Department: Department of the Air Force
Location(s): Eielson AFB, Alaska, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, Davis Monthan AFB, Arizona, Luke AFB, Arizona, Beale AFB, California, Edwards AFB, California, Los Angeles, California, March AFB, California, Travis AFB, California, Vandenberg AFB, California, Air Force Academy, Colorado, Buckley AFB, Colorado, Denver, Colorado, Peterson AFB, Colorado, Schriever AFB, Colorado, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, District of Columbia, Dover AFB, Delaware, Eglin AFB, Florida, Homestead AFB, Florida, Hurlburt Field, Florida, MacDill AFB, Florida, Patrick AFB, Florida, Tyndall AFB, Florida, Dobbins AFB, Georgia, Moody AFB, Georgia, Andersen Air Base, Guam, Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, Scott AFB, Illinois, Grissom AFB, Indiana, McConnell AFB, Kansas, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts, Andrews AFB, Maryland, Selfridge ANG Base, Michigan, Arden Hills, Minnesota, Whiteman AFB, Missouri, Columbus AFB, Mississippi, Keesler AFB, Mississippi, Malmstrom AFB, Montana, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Pope AFB, North Carolina, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, Minot AFB, North Dakota, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Cannon AFB, New Mexico, Holloman AFB, New Mexico, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, Nellis AFB, Nevada, Niagara Falls, New York, Youngstown, Ohio, Altus AFB, Oklahoma, Vance AFB, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Charleston AFB, South Carolina, Shaw AFB, South Carolina, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, Dyess AFB, Texas, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, Goodfellow AFB, Texas, Lackland AFB, Texas, Laughlin AFB, Texas, Randolph AFB, Texas, Sheppard AFB, Texas, Langley AFB, Virginia, Fairchild AFB, Washington, McChord AFB, Washington, Warren AFB, Wyoming
Salary Range: $52727 - $82938 Per Year
Job Summary: Click on "Learn more about this agency" button below to view Eligibilities being considered and other IMPORTANT information. Primary purpose of this position: Serve as the early childhood education specialist or youth development specialist for child and youth programs including child development centers, family childcare, school-age, youth programs, and unique childcare programs. Train program staff, volunteers, contractors, family child care providers, administrative, and food service staff.
Major Duties:
Qualifications: In order to qualify, you must meet the specialized experience requirements described in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards for General Schedule Professional and Scientific Positions. BASIC REQUIREMENT: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included or was supplemented by major study in child development or early childhood education. For Child Development Training and Curriculum Specialist positions with the Departments of the Air Force the education must have been in child development or early childhood education. OR Combination of education and experience -- Courses equivalent to a major in child development or early childhood education, plus appropriate experience or additional course work that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study in child or development or early childhood education. NOTE: You MUST submit copies of your transcripts. AND In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: CONSIDERATION AT THE GS-09: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-07 or equivalent in other pay systems. Examples of specialized experience include knowledge of early childhood or youth education principles, concepts, and techniques to develop, interpret, monitor, and evaluate the execution of curriculum and age-appropriate activities. Knowledge of youth education principles, concepts, and techniques to develop, interpret, monitor, and evaluate the execution of curriculum and age-appropriate activities, youth recreation, or physical education. Knowledge of adult learning techniques and strategies and experience training adult learners. OR Education: 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. NOTE: You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of progressively higher-level graduate education and experience may be used to satisfy the specialized experience requirement for this position if the computed percentage of the education and experience is at least 100%. NOTE: You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas: Professional knowledge of the principles, theories, concepts, and practices of early childhood development and youth development encompassing infant through school-age, youth and teens and child and youth development theories, methodology, and practices. Knowledge of childcare regulation requirements and policies Skill in developing curricula which supports physical, emotional, social, cognitive development of children and youth. Skill in developing supports that accommodate children with special needs and children with challenging behaviors. Skill in developing, adapting, and providing training to staff members, volunteers, family child care providers and parents, as well as food service and administrative staff. Skill in the administration and interpretation of the environmental, program, and child abuse probability assessments. Ability to effectively communicate, both orally and in writing. CONSIDERATION AT THE GS-11: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the next lower grade GS-09 or equivalent in other pay systems. Examples of specialized experience include knowledge of early childhood or youth education principles, concepts, and techniques to