Supervisory Loan Specialist (Agricultural)

Full Job Description

This position is located in the Farm Service Agency, Pennsylvania State Office, Farm Loan Program Branch, located in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement.

For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of your transcripts.

Basic Requirement: GS-1165 series: Education Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- finance, business administration, economics, accounting, insurance, engineering, mathematics, banking and credit, law, real estate operations, statistics, or other fields related to the position, such as agriculture, agricultural economics, farm, livestock or ranch management, or rural sociology.

or Experience General Experience (for GS-5 positions): Experience that required gathering and analyzing facts and figures, and presenting the information or conclusions in clear oral and written language; or that provided a knowledge of the principles of financial analysis or of insurance laws, such as contract, property, life, casualty, or marine insurance.

Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience that demonstrated competence in agricultural, commercial, realty, or other types of loans.

Experience may have been gained in such work as reviewing and passing upon applications for agricultural, commercial, bank or mortgage loans; servicing a loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; performing financial analysis of commercial concerns for investment purposes; appraising real estate to determine property valuation; or similar work.

Specialized Experience Requirement: For the GS-13 grade level: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in federal service or comparable experience not gained through federal service.

Specialized experience is defined as: experience that demonstrates competence in agricultural loans; reviewing and passing upon applications for a wide and complex variety of agricultural operations or enterprises (i.e., single owner, partnerships, and corporations, etc.); servicing an agricultural loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; or similar work.

Experience that demonstrates broad and seasoned judgment in providing financial management guidance to agricultural borrowers; ascertaining and analyzing the many and often obscure facts regarding the borrowers financial capacity, and evaluating the general economic and financial conditions that affect the organization/governments risk in granting, guaranteeing, or insuring the loan.

In addition, experience that demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the technicalities of farm financing and credit; farm operations, land use and value; production of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the farming area where loans are made and serviced.

MANDATORY SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: Must possess or have possessed Agricultural Loan Approval Authority.

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.

Time-in-Grade Requirement: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

You must meet this requirement by the closing date of this announcement. Major Duties:

• Directs, oversees, evaluates and advises on the farm loan program administered through USDA Service Centers throughout the State.
• Develops and recommends State policy and program implementation guidelines to clarify or further define national policy and procedures.
• Has delegated loan approval authority and performs the full range of loan specialist duties.
• Provides technical guidance; and fosters cooperation on program issues among government and private agencies throughout the State.