USPTO Human Resources Staffing Specialist

The Grey Street Consulting, LLC (Grey Street) Human Resources (HR) Staffing Specialist provides expert level comprehensive staffing, recruitment, and placement services to the Employment Divisions for the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The incumbent will work closely with the Federal HR team in a variety of functional areas including, but not limited to: advisory services, some tangential personnel action processing, and related human resources operational work. The HR Staffing Specialist may work in tandem with Federal Specialist(s), other HR Specialist(s), Senior Specialist(s), and Senior Human Resources Assistant(s) team remotely. The Specialist will also provide guidance for lower-level employees as applicable/relevant. Duties and responsibilities include:

• Providing expert level consultative services on the full range of recruitment activities from beginning to end (full hiring life cycle) to include recruitment, staffing, job analysis, applicant assessment questionnaire, vacancy announcement posting, qualifications determination, application of Veterans preference, pay setting, onboarding, and separation. Advise on available special appointing authorities or other hiring flexibilities.
• Collaborating with the hiring manager to determine the proper source of candidates such as all sources (delegated examining, merit promotion, and other excepted appointing authorities), special hiring programs such as the Pathways Program, or other staffing avenues.
• Developing and gaining approval for valid, defensible candidate assessment questionnaires that will distinguish best qualified candidates.
• Using USAStaffing to score assessment questionnaires and post vacancy announcements ensuring that all required elements are included in accordance with USPTO and OPM requirements. 
• Reviewing and validating candidate basic eligibility and make minimum qualifications determinations for all vacancy announcements; evaluate candidates for details or intern/extern opportunities based on minimum criteria as found in the opportunity posting.
• Adjudicating veterans’ preference eligibility for delegated examining cases and non-competitive veterans’ appointment authorities.
• Managing applicant pools in accordance with USPTO policy and guidance to ensure that candidates are viable and current, including removing candidates who decline, ask to be removed from consideration, or are otherwise ineligible.
• Issuing selection certificates for all hiring authorities and ensuring that certificates are accurate, contain best qualified/minimally qualified candidates, and for delegated examining certificates, that veterans receive preference in the appropriate category.
• Providing guidance to hiring managers on USPTO policy regarding interviews and selection procedures; following up with hiring managers to ensure that actions are completed prior to certificate expiration dates.
• Supporting supplemental candidate review (SME) evaluation processes, issue offers of employment, and perform quality review of other team members’ staffing actions.
• Coding and processing staffing- and placement-related personnel action requests (PAR) using relevant systems (e.g., HR Connect/NFC) to ensure that they are coded accurately in accordance with relevant regulations (e.g., the OPM Guide to Processing Personnel Actions). 
• Providing expert level staffing guidance to federal hiring managers, employees, and job applicants regarding recruitment and placement practices, procedures, policies, and guidelines. 
• Analyzing and responding to difficult staffing and placement inquiries/issues and propose appropriate solutions.
• Input work performed for all case work into AG HR Tracker which supports the AG PM in tracking of performance metrics.
• Contributing to Monthly Report processes and develop new concepts and strategies related to the development, improvement and evaluation of HR programs.
• Maintaining and closing out vacancy case files for filled positions in accordance with record retention requirements.  
• Conducting case file audits in preparation for external, third-party audits of delegated examining or merit promotion 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of relevant technical knowledge, training, and expert experience in federal staffing, relevant rules and regulations, laws, pay setting, and processing the full range of personnel actions is strongly preferred. 
• Current Delegated Examining (DE) certification required.
• 5 years of hands-on experience supporting a federal agency including federal recruitment and staffing equivalent to the GS-11 level or higher.
• Competency using a variety of automated personnel systems (e.g., USA Staffing, National Finance Center (NFC)).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite 
• Advanced oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with all levels of an organization. 
• Detail orientation to ensure that staffing documents including vacancy announcements, selection certificates, offer letters and other case file documentation are accurate, thorough and technically accurate.
• Exceptional organizational skills, excellent writing skills with specific attention to detail, and strong customer service skills. 
• Excellent analytical, time management, and decision-making skills.  
• Ability to multi-task effectively and prioritize and re-prioritize as needed in a fast-paced environment.  
• Flexibility in the approach to delivering work.
• Must be effective working in a fully remote work environment and have current experience using collaboration and communication tools.
• Must be able to report for work M-F, 5 days a week. Alternative flex schedule is allowed within normal work hours (i.e., between the hours of 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.). 
• Must be able to obtain a Public Trust Clearance following Agency fingerprint/criminal background check process.

ADA Specifications

• Operation of a PC in an office environment.
• This is a primarily sedentary position.