Department: Department of Labor
Location(s): Pasadena, California, San Francisco, California, Plantation, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois, Fort Wright, Kentucky, Boston, Massachusetts, Silver Spring, Maryland, Kansas City, Missouri, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dallas, Texas, Seattle, Washington
Salary Range: $62729 - $121371 Per Year
Job Summary: EBSA plays a vital role in protecting the retirement, health, and other job-based benefits of America's workers, retirees, and their families. We issue effective regulations, offer comprehensive education and assistance to workers, plan sponsors, fiduciaries, and service providers, and rigorously enforce the law. We serve workers, families, and the broader employee benefits community by protecting the security and integrity of the nation's benefit systems.
Major Duties:
Qualifications: This appointment is under the DOL Recent Graduates program. The program duration is one year.The appointee must be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for conversion to a permanent position in the competitive service upon completion of the program. *For more information, click Pathways Programs. Applicants must have graduated, within the past two years, (with an associate, bachelor, master, professional, doctorate, diploma, vocational, technical degree, or certificate, etc.) from a qualifying educational institution or career or technical educational program including registered Apprenticeship Programs, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Job Corps, Climate Corps). Students who will meet the education requirements at the end of Spring semester 2026 may apply. You must meet the requirements for the Recent Graduate - Employee Benefits Investigator, as described below. Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the duties of the position successfully, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. For GS-09 : Applicants must demonstrate 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-07 in the Federal Service OR meet the substitution of education OR combination of specialized experience and graduate level education as described below. Applicants must demonstrate at least three (3) of the specialized experience statements listed here: (1) Participating in investigative projects and/or audits to gather and review information to help determine whether organizations are following applicable laws and requirements. (2) Utilizing investigative and/or auditing methods to carry out fact-finding steps, identify potential issues, and support actions that promote compliance. (3) Researching and reviewing reports, case documents, and other materials to identify important information and support the development of investigative findings. (4) Identifying and analyzing administrative or regulatory issues by reviewing the accuracy and relevance of information and suggesting practical solutions or next steps. OR - Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of graduate level education, or LLB. or J.D.; if related. OR - A combination of specialized experience and graduate level education that provided the specific knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position. For GS-11 : Applicants must demonstrate 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level GS-09 in the Federal Service OR meet the substitution of education OR combination of specialized experience and graduate level education as described below. Applicants must demonstrate at least three (3) of the specialized experience statements listed here: (1) Applying investigative and auditing principles and techniques to programs and practices to determine compliance with administrative laws, policies, regulations, and established precedents, ensuring accurate evaluation and proper enforcement actions. (2) Planning and participating in investigative and enforcement projects involving potential fiduciary breaches, and/or prohibited transactions, and report and/or disclosure violations to gather evidence, document findings, and support corrective or legal action as appropriate. (3) Researching and reviewing plan reporting documents, disclosure filings, discovery materials, and other case evidence to identify key facts, develop investigative leads, and advance case strategy or resolution. (4) Identifying, analyzing, and resolving complex administrative and regulatory issues by assessing the accuracy and relevance of information, developing alternatives, and making evidence-based recommendations to support investigative or enforcement decisions. OR - Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related. OR - A combination of specialized experience and graduate level education that provided the specific knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position.
How to Apply: Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or have speech disabilities, please dial 711 to access telecommunications relay services. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, including submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. Your application and ALL required supplemental documents MUST be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the vacancy closing date to receive consideration. Important - Save your information before the 30 minute system timeout! For help, go to USAJOBS Help Center. STEP 1 - Create USAJOBS Account on www.usajobs.gov, including Resume and Saved Documents. For each employment period, include start/end month & year and note full-time or part-time (if part-time, include # of hours worked per week) otherwise, your application may be considered incomplete. NOTE: In alignment with the Presidential Memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, applicants may only submit a resume limited to two (2) pages. Only the résumé uploaded under the 'Resume" document type in USAJOBS will be reviewed. If the resume submitted exceeds two (2) pages, the application will be deemed ineligible for further consideration. STEP 2 - Complete the 1st part of the application process (USAJOBS). Once you have identified a job on USAJOBS that you wish to apply for, click on the job title and then click the Apply button. For questions about the vacancy, contact the Agency Contact at the bottom of the announcement. Proceed through the steps noted at the top of the USAJOBS page. You will be able to select a resume and documents from your USAJOBS Account that you can submit as a package as part of your DOL application. In the final step, once you have certified your application, click the Continue to agency site button. STEP 3 - Complete the 2nd part of the application process (DOL). On the Department of Labor (DOL) page, create a DOL Account if you have not already and click Apply to this vacancy. Continue through the progress steps at the top of the DOL page. The 2nd progress step is where you answer the vacancy-specific questions. The 3rd progress step Documents is where you submit the required documents (only if applicable to you) specified in the Required Documents section of this vacancy. STEP 4 - On the Review and Submit step, verify each section of your application is complete and correct. In order to submit your application, you must have a check mark next to each section listed. If there is an X, return to the appropriate section and follow the prompts. When it is ready for submission, certify your application and click the Submit Application button. STEP 5 - Edit Application as needed by 11:59 pm Eastern Time of Closing Date by returning to USAJOBS, clicking the vacancy, then Update Application. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a training a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 2 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.
Application Deadline: 2026-05-05