Hotline Coordinator

Hotline Coordinator

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Washington, District of Columbia

Salary Range: $102415 - $158322 Per Year

Job Summary: This position serves as a Hotline Coordinator assigned to the USDA Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Investigations Liaison and Special Operations Division, under the direction of the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge (ASAC) and Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC) for the division. The Hotline Coordinator is responsible for performing the full range of intake-related functions relating to receipt, review, analysis, processing and resolution of allegations and complaints.

Major Duties:

• Exercises expert knowledge and experience regarding the application of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative analytical methods for the assessment and improvement of program effectiveness.
• Apply analytical ability in the development of programmatic processes and methodologies to address complex issues associated with the operations within the Office of Investigations (INV) and its programs.
• Performs initial high-level evaluation of allegations to determine the nature of specific allegations
• Conducts initial high-level assessment of whether allegations involve fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement, criminal violations or other misconduct in department or agency programs.
• Maintains accurate records of all allegations received and entered into the official automated system of records and associated logs that are subject to the Privacy Act.
• Conducts initial high-level assessment of complaints and develops appropriate complaint processing response options.
• Performs inquiries as appropriate when the information in the initial allegation is neither sufficient nor clear enough to facilitate a defined complaint adjudication by Office of Inspector General (OIG) stakeholders.
• Provides analytical support for the Office of Investigations (OI) by providing accurate data, summaries, analysis, and recommendations to INV leadership.
• Independently or in concert with a manager and/or other Office of Inspector General personnel, provides timely and accurate data and information to facilitate the rendering of informed decisions regarding INV operations on a nationwide basis.
• Coordinates and works with appropriate level representatives of external organizations or clients, other law enforcement agencies, Inspector General community and other Federal, State and local officials facilitating complaint resolution objectives.
• Provides information for reports and data requests, exchanges critical information concerning investigations support topics and obtains technical consultations.
• Deals tactfully and professionally with complainants, particularly when informing them that their submitted issues are not within the purview of the Office of Inspector General.
• Incumbent routinely expresses information, ideas and conclusions to individuals or groups in an effective manner; routinely makes clear and effective presentations, listens to the needs of others while facilitating an open exchange of ideas.
• Ensures the protection of complaint's confidentiality and/or anonymity to the maximum extent possible by implementing and/or adhering to strict internal controls and by providing guidance to the responsible discipline officials.
• Recognizes the need for timely and accurate reporting of critical information to direct line managers and supervisors, senior Office of Investigations leadership, as indicated, and applicable stakeholders
• Reviews and assesses complaint responses from agency liaisons, investigation offices, and audit offices to facilitate appropriate address of all allegations.
• Under the direction of management, composes draft responses to Congressional, White House, Government Accountability Office (GAO), Department and other mail sources concerning allegations received.
• Prioritizes workload, giving special attention to managerial and external priorities and suspense periods; and brings to the attention of the first and/or second line manager(s) significant allegations and complaints.
• Consistently prepares and presents all complaint initiation, processing and closing correspondence in a clear, concise, accurate, and timely manner, in accordance with department or agency policies and procedures.
• Provide input towards research and trend analysis deliverables of complaint intake official files and automated management information systems and logs relative to statistical and narrative data in response to Congressional Hearings and Testimony.

Qualifications: MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience for the respective grade level(s) in which you are applying. Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions and specialized experience as defined below. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GS-12: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-11 level or equivalent in the Federal service. This experience includes performing, with an appropriate level of supervision, the full range of intake-related functions relating to receipt, review, analysis, processing and resolution of allegations and complaints, not limited to overarching categories as follows: fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, employee misconduct, health/safety issues, threats, security violations, contract administration, procurement, harassment, reprisal, communications, comptroller, supply, data systems, public information, safety, transportation, space management, facilities and equipment maintenance and other USDA program and personnel-related concerns. This experience includes performing duties with guidance from the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge and/or the Special Agent-in-Charge and supporting the Office of Investigations in improving the intake and adjudication processes throughout the organization, ensuring programs contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives established in Office of Inspector General strategic plan. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GS-13: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-12 level or equivalent in the Federal service. This experience includes independently performing, or with minimal supervision, the full range of intake-related functions relating to receipt, review, analysis, processing and resolution of allegations and complaints, not limited to overarching categories as follows: fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, employee misconduct, health/safety issues, threats, security violations, contract administration, procurement, harassment, reprisal, communications, comptroller, supply, data systems, public information, safety, transportation, space management, facilities and equipment maintenance and other USDA program and personnel-related concerns. This experience includes performing duties with minimal guidance from the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge and/or the Special Agent-in-Charge and acting as an informal advisor to the Office of Investigations in improving the intake and adjudication processes throughout the organization, ensuring programs contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives established in Office of Inspector General strategic plan. Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate relevant experience. Time-in-grade: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-12 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-13 level. You must submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No award SF-50 will be accepted. We encourage you to provide multiple SF-50s so that we can adjudicate time-in-grade, highest grade held, and current status. SF-52s are not acceptable. 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. RESUMES MUST NOT EXCEED TWO PAGES. Follow the steps below to apply: Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application. Step 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement). Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request reasonable accommodation. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Only one resume will be reviewed. APPLICANTS WHO SUBMIT A RESUME THAT EXCEEDS TWO PAGES WILL BE REMOVED FROM CONSIDERATION. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-23