Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens

This position is located in the Administrative Division, Translation and Interpretation Section of the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Southern District of California. The incumbent will be required to provide high-quality Spanish/English transcription and translation services for a variety of litigative activities. Typical duties include:

• Serving as an expert source of information to USAO staff regarding the Spanish language at all levels of complexity to include idiomatic expressions, regionalisms, colloquialisms, culturally based expressions, profanities, slang expressions and technical terms;
• Preparing certified translations of court documents; law enforcement reports; accounting/financial documentations; vital records, forensic reports - including autopsies, lab reports; medical reports, etc.; text messages; prison records; treaties, statutes and regulations; high level, very formal official government documents; publications, etc. within tight deadlines;
• Preparing certified transcriptions and translations of post-arrest interviews, intercepted phone calls, body-wire recordings, Port-of-Entry (POE) videos, immigration court proceedings, jail calls, and recorded witness interviews in a fast-paced and challenging environment;
• Providing summary and sight translations to Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) of documentation received by the office;
• Reviewing and evaluating transcriptions and translations prepared by opposing counsel;
• Providing interpretation services for USAO personnel at meetings and during case-related activities as needed in criminal and civil matters; and
• Performing administrative and other related duties as assigned.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

This position is considered a career ladder opportunity, with a full performance level of GS-12. If selected at a lower grade level, you may be non-competitively promoted to the next grade level at the discretion of your supervisor and is contingent upon meeting regulatory and legal requirements for promotion, satisfactory performance, and the availability of higher-level work. Promotion is not guaranteed, and no promise of promotion is implied.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)- The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in the announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)-The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation
• You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

GS-9: To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Experience.

Specialized experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level is defined as experience gained in a position designated as a Translator or equivalent that involved knowledge and skill of techniques in the translation of documents from Spanish into English and English into Spanish in the preparation of written material used to further investigations such as: translating material; extracting information and summarizing the information in English and Spanish; Translating Spanish to English using Artificial Intelligence or Computer Assisted Translation Tools.

-OR-

Education: Master's or equivalent degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in Translation, Interpretation, Linguistics, Spanish Language, or a closely related field or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a Translator.

-OR-

A combination of experience and graduate level education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of the first full year can be used in this calculation. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 18 semester hours (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of specialized experience, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

GS-11: To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Experience.

Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level is defined as experience gained in a position designated as a Translator or equivalent that involved knowledge and skill of advanced techniques in the translation of documents from Spanish into English and English into Spanish in adherence to accuracy, completeness, and impartiality in the preparation of written material used to further investigations. Examples of specialized experience include: producing translations that are grammatically correct and which use a wide range of both technical/nontechnical vocabulary; certifying translations to be introduced as evidence in court hearings or trials; transcribing and translating audio and audio/video recordings; translating materials at all levels of difficulty and subject matter; providing summary and sight translations of court documents, text messages etc.; demonstrating knowledge of technical and legal terminology; Translating Spanish to English using Artificial Intelligence or Computer Assisted Translation Tools and preparing transcriptions using transcription software and managing term bases.

-OR-

Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in Translation, Interpretation, Linguistics, Spanish Language, or a closely related field or LL.M., if related. Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a Translator.

-OR-

A combination of experience and graduate level education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only education in excess of 2 full years is creditable. To calculate your percentage of education, first determine the total number of hours that exceed 36 semester hours by 18 or your school's definition of one year of study. To calculate, your percentage of qualifying experience, divide your total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

GS-12: To be eligible at the GS-12 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in Federal Service.

Specialized experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level is defined as experience gained as a Translator or equivalent that involved expert transcription and translations from live, recorded, and written material without regard to the level of difficulty, subject matter, terminology, dialogue, idioms, colloquialisms, or degrees of inflection from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish. Examples of specialized experience may include: serving as an advanced source of information to an office staff regarding the Spanish language at all levels of complexity; providing high-quality transcription and translation; applying advanced research methods to acquire rapid familiarity with complex and highly sensitive requests; resolving the application of new terms or language peculiarities which may not be available in language dictionaries; translating complex technical and nontechnical documents in a variety of styles and advanced skill; testifying in federal court when challenges are presented to the certified transcription or translation presented as evidence; and providing interpretations needed in criminal and civil matters; Translating Spanish to English using Artificial Intelligence or Computer Assisted Translation Tools and preparing transcription using transcription software; managing term bases; and creating and updating translation memories.

Selective Placement Factor: A selective placement factor is determined to be essential for successful performance in this position. Those candidates who do not meet the following selective placement factor will be rated "not qualified" for the position.

Incumbent must possess professional competence in the English and Spanish languages and be certified by the American Translators Association (ATA). You must include a copy of your certification with your application package, or you will be disqualified from consideration.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your complete application package (resume/supporting documentation, online questionnaire, and USA Hire Competency Based Assessment) will be evaluated and rated using DOJ's Category Rating and Selection Procedures. Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are basically qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the online questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If it is determined you meet minimum qualification requirements, your application will then be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for Veterans' Preference will receive selection priority over non-veteran preference eligibles. In addition, qualified veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more are placed at the top of the highest quality category (i.e., Best Qualified).

You will be rated on the following Competencies (see The OPM Website for definitions):
Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Decision Making, Flexibility, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

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

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package, which includes:

- Required: Your responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (This is completed automatically during the apply online process).

- Required: Your American Translators Association (ATA) Certification in the English-Spanish language pair.

- Required: Your resume cannot exceed two pages - you will be deemed ineligible and receive no further consideration if your resume exceeds two pages - see USAJOBS for formatting requirements. Include relevant employment history as outlined below for each job:

• Official position title (if Federal, include series/grade),
• Employer name and contact information,
• Start and end dates (for full consideration you must include month, day, and year),
• Indicate full-time or number of hours worked per week if part-time, and
• A list of duties performed and accomplishments.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

-Required if you meet qualifications based on education: An unofficial college transcript (Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcript will be required prior to your first day.) and foreign education evaluation documentation, if applicable, as described under the "Qualifications" section of this vacancy announcement.

• Required, if applicable: Veterans' Preference documentation.

-Required for Veterans' Preference- If you are entitled to Veterans' Preference, you must indicate the type of preference you are claiming in your application and submit the appropriate documentation, as specified below.

• In order to verify your Veterans' Preference entitlement, please submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty); or if you are a current Active Duty member you must submit a certification on appropriate military branch letterhead that indicates: 1) your service dates, 2) expected discharge or release date from active duty with a release/discharge date no later than 120 days from the closing date of this announcement, and 3) the character of service (e.g., Honorable); In addition, if you are a disabled veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, or widow/widower if a veteran, the spouse of a disabled veteran or the parent of a disabled or deceased veteran, you must submit a Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference" dated October 2013 and all the other required documentation identified on the reverse side of the SF-15 to support your preference claim.

-Required, if applicable: CTAP/ICTAP documentation (a copy of a separation notice or other proof of eligibility for priority selection; a copy of an SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, showing current position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location; AND a copy of your most recent performance appraisal.

• If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you must submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found at: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

-Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office by providing a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:

• Position title;
• Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee);
• Agency; and
• Beginning and ending dates of appointment.

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