Human Resources Specialist (Employee Benefits)

This position is located in the Bureau of Human Resources, Office of Retirement. The Office of Retirement (HR/RET) administers the Foreign Service retirement system for 18,000 annuitants and 15,000 active duty participants from the Department of State and all foreign affairs agencies in the U .S. Government.

Provides technical advice and counseling to employees and management regarding retirement eligibility, benefits entitlements, health and life insurance, and applicable retirement policies and regulations.

Analyzes and resolves employee benefits and retirement issues, including coverage discrepancies, eligibility determinations, and pay-related inconsistencies.

Conducts comprehensive analyses of Foreign Service and Civil Service retirement cases to ensure accurate benefits determinations, regulatory compliance, and timely processing.

Evaluates retirement program procedures, identifies deficiencies and inconsistencies, and recommends corrective actions to improve program effectiveness and compliance.

Develops and delivers retirement benefits training, presentations, and informational materials to employees, management, and other federal agencies.

At the GS-9 level, the incumbent performs essentially the same duties as outlined above however, the scope and complexity of assignments are of less responsibility and independence and receives closer than normal supervision than the GS-11 level.

When an applicant has less than one year of specialized experience as described in the announcement, he or she may combine successfully completed graduate-level education with experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Generally, 18 graduate semester hours is equivalent to 1 full-time year of graduate study (your school and department determine what constitutes 1 full time year of graduate study). The percentage of specialized work experience (for example, 6 months equals 50%) and the percentage of graduate study (for example, 9 graduate hours for a GS-07 equals 50% where 18 graduate hours constitute a full time year) must total at least 100%.