Summary
The primary purpose of this position is to assist in the enhancement of community policing through the development of resources and the oversight or provision of technical assistance to local law enforcement agencies.
This job is open to
Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
Federal employees - Competitive service
Current or former competitive service federal employees.
Individuals with disabilities
Land & base management
Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency.
Military spouses
Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista
Veterans
Clarification from the agency
This vacancy announcement is open to Federal employees and other eligible applicants. Please read the "This Job Is Open To" section above, to ensure you are eligible for consideration.
Duties
The duties and responsibilities for a Sociologist (Policing Assistance and Reform) generally include, but are not limited to, the following:
Evaluate and interpret social science research and data analysis practices and validity.
Plan and evaluate the development of programs and the completion of projects related to community policing or training of law enforcement officers.
Provide feedback to a team to ensure the coordination among technical assistance efforts.
Provide the planning, management, and negotiation of organization awards, grants or contracts in the field of criminal justice or community policing.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
You must be a United States Citizen or National.
You will be required to complete a pre-employment security investigation and background check which includes a drug screening.
You may be required to complete a one-year probationary or two-year trial period.
Selective Service registration is required for males born on, or after, December 31st 1959. Those not registered should have an approved exemption on file.
You must meet all eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement and continue to meet these requirements throughout the hiring process. Offers can be rescinded if requirements are not met.
Financial Disclosure: If selected, you may be required to disclose financial information in accordance with DOJ and Federal ethics guidelines.
Additional selections may be made from this announcement, at any time, if openings occur in other offices serviced by Justice Management Division, HR Operations.
Qualifications
To qualify for the position of Sociologist (Policing Assistance and Reform) at (GS-0184-14), you must meet the basic qualification requirements listed below AND possess the required specialized experience specific to this series and grade you're applying to.
If you are a current or former government employee on a permanent appointment in the competitive service, you will need to demonstrate 1-year (52-weeks) at the next lower grade level, to meet the time-in-grade requirements for this occupational series and grade. Additionally, please ensure to submit an applicable SF50 (please refer to the "required documents" section for additional information).
Basic Requirement:
Degree in sociology; or social psychology or political science that included at least 24 semester hours in sociology.
OR
Combination of education and experience in courses equivalent to a major in Sociology (i.e., at least 24 semester hours), plus appropriate experience or additional education.
Specialized Experience for GS-14: For the GS-14, you must have one year of specialized experience at the GS-13 grade level or equivalent pay band in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is defined as managing, developing, and evaluating projects related to the resolution of issues pertaining to community policing, criminal justice programs and policies in the organization.
You MUST meet all qualification requirements, including Time-in-Grade, by the closing date of this announcement, 03/06/2024.
Your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire and the qualification requirements. Failure to do so may result in an ineligible rating. See the Required Documents section for important notes about what must be included in your resume.
Education
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements, please see the statements below: Education must be reviewed and certified by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, in order for it to be creditable towards your qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For more information about this requirement, please visit the U.S. Department of Education website for Foreign Education Evaluation.
All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.
Additional information
The bullets below outline the various groups of applicants that fall under the term "status candidates". This vacancy is open to applicants from any of the groups listed below: When you apply you'll have the chance to claim an eligibility pathway, be sure you fully read each statement and any links provided to make sure you know which eligibility you qualify for.
See a full list and learn more at USAJOBS, see: What does Status Candidate mean? or Which Jobs am I Eligible to Apply for?
CURRENT AND FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: For more information, see USAJOBS Federal Employees.
CAREER TRANSITION PROGRAMS (CTAP or ICTAP): For more information visit: USAJOBS Career Transition Programs
VETERANS AND MILITARY SPOUSES: Please see USAJOBS Veterans Preference for more details.
SCHEDULE A, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Learn more at USAJOBS - Individuals with Disabilities.
General Employment Information:
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION: Our policy can be found at: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/eeos/manual-and-procedures-providing-reasonable-accommodation
DOJ EEO STATEMENT: The U.S. Department of Justice fosters an inclusive and diverse workforce, find our EEO statement online at: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/page/file/1394116/download
SELECTIVE SERVICE: If you were born male, on or 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. Additional information is found at: www.sss.gov.
Benefits
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Once the announcement closes, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be conducted by the HR Specialist. This information will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your eligibility for Federal employment, and then whether you are qualified for this particular position. If a determination is made that you have inflated your responses when compared to your background information, you may be deemed ineligible, or your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your skills and abilities.
Additionally, we will review your supporting documents and resume to determine if you are in the "Area of Consideration" for this vacancy. Government-Wide Merit Promotion vacancies may only accept applications from a limited audience, pay careful attention to the "Who May Apply" and the "Hiring Paths" information. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.
When addressing the specialized experience statement, applicants must present evidence of the experience in their resume. If the specialized experience statement is repeated, in the applicant's resume, Human Resources will deem the applicant as ineligible.
BASIS OF RATING:
DOJ's Merit Promotion Procedures will be used to evaluate candidates.
Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, and other characteristics):
Oral Communication
Project Management
Technical Competence
Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must:
Meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria;
Be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above based on the competencies listed above; and
Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility.
Required Documents
Documentation requirements may vary from applicant to applicant based on your eligibility claims.
It is your responsibility to carefully review the list of document descriptions below, to see which documents are required for your application.
ALL APPLICANTS: You must submit a detailed resume containing the following pieces of information for each job entry listed in your employment history:
Official position title;
Employer name and contact information;
Start and end dates (including month and year);
A detailed list of duties & accomplishments,
Your grade/step achieved; and
The number of hours worked per week (or indicate full-time).
If you are a current or former Federal employee:
You must submit your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) or equivalent agency form. Do not submit an award SF-50, these do not contain sufficient information about your appointment
Your SF-50 should list the full position title, series, grade and step, organization, duty location, service computation date, effective date, and your service type and tenure status.
Submit a copy of your most recent performance evaluation or appraisal, signed, showing your final rating. If a performance appraisal is not available submit a statement explaining why one is not available.
See USAJOBS Current & Former Employees for more information.
If you are a Veteran or a qualifying parent or spouse:
Submit all DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, Member-4 Copy) forms.
If you are a Veteran with a service-connected disability rating you will need to submit the SF-15 (Application for 10-point Veterans Preference) and a copy of your VA Letter stating your disability rating.
If you are the qualifying parent or spouse of a disabled, deceased, or deployed Veteran, and are seeking a derived preference eligibility, you must submit appropriate supporting documentation such as the Veterans DD-214, SF-15, VA Letter.
For more information on each type of Veterans Preference, and the documentation required for each, see FedsHireVets.
If you are a person with a disability, claiming eligibility under Schedule A:
You must submit "proof of a disability" documentation ("Proof of a disability" is a letter stating that you have an intellectual disability, severe physical disability or psychiatric disability).
You must get this letter from your doctor, a licensed medical professional, a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any Federal, state, or local agency that issues or provides disability benefits.
For more information about Schedule A and verification requirements, please see OPM's Schedule A site.
If you are a displaced Federal employee claiming eligibility under CTAP or ICTAP:
You must submit your separation notice or agency RIF letter from your agency.
If you have not yet been separated, you can provide the letter of intent to separate you from the agency because of reduction-in-force.
See USAJOBS' Career Transition Programs for more information.
If you are using education to qualify for this position, or education is required:
You must submit a transcript, which may be unofficial, as long as it contains a full listing of courses, credit earned, grade and grade-point-average, subject area, degree(s) earned, and dates of award.
Your transcript must come from a nationally-accredited educational institution recognized by the Department of Education.
Please do not submit electronic transcripts with documentation security protection. These may prevent our application system from accepting and processing the document.
If submitting a foreign transcript, you must have the transcript reviewed by an approved foreign education review organization recognized by the Department of Education. Your transcript must also be in English or have an English translation included.
USAJOBS - What documents might I need to provide?
How to Apply
To apply for this position, you must complete the online application questionnaire and submit your supporting documentation. Your complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 03/06/2024 to receive consideration.
Please note that if the vacancy has an application limit, it will be listed at the top of the announcement by USAJOBS, and the closing date may be sooner than listed here.
If you would like to preview the assessment questionnaire, please see: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12322227
Click "Apply Online" to get started.
If you're not logged in to your USAJOBS account, you will need to login. If you don't have an account, please create one.
You will be prompted to select one of your stored (or uploaded) resumes, and any supporting documents you have uploaded to USAJOBS. If you have not uploaded these documents, you can do so later before submitting your application.
After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, you will be asked to submit your demographic information (if you have provided this in your profile). Submission is optional and anonymous.
You'll be asked to confirm your choices and certify the accuracy of your information before you're able to continue to the Application Manager system. Until you see the blue border and DOJ logo, you are still on USAJOBS. You'll see a folder animation just before you leave USAJOBS.
Once you reach DOJ's Application Manager system, you'll be asked to verify the information you transmitted from USAJOBS. You will then respond to the application assessment questionnaires and indicate your eligibility options.
After responding to the questionnaires, you will have the opportunity to attach the documents you brought over from USAJOBS *OR* upload documents directly from your computer or device.
If you opt to upload a document directly, click the "Upload" button and select the document on your device, then wait for the upload to finish. Repeat as needed. Documents must be less than 3 MB each and should be in a compatible file format.
Once all your documents are uploaded, you must assign the uploads to the appropriate document category. You may attach more than one document to each category. Click the drop-down menu for a document category, and select one of the available options in the menu. The document will be listed under this category. You can click the drop-down again to add other documents, as needed. You can have up to 15 document assignments.
Once you've uploaded and assigned all your documents to an appropriate document type, you can proceed to the final verification step, and click Submit.
If you have correctly submitted your application, you will receive an automated e-mail notification within 30-60 minutes. Be sure to review the announcement fully to make sure that your application contains everything that is required.
If you need help with the application process, please see the USAJOBS Site (for everything on the USAJOBS-side), or the Application Manager Site (for everything on the DOJ-side).
Regrettably, the Department of Justice cannot assist you with USAJOBS account issues. If you contact us for assistance and the problem is related to your USAJOBS account, we will have to direct you to USAJOBS to remedy the issue.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS:
If you are unable to apply online due to a disability or overseas deployment, you must request an alternative application, which is available from the Human Resources Office. Please contact Rhonda Douglas at Rhonda.D.Douglas@usdoj.gov or 202-286-0085 to discuss your situation. Accommodations are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Indicate that you're asking for a reasonable accommodation in your e-mail so the HR Specialist knows how to direct you.
Agency contact information
Rhonda Douglas
Phone
202-286-0085
Email
Rhonda.D.Douglas@usdoj.gov
Address
Community Oriented Policing Services
2 Constitution Square
145 N Street NE
Room 9W.300
Washington, DC 20530
US
Next steps
You will receive e-mail notifications as your application status is updated by DOJ. However, you can also see your application status any time by logging in to your USAJOBS account and looking on the "Applications" page. Click the position title to expand the display for each application in the list. Click here to learn more about checking your application status, or see what each application status means.
We strive to extend a final offer of employment within 90 days from the close of this announcement. Delays do sometimes occur for reasons beyond our control. Additional selections may be made from this announcement if openings in other offices occur within 90 days, candidates who are referred to the hiring office, may be referred to other hiring offices in this scenario.
Additional selections may be made from this announcement, for up to 90 days, if openings occur in other offices serviced by Justice Management Division.