Human Resources Specialist

**Duties**:
**The physical worksite for this position is located in Alexandria, Virginia.** **This position is telework eligible per agency and business unit discretion/policy.**

We are looking for an expert negotiator to immediately fill a temporary need on a high-profile collective bargaining project. We want someone who will:

- act independently in a high-reaching environment;
- collaborate with union officers and agency executives; and
- persevere to achieve goals under time pressure.

If you join our team, you will craft creative solutions to sophisticated questions while navigating a labor relations landscape characterized by a unique institutional history. You will serve as an expert on federal human resources policies and practices, federal sector labor management relations laws and regulations, and USPTO policies, procedures, and objectives.

**This rewarding opportunity is the ideal next career step for you if**:

- You have a strong desire to serve as the Chief Negotiator for collective bargaining and key focal point for agency negotiations with union officials from three unions.
- You're committed to developing a coherent labor relations negotiation strategy based on an understanding of the legal requirements and the mission, policy, and procedures of the agency.
- You have experience having substantive discussions with management officials, employees, and union officials/representatives, to identify perceptions of what concerns/issues are currently at the forefront.
- You have strong interpersonal skills and can conduct reviews of previously negotiated issues.
- You have a strong analytical skillset to conduct in-depth studies, reviews, and analyses of reports, positive/negative trend analyses, synopses of responses to customer satisfaction surveys, surveys providing work force interests in human resources development, etc.
- You're a collaborative relationship builder who can provide key consultative advice and assistance to the human resources staff and managers and supervisors related to union negotiations and impacts.
- Consults with other HR Staff to ensure that the negotiation strategy is consistent with the overall labor relations strategy for the Agency.
- You have experience providing training as necessary on a formal and informal basis on negotiations and other labor relations matters
- You're an effective writer and can provide formal and informal reports to address vital issues, studies and analytical approaches used, comprehensive findings, and cogent, realistic recommendations that are primarily used as the bases for key management decisions.

**Requirements**:
**Conditions of Employment**:

- Applications will only be accepted from United States Citizens and Nationals.
- Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related competencies.
- You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
- Required to pass a background investigation and fingerprint check.
- 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.
- Suitable for Federal Employment

**Qualifications**:

- You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. OPM Qualifications Standards are available at Administrative and Management Positions.
- Specialized Experienceis experience that has equipped applicants with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the federal service.
- For this position, the next lower grade level is a GS-13. **Specialized experience for this position includes**:

- Experience conducting collective bargaining/negotiations;
- Experience conducting substantive preliminary studies, reviews, and analyses of major HR work place environment issues; and
- Experience serving as a participating member, or an advisor to the management negotiating team(s) providing advice on developing management proposals, negotiating strategies, and when the union's proposals may be non-negotiable under federal law and regulations.
- Experience consulting with senior management and researching historical data to make determinations that impact unions.

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 ex