Loan Specialist (Agricultural)

Summary

This position is located in the Farm Service Agency, Iowa State Office, Farm Loan Program Branch. NOTE: Duty Location to be determined upon selection within the State of Iowa. This position evaluates farm loan program activities carried out by Service Centers and provides technical advice and assistance to Service Center farm loan staff on the most complex loan cases.

Duties

• •Develops information for the general public and special interest groups concerning available farm loan assistance.
• •Develops and presents training sessions for various office staff on such topics as fundamental program provisions, program changes, and new agricultural management techniques.
• •Develops the actions and solutions required for the most complex loan cases, and exercises delegated loan approval authority.
• •Ensures that cases are reviewed and negotiated with all interested parties including national office staff, Office of General Counsel, and others, as appropriate.
• •Analyzes field program activity reports to identify trends and detect program weaknesses.
• •Determines the efficiency and effectiveness of program activity and recommends improvements.
• •Reviews and evaluates Farm Loan Program activity, including technical services activities, loan making, loan servicing, and the transfer of borrowers to private or cooperative credit.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of your transcripts. Basic Requirement GS-1165 Education Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- finance, business administration, economics, accounting, insurance, engineering, mathematics, banking and credit, law, real estate operations, statistics, or other fields related to the position, such as agriculture, agricultural economics, farm, livestock or ranch management, or rural sociology. OR Experience General Experience (for GS-5 positions): Experience that required gathering and analyzing facts and figures, and presenting the information or conclusions in clear oral and written language; or that provided a knowledge of the principles of financial analysis or of insurance laws, such as contract, property, life, casualty, or marine insurance. Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience that demonstrated competence in agricultural, commercial, realty, or other types of loans. Experience may have been gained in such work as reviewing and passing upon applications for agricultural, commercial, bank or mortgage loans; servicing a loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association; performing financial analysis of commercial concerns for investment purposes; appraising real estate to determine property valuation; or similar work. In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education listed below. Specialized Experience Requirement For the GS-9 grade level: One full-time year of specialized work experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service or private sector that demonstrated professional experience working with agricultural loans by reviewing and passing upon applications for various kinds of agricultural operations representing all types of ownership (i.e., single owner, partnerships, and corporations, etc.); and servicing an agricultural loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association. In addition, my experience demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the technicalities of farm financing and credit; farm operations, land use and value, production of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the farming area where loans are made and serviced. OR Education at the GS-09 level: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. OR Combination of Education and Experience at the GS-09 level: A combination of education and experience as listed above. For the GS-11 grade level: One full-time year of specialized work experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service or private sector that demonstrated professional experience working with agricultural loans by reviewing and passing upon applications for various kinds of agricultural operations representing all types of ownership (i.e., single owner, partnerships, and corporations, etc.); and servicing an agricultural loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association. In addition, my experience demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the technicalities of farm financing and credit; farm operations, land use and value, production of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the farming area where loans are made and serviced. OR Education at the GS-11 level: 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 Combination of Education and Experience at the GS-11 level: A combination of education and experience as listed above. For the GS-12 grade level: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in federal service or comparable experience not gained through federal service. Specialized experience is defined as: experience that demonstrates professional experience working with agricultural loans by reviewing and passing upon applications for various kinds of agricultural operations representing all types of ownership (i.e., single owner, partnerships, and corporations, etc.); and servicing an agricultural loan portfolio of a bank or other loan association. In addition, my experience demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the technicalities of farm financing and credit; farm operations, land use and value, production of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the farming area where loans are made and serviced. Education cannot be substituted experience at the GS-12 level. MANDATORY SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR FOR GS-11 & GS-12: Must possess or have possessed Agricultural Loan Approval Authority 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. Time-in-Grade Requirement: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. You must meet this requirement by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

College Transcript: If qualifying based on education, you must submit a copy of your college transcript with course number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours, and grade earned. If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g., special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college to ensure proper evaluation. Your education must have been successf