Sign Language Interpreter

• Consider each location carefully when applying. If you are selected for a location, that location will become your official post of duty.
• In the event that a building is closed due to rent management, new hires may be placed in a local commuting location.
• Additional jobs may be filled from this announcement or any other source to fill these vacancies.

REVIEW THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW FOR FURTHER DETAILS

Qualifications:

Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
Individual Occupational Requirements
Education
Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- the appropriate foreign language from an English-speaking college or university, English from a college or university in the other country, or translating or interpretingwhere English and the foreign language were prerequisites.
OR
Experience in translating, interpreting, or other work requiring the use of English and the other language; or a combination of work (that required English and the other language) and training at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Service Institute, or comparable training.
The following are examples of work in the required language that may have provided the required abilities: translator; interpreter; librarian or information specialist required to make abstracts, screen, index, and scan material; intelligence; writer or editor; international organizational work, such as the Peace Corps, World Bank, United Nations, business, or other organizations; or professor, teacher, or instructor work at the high school or college level that required use of the foreign language.

Language requirement: This is a bilingual position. Applicants will be required to demonstrate proficiency in Sign Language and English. You must be able to speak, read, and write English and be able to interpret and transliterate American Sign Language (ASL), Manually Coded English (MCE) and Contact Variety Sign (CVS) to English, and from English to the aforementioned sign languages to be considered proficient. You may be assessed at some point in the hiring process to determine if you possess the required level of proficiency. If you are unable to demonstrate proficiency, you will not be qualified for this position.

Specialized Experience GS-11: In addition to the basic requirement outlined above, you must meet one of the specific grade requirements for GS-11. You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position must be sufficient to demonstrate:

• English, American Sign Language (ASL), Contact Variety Sign (CVS) and Manually Coded English (MCE) to perform Sign-to-English and English-to-Sign interpretation;
• Using interpreting processes to determine the most effective means of communication for each deaf/hard of hearing employee;
• Assisting in the development of training curriculum and utilizing current methods and materials in the instruction of sign language courses;
• Utilizing telecommunication devices, assistive listening devices and other related technology for deaf/hard of hearing employees;
• Dealing with the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Code of Ethics in order to maintain ethical standards for professional interpreters;
• Utilizing resources and procedures for contracting sign language interpreter services; and effective written and oral communication skills. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Interpreting for deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals in meetings or training; Coordinating schedules for contract interpreters by arranging, and tracking hours and allocated funds; Assisting with the development and implementation of training for sign language instruction for employees; and Identifying barriers and resolving communication problems between supervisors and deaf/hard-of-hearing employees.

OR EDUCATION: A course of study that includes 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree
OR Ph.D.
OR equivalent doctoral degree in Sign Language Interpreting or a related field of study.
OR LL.M., if related
OR equivalent amount of combined education and experience as described in paragraphs above.

AND
You must also meet the following requirements:

• TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): Current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens".
• TIME IN GRADE (TIG): For positions above the GS-05,applicants must meet applicable time-in-­grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the grade you are applying for. For positions at the GS-5, you cannot advance to the GS-05 if you have held a GS-02 in the past 52 weeks. There is no TIG restriction for GS-02, 03, or 04 positions.

For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

Responsibilities:

The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position.

• Interprets in a variety of settings involving deaf/hard of hearing employees and hearing persons who are not familiar with sign language and the interpreting process.
• Simultaneously and consecutively interprets/transliterates, with equal facility in rendering from American
  Sign Language (ASL), Contact Variety Sign (CVS), and Manually Coded English (MCE) to English and
  from English to the aforementioned sign languages.
• Uses oral forms of communication to provide communication access for oral deaf or hard of hearing
  individuals and uses tactile forms of English, ASL, CVS and MCE to interpret/transliterate for individuals
  who are deaf-blind as needed.
• Interprets/transliterates for deaf/hard of hearing employees and hearing persons engaged in specialized
  meetings, seminars or training programs that utilize technical vocabularies and terminology unique to those
  fields (technical tax terminology, computer technical language).
• Interprets/transliterates for deaf/hard of hearing employees and hearing persons engaged in formal and
  informal meetings and other discussions with supervisors and staff members.

STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD): PD96007
Visit the IRS SPD Library to access the position descriptions.

Salary : $75,055