Lead Customer Service Representative (Bilingual Spanish)
What you'd do
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.
Major duties
This position is also advertised under another announcement without a bilingual selective placement factor, announcement # DE-26-FOCE/W-13014026. You are encouraged to apply to this announcement AND the non-bilingual announcement. As a Lead Customer Service Representative (Bilingual Spanish) 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.
What you need to qualify
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. AND BILINGUAL POSITION: Applicants will be required to demonstrate proficiency (ability to speak, read, and write) in both English and Spanish. You will be contacted prior to official interviews to verify proficiency. If you are unable to demonstrate proficiency, you will not be considered for the position. 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. Selective Placement Factor: This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified for the position. This position requires written and oral fluency in Spanish and English in order to assist non-English speakers with understanding SBA loan programs and to assist them in loan applications. All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 08/07/2026.
Before you apply
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