Lead Customer Service Representative

Specialized Experience: GS-11: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector: Overseeing daily operations of the disaster assistance team by assigning tasks, providing oversight, and ensuring compliance with established policies and procedures; AND Reviewing the quality, accuracy, and completeness of work products; AND Assessing and verifying financial and supporting documents such as tax returns, income (profit and loss) statements, schedules of liabilities, balance sheets, and other relevant financial documents to resolve complex disaster loan issues; AND Collecting, analyzing, and reporting data, workload metrics, and program information to support management decision-making and performance monitoring for the disaster assistance program. These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume. OR Education: 3 academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education. OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR LL.M., in a field directly related to the position (Accounting, Business, Finance, Law, Contracts, Purchasing, Economics, Industrial Management, Marketing, Quantitative Methods, or Organization and Management). Education must be in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination experience as described in "A" and graduate level education as described in "B", when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of two full years (36 semester hours) may be used in this calculation. To compute, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 36 semester hours, and then divide that number by 18 to arrive at a percentage. Then, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12 to arrive at a second percentage. Add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100% to qualify. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's Qualifications web site: General Business and Industry Series 1101a 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. Generally, time in non-pay status as a federal employee is not creditable towards the specialized experience requirement listed above. All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 08/14/2026.

This position is located in the Small Business Administration, Field Operations Center East - FOCE in Atlanta, GA and Field Operations Center West - FOCW in Citrus Heights, CA. The employee functions as a Lead Customer Service Representative (CSR) in a Field Operations Center and delivers face-to-face support to individuals and businesses impacted by disasters. The employee works directly with disaster survivors and interviews disaster survivors who are applying for home and business loans.

This position is also advertised under another announcement with a bilingual selective placement factor, announcement # DE-26-FOCE/W-13015218. You are encouraged to apply to this announcement AND the bilingual announcement. As a Lead Customer Service Representative at the GS- 1101-11, some of your typical work assignments may include: Assists disaster loan applicants to better understand the SBA Disaster Loan Program and how the program may assist them with their disaster recovery. Explains the disaster loan process, eligibility requirements, account creation, loan options, and the application processes. Observes and reports back to the Field Operations Center about the state of the local economy and local business conditions. Determines the specific assistance required for each individual Recovery Center visitor and Outreach call/visit to determine which of the center staff is best suited to assist the specific disaster survivor needs. Monitors and reports on status and progress of work, and reviews completed work to see that the Supervisor's instructions on priorities, deadlines, and quality are met and to ensure accuracy, completeness, and compliance with applicable guidelines. IMPORTANT NOTES: Your primary residence is considered your official duty station. TRAVEL STATEMENT: You may be required to travel to a disaster site during increased disaster activity for extended periods with little or no advanced notice. If so, you may encounter hazardous working and/or living conditions; i.e., no water or electricity and/or minimal lodging facilities. Travel expenses are compensated based on SBA policy and Federal regulations. The Term Appointment does not confer competitive status, reinstatement rights, or eligibility for non-competitive conversion to a permanent job to the individual(s) selected. You may be promoted or reassigned to another term position within SBA's Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience; however, you may not be non-competitively appointed to another federal position. You will be given an initial Term Appointment lasting more than 1 year, but not more than 4 years. If all other conditions of employment are met, this appointment may be extended up to a total of four (4) years in increments determined by SBA. This position works on an as needed basis. This means that employees are in a pay and duty status only when activated to respond to workload needs, especially in response to heightened disaster activity. When no longer needed, employees return to a non-pay status until the next event necessitates additional staff. However, depending on the workload and/or level of disaster activity, your work schedule may be changed to full-time. Subsequently, if the workload decreases, you may be placed in a non-pay status. Mandatory Overtime: In order to respond quickly and efficiently to disaster survivors, substantial compensated overtime hours may be required while on assignment (up to seven days a week and twelve to fourteen hours a day). A valid driver's license may be required.

Applicants meeting basic eligibility requirements will be further evaluated based on additional assessments. One of these assessment is USA Hire. Based on your application and your responses to the application questionnaire, you may be presented with instructions on how to access the USA Hire system to complete the online assessments. The online assessments must be completed within 48 hours following the close of this announcement. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation for the assessment should you have a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Your USA Hire assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments. The assessments relate to the following Competencies required to do the work of this position: Attention to Detail Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. One of the required assessments for this position is an online assessment that measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. The assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment. Your application will be evaluated under the Category Rating method based on your assessments. You will receive a score based on the responses to the assessment questions. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities. If you meet basic requirements for the position, your application will be evaluated and placed into one of three categories: 1. Best-Qualified: highly proficient with an overall comprehensive level of knowledge, skills and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume. 2. Well-Qualified: competent in the position with an overall accomplished level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, training, and education as applicable, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume. 3. Qualified: an overall basic level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume. Candidates eligible for veterans' preference will be placed ahead of other candidates in the appropriate category for which they have been rated. Additionally, preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent and who meet Minimum Qualification Requirements will automatically be placed in the Best Qualified Category.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions will affect your rating. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience your rating may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities. Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: 1. To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button. 2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. 3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. 4. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you both on screen and via email notification. 5. If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements 6. Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account. To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account. There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Update Application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account at https://www.usajobs.gov/ All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/