Cemetery Administrator

Summary This position has 9 vacancies in the following locations: Phoenix, AZ Dixon, CA Denver, CO Holly, MI Newtown, PA Chattanooga, TN Dallas, TX Quantico, VA Kent, WA Location and pay will be determined upon selection. This position requires extensive background and knowledge in interment operations, grounds maintenance, financial management, personnel management, public relations, contract oversight and operation of a National Cemetery. Qualifications To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. This position requires the application, assessment, and questionnaire to be fully completed. The assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all specialized experience and time in grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement, 10/13/2026. You may be required to serve a supervisory probationary period. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. For a GS-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If your most recent non-award SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional non-award SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience, as described below: GS-14 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to experience supervising, leading, influencing, motivating, and challenging others; performing the full scope of supervisory duties; preparing, justifying managing, administering, and executing a budget for a program or organization; monitoring expenditures to ensure cost-effective support of programs; establishing short or long term goals for a program, project, or initiative; planning, coordinating, and executing business functions and resource allocations; overseeing procurement and contract activities for a program or organization; serving as a contract officer representative; promoting the services and products of an organization; engaