at least three of the following areas: Adjudication, Claims Intake and Processing, Appeals, UI Budget including Resource Justification Model Process, Benefits and Timeliness Quality (BTQ) Programs for Non-monetary Determinations and Appeals, Interstate Benefits and Combined Wage Claims, Tax, Tax Performance Systems, Data Validation, UI Benefit charging systems and experience rating systems, Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members, Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees, Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA), Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA), and Benefit Payment Control.
- Reviewing and providing detailed and substantive guidance for revision of at least one of the following: State Quality Service Plan (SQSP), draft Unemployment Insurance guidance, and Unemployment Insurance data programing.
- Communicating orally to a variety of audiences; writing and editing formal reports with technical accuracy.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC, WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Education
Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.
If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.
Additional information
Applicants must meet all legal and regulatory requirements. Reference the Required Documents section for additional requirements.
The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to protect the welfare of workers and job seekers, improve working conditions, expand high-quality employment opportunities, and assure work-related benefits and rights for all workers.
Refer to these links for more information: GENERAL INFORMATION, REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS, ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION, FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
As a condition of employment, all personnel must undergo a background investigation for access to DOL facilities, systems, information and/or classified materials before they can enter on duty: BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION
This position is inside the bargaining unit. If the duty location is within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the position will be included in the Local 12, AFGE bargaining unit. If the duty location is outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the position will be included in the NCFLL bargaining unit.
For more information, click Telework Position Information. This is not a remote work position. The selectee will report to an assigned DOL office location on a regular basis and is eligible for participation in telework as determined by management in accordance with DOL policy.
Based on agency needs, additional positions may be filled using this vacancy.
The Department of Labor may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government to attract highly qualified candidates. Click for more information on Pay, Leave, and Workforce Flexibilities.
The Fair Chance Act (FCA) prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicant's criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment. If you believe a DOL employee has violated your rights under the FCA, you may file a complaint of the alleged violation following our agency's complaint process Guidelines for Reporting Violations of the Fair Chance Act.
Note: The FCA does not apply to some positions specified under the Act, such as law enforcement or national security positions.
All Department of Labor employees are subject to the provisions of the Drug-Free Workplace Program under Executive Order 12564 and Public Law 100-71.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your evaluation will be based on how well you meet the qualifications outlined in this vacancy announcement, as demonstrated through your resume and supporting documentation.
Click Application of Veterans Preference for more information.
You may preview application questions for this vacancy here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12936583
If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be evaluated against the evaluation factors below and will be placed into a category based on your vacancy question responses.
Category A - Meets the basic qualification requirements for the vacancy and has successful experience in the same or similar job that has demonstrated superior proficiency in applying critical competencies required by this position to work of increased levels of difficulty and complexity.
Category B - Meets the basic qualification requirements for the vacancy and demonstrates satisfactory proficiency in the critical competencies required by this position.
Category C - Meets the specialized experience described in the minimum qualification requirements section of this announcement and demonstrates proficiency in the basic competencies.
Click here for Evaluation details.
SME Resume Panel Review
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will review your resume to assess your technical qualifications based on the competencies listed below. Applicants who meet the required qualifications will advance to the next stage of the hiring process.
For each below competency, SME(s) will provide a rating of 0-Not Applicable, 1-Awareness, 2-Basic, 3-Intermediate, 4-Advanced, or 5-Expert based on the content of your resume.
Evaluation Factors (Competencies) - All qualified applicants will be evaluated on the following key competencies:
- Compliance
- Legal, Government and Jurisprudence
- Oral Communication
- Technical Competence
- Writing
The information you provide may be verified by a review of your paid, unpaid, volunteer, as it demonstrates the competencies or skills required for the position to be filled. Your evaluation may include an interview, reference checks, or other assessment conducted by HR specialists, subject matter experts, or panel members and may include other assessment tools (ex. interview, structured interview, written test, work sample, etc.).
INFORMATION FOR ICTAP/CTAP ELIGIBLE(S) ONLY: If you are eligible for special priority selection under ICTAP/CTAP, you must be well-qualified for the position to receive consideration. ICTAP/CTAP eligible(s) who are Category B or higher will be considered well-qualified. Be sure to review the eligibility questions to reflect that you are applying as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible and submit supporting documentation.
Required Documents
The following documents must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on the vacancy closing date.
- Resumes: Required and applicants must provide a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one from your profile. To receive full consideration for relevant and specialized experience, please list the month, year, and number of work hours worked for the experience listed on your resume. We also suggest that you preview the vacancy questions and confirm that your resume supports your question responses.
- Veterans Documents (if applicable): To be considered as a 5-point (TP) preference eligible, you must submit a copy of your DD214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. Your DD 214 must show the type of discharge and dates of active duty. To claim 10-point (CP/CPS, XP) preference, you must submit a copy of your DD214 and the proof of entitlement of this preference, which is normally an official statement, dated 1991 or later, from the Department of Veterans Affairs certifying to the present existence of the service-connected disability and indicating the percentage of your disability. In addition, a Standard Form (SF-15) should be included, but is not required. (For active-duty service members expecting honorable or general discharge or release within 120 days, click Tentative Preference for Active Duty). For more information, go to Feds Hire Vets - Veterans Preference.
- Displaced Employee Placement Documents: Only required if requesting priority consideration under CTAP or ICTAP eligibility.
- Unofficial Transcript(s) (in English) - If you are using education as a basis for qualifying for this position, you must submit all applicable academic transcripts demonstrating that you meet the qualifying educational requirements (ex. BA/BS, MA, JD, PhD, etc.). If specific coursework is required to qualify, you must supply an unofficial transcript from each academic institution in which the required courses were taken in order to receive credit. You may upload your unofficial transcript(s) as one document with a maximum size limit of 5 MB.
NOTE: The OFFICIAL Transcript(s) MUST BE RECEIVED (if meeting the individual occupational requirement with education) if you are selected, and prior to receiving the firm offer with a start date.
Cover Letters are not mandatory and will not be used to verify experience but may be submitted.
Do not upload password-protected documents.
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period 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 your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or have speech disabilities, please dial 711 to access telecommunications relay services.
To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, including submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section.
Application Limits: Your application and ALL required supplemental documents MUST be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the date the application limit was reached or the vacancy closing date, whichever occurs first, to receive consideration.
Important - Save your information before the 30-minute system timeout! For help, go to the USAJOBS Help Center.
STEP 1 - Create USAJOBS Account on www.usajobs.gov, including Resume and Saved Documents. For each employment period, include start/end month & year and note full-time or part-time (if part-time, include # of hours worked per week) otherwise, your application may be considered incomplete.
NOTE: In alignment with the Presidential Memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, applicants may only submit a resume limited to two (2) pages. Only the résumé uploaded under the 'Resume" document type in USAJOBS will be reviewed. If the resume submitted exceeds two (2) pages, the application will be deemed ineligible for further consideration.
STEP 2 - Complete the 1st part of the application process (USAJOBS). Once you have identified a job on USAJOBS that you wish to apply for, click on the job title and then click the Apply button. For questions about the vacancy, contact the Agency Contact at the bottom of the announcement. Proceed through the steps noted at the top of the USAJOBS page. You will be able to select a resume and documents from your USAJOBS Account that you can submit as a package as part of your DOL application. In the final step, once you have certified your application, click the Continue to agency site button.
STEP 3 - Complete the 2nd part of the application process (DOL). On the Department of Labor (DOL) page, create a DOL Account if you have not already and click Apply to this vacancy. Continue through the progress steps at the top of the DOL page. The 2nd progress step is where you answer the vacancy-specific questions. The 3rd progress step Documents is where you submit the required documents (only if applicable to you) specified in the Required Documents section of this vacancy.
STEP 4 - On the Review and Submit step, verify each section of your application is complete and correct. In order to submit your application, you must have a check mark next to each section listed. If there is an X, return to the appropriate section and follow the prompts. When it is ready for submission, certify your application and click the Submit Application button.
STEP 5 - Edit Application by returning to USAJOBS, clicking the vacancy then Update Application. If the vacancy closes on the date the application limit is reached, applicants will no longer be able to edit their applications.
To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.
To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
For more detailed information on applying for positions with DOL click here to view the U.S. Department of Labor, How to Apply website.
Agency contact information
200 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20210
US
Next steps
Once your complete application is received, we will conduct an evaluation of your qualifications and refer candidates for selection consideration. Candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interviews. You will be notified of the outcome. A selection is expected to be made within 30 calendar days of the issuance date of the certificate.
For instructions on how to check the status of your application, go to USAJOBS Help Guide.
USAJOBS will no longer send status alert email notifications. You can check your application status in the TAS by logging into USAJOBS and in the Applicant Dashboard, click the hiring agency Talent Acquisition System (TAS). If the TAS does not provide application tracking information, contact the agency's point of contact on the job announcement.
To verify that your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, select the Application Status link, and then select the more information link for this position. The Application page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Overview
- 0106 Unemployment Insurance
- Suitability/Fitness
- Credentialing
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