Supervisory Highway Safety Specialist (Service Center Director) (Open to both U.S. Citizens and Federal Employees)

About the role

This position is in the Western Service Center, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). You will be located in Lakewood, CO.

What you will do

• Provide authoritative interpretations of extremely complex data, emerging policy, legislation and regulations, procedures, requirements, advancements and/or approaches.
• Personally, assists in the most sensitive, controversial and complex issues and/or problems, which have been particularly resistant to resolution.
• Direct the review, analysis, and evaluation of enforcement actions for consistency and uniformity in appeal decision-making.
• Direct the conduct of trend analyses of enforcement actions and appeals processing to identify: Educational and/or information needs of FMCSA staff and/or customers; needed process improvements; and/or possible regulatory or program initiatives.
• As a result of such activities, takes a lead role in developing national policy initiatives in enforcement program areas, in evaluating new techniques, and in developing approaches for agency wide use.
• Serve as a primary architect in designing new initiatives for nationwide application.
• Supervise a staff of enforcement, motor carrier safety, legal, and other specialist personnel, responsible for the full range of personnel management and administrative functions.
• Negotiate extremely sensitive/complex multi-state/agency agreements and intermodal issues.
• Provide leadership and overall direction for enforcement activities and serves as the team leader.
• Serve as the authoritative agent regarding all enforcement actions including settlements, NOI's, operational out-of-service orders, etc. The ideal candidate a mission focused highway safety professional.
• Excellent inter-personal skills are required.
• Some customer service/customer relations experience or a demonstrated ability to relate to all types of personalities in challenging, sometimes contentious, circumstances is essential for success.

Requirements

• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
• In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance the organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
• Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.
• A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
• SUPERVISORY PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year supervisory probationary period (unless already completed).
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A background security investigation is required for all selected individuals.
• Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of the security investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Failure to meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
• TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the competitive or excepted service in the executive branch to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
• DEU REQUIREMENTS: Applicants selected under delegated examining procedures may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).

How you will be evaluated

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC.

WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

To receive full credit during evaluation, your assessment responses must explicitly point back to your resume, as HR cannot make assumptions about your experience.

You must write your narrative answers in full paragraph format, beginning each response with the exact position title, organization, employment dates (MM/YYYY–MM/YYYY), full-time/part-time, average hours worked per week, and federal series/grade (if applicable) as listed on your resume.

Within the paragraph, clearly describe your specific individual duties, actions taken, tools used, and measurable outcomes to prove your level of expertise.

HR will cross-check your narrative against your resume; if your resume does not fully support every detail and timeframe claimed in your written response, the claimed experience will be disallowed, which may result in an ineligible determination. All applicants: Your application will be reviewed in two phases determine how you move forward in the hiring process.

Phase I: Your resume will be reviewed to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. ONLY two (2) pages of your resume will be reviewed. Additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume) will not be reviewed.

Applicants passing “Phase I” will move on to the “Phase II” of the assessment process where your application will be reviewed and rated based on the KSAs/Competencies listed in the vacancy announcement by a Subject Matter Expert (SME). You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Documents you must provide

• In accordance with the OPM memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, resumes with a maximum of two (2) pages in length will be accepted as part of your application.
• These should be legible and in a readable font size.
• A determination of your eligibility and/or qualifications will be based only on those two (2) pages.
• Your resume MUST contain specific information that can be used to make a qualification determination, including employment beginning and ending dates for each position, whether employment is Full-time or Part-time, or average number of hours worked per week, and position titles.
• If the position is/was in the Federal government, you will need to provide the position series and grade level.
• The resume should show relevant experience and education, as well as support the required specialized experience.
• PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS/INCENTIVE AWARDS: If applicable, performance appraisals and/or Incentive award documentation may be submitted and forwarded to the selecting official in consideration of your application.
• To receive credit, submit a recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable (do not submit a performance plan) and/or incentive award documentation dated within the last 18 months (i.e. performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increases, etc.).
• VETERANS: Your last DD214 (member 4 copy), Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty, that shows the type of discharge and all dates of active duty is required to verify your eligibility.
• If applying to a vacancy opened to all US Citizens under category rating and wish to be considered as a preference eligible, you need to submit a copy of your DD214 (member-4 copy).
• If claiming preference eligibility as a disabled veteran, you must submit proof of entitlement of this preference which is normally a valid letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs certifying to the present existence of the service-connected disability and indicating the percentage of your disability.
• An SF-15 is desired, but not required.
• If applying to a vacancy opened Status and you are requesting consideration under Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) (***), you need to provide a copy of your last DD214 (member-4 copy), which verifies your military service dates, reason for separation, OR certification of separation that shows a discharge date within 120 days of the closing of this announcement, and eligibility for consideration under the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act.
• FEDERAL APPLICANTS: You must submit SF-50(s) that verify your highest competitive grade, full performance level, and eligibility as a federal applicant.
• DO NOT submit an award SF-50 as these often do not verify grade or eligibility.
• For consideration for a promotion, Box 4 of the SF-50 must show a date that is at least 52 weeks prior to the job announcement closing.
• We recommend submitting your last promotion SF-50 or within-grade increase SF-50.
• Pay adjustment raise SF-50s for the current year will not support the 52 weeks' time-in-grade requirements. *** NON COMPETITIVE APPLICANTS: If requesting concurrent consideration for Non-competitive (NC) appointment eligibility, you must provide the appropriate SPECIAL APPOINTING AUTHORITY DOCUMENTS, such as PCS orders (military spouse) describing move & marriage certificate; letter from VA or DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse; letter from State Vocational Office certifying disability (schedule A), etc. For more information, visit military spouse NC appointments or Persons with Disabilities NC appointments.
• DISPLACED EMPLOYEES: If requesting consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency CTAP program (ICTAP), you must meet the well qualified standards for this vacancy (meeting minimum requirements for position and scoring at least an 80) and provide all of the following documents: your most recent performance appraisal, the proof of eligibility letter from the Agency, and your most current SF-50, displaying current series and grade.
• Displaced employees may be eligible for ICTAP or CTAP priority consideration.
• For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition.
• Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position.
• Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents.
• Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system.
• You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.

What to expect next

You may check your application status by logging into USAJobs.com. (Select "My USAJOBS" and click "Applications"). Within two weeks of the closing date, a Human Resources Specialist will evaluate your application.

Ratings will be determined based on the documents and information received by the closing date. Qualified candidates will be assigned a category, not including points that may be assigned for veterans' preference. If the vacancy is advertised under status, your application will be scored on a scale between 70 - 100.

The most highly qualified candidates are then referred to the hiring manager for further consideration. If the vacancy was advertised under category rating, then the appropriate veteran's preference will be applied. If you are selected for an interview, the hiring agency will contact you directly.

Once the position is filled, we will notify all applicants of their final status.

Additional information

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Transportation and its Operating Administrations from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment.

In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to the Department of Transportation by email at, ***.

To learn more, please visit our page at: The Fair Chance to Compete Act | US Department of Transportation This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

TRANSCRIPTS are REQUIRED if there is a stated education requirement for the series OR if you are substituting education for experience. The transcripts need not be official, but must show that you meet the stated education requirements, including specific major or class requirements.