develop, interpret, monitor, and evaluate the execution of curriculum and age-appropriate activities. Knowledge of youth education principles, concepts, and techniques to develop, interpret, monitor, and evaluate the execution of curriculum and age-appropriate activities, youth recreation, or physical education. Knowledge of adult learning techniques and strategies and experience training adult learners. OR Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. NOTE: You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of progressively higher-level graduate education and experience may be used to satisfy the specialized experience requirement for this position if the computed percentage of the education and experience is at least 100%. NOTE: You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas: Professional knowledge of early childhood development and education principles, concepts, methods and techniques to plan and direct the training and curriculum elements for a large and diversified Child Development Program. Knowledge of child development principles, norms, behaviors, growth patterns, and procedures to develop meaningful program services, establish criteria for the organization of developmentally appropriate child activity spaces, determine requirements for program materials and equipment and develop curriculum plans and activities which promote the physical, social emotional and intellectual growth and development of children from infancy through school age. Knowledge of and skill in developing course materials and instructional methods, principles, and techniques in order to develop self-contained training courses, obtain training resources and assess overall effectiveness in order to meet identified training requirements. Knowledge and ability to plan, conduct and supervise training programs for staff and for parent education programs. Knowledge of policies and regulations governing the operation of a child development programs, e.g., fire, health, safety, and facility requirements, food service regulation, design criteria and financial operations, and ability to plan and budget to meet operating needs. Ability to communicate, both orally and in writing to include the ability to deal with diverse populations from educationally disadvantaged or vocationally underdeveloped to college graduates and the ability to conduct and present training. FEDERAL TIME-IN-GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT FOR GENERAL SCHEDULE (GS) POSITIONS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-07 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-09 level. One year at the GS-09 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-11 level. TIG applies if you are in a current GS position or held a GS position within the previous 52 weeks. NOTE: Applicants applying as VEOA candidates who are current GS civil service employees or are prior GS civil service employees within the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements.
How to Apply: The complete Application Package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 06/30/2026 To preview the Application Questionnaire, please click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12943534 To begin the process, click the Apply Online button to create an account or log in to your existing USAJOBS account. Follow the prompts to complete the application questionnaire. Please ensure you click the Submit My Application button at the end of the process. To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes: 1. Your Resume. If you submit more than one resume, only the most recent will be reviewed. The "most recent" is considered the resume with the latest timestamp. Resumes may not exceed two pages. The two-page resume ensures the most relevant experience is reviewed and considered, which is a common practice in both the public and private sectors. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. Additional information on how to complete or update your resume may be located here. For qualification determination your resume must contain hours worked per week and dates of employment (i.e., month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as insufficient, and you will not receive consideration for this position. If you are a current Federal employee or previous Federal employee, provide your pay plan, series and grade, i.e. GS-0301-09. Current Federal Civilian Employees may list any relevant performance related rating (given within the last three years) and/or incentive awards in your resume. Do NOT include photographs, inappropriate material, inappropriate content, nor personal information such as age, gender, religion, social security number, etc., on your resume. If the resume you submit contains such information you will not be considered for this vacancy. Your name, first and last, MUST be included on your resume. 2. A complete Application Questionnaire 3. Additional Required Documents (see Required Documents section). Ensure all submitted documents contain your full name. 4. Help recruiters find you. Make your resume and profile searchable, which means recruiters may contact you about possible jobs. Additional information may be located here. PLEASE NOTE: It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that information entered and/or uploaded, (i.e., resume) is received, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. You may verify your documents have been processed with your application package successfully. You can access your USAJOBS account to do so by clicking here. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan. Human Resources WILL NOT modify or change any answers submitted by an applicant.
Application Deadline: 2026-06-30