Senior Project Manager

Summary

The position is located in in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Environmental Review and Permitting Office. The incumbent serves as a senior project manager overseeing large scale or high priority projects and strategic planning efforts that impact USDA Secretary's responsibilities related to the Administration's priorities as well as its associated partners, communities, other government and non-government organizations, and other stakeholders.

Major Duties

• Implements corporate decisions and initiatives that come from the USDA’s Environmental Review and Permitting Office in support of Chief Environmental Review and Permitting Officer and Deputy Chief direction, guidance, laws, regulations and policy
• Provide technical guidance to CERPO and Deputy CERPO in planning, coordinating, management, execution and evaluation of proposed projects and programs of interest to the USDA’s Environmental Review and Permitting Office
• Determines risk and develops contingency plans, options, and recommendations for management’s consideration
• Develops a detailed project plan and tracks work assignments and progress and adjusts plans for efficiency and effectiveness to meet schedules and deadlines, peak workloads, and changing priorities, and compares actual work against established plans
• Evaluates impacts to projects and problems studied from policy perspectives, changes, resource availability and allocation and integrated schedules
• Monitors critical milestones and activities to ensure completion of projects and the delivery of products on schedule and within budget
• Develops and modifies new and existing grants and agreements, participating agreements, challenge cost share agreements, and other formal partnerships, and serves as the Project Manager in the administration of these grants and agreements
• Leads efforts to improve the department-wide policy planning and decision-making by fully integrating activities with the management processes
• Formulates policy standards that are implemented across USDA and have significant financial and functional implications, which all agency mission areas and staff are impacted
• Manages and leads intra-mission area teams that develop national strategies around the development and implementation of policies and processes and exercises significant authority on behalf of the USDA CERPO

Requirements

You must be a US Citizen or US National. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt. Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check.

Evaluations

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. 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. All applicants are required to complete the online USA Hire assessment administered by OPM in order to be considered for this vacancy. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Other Information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP or RPL eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section and USA Hire assessment score. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100. Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period. The salary ranges vary according to the geographic area locality adjustments; therefore, rates advertised represent base pay only as pay will depend upon the selectee's duty location. Please see the 2026 General Schedule (GS) Pay Tables for more information. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here.? Incentives may be authorized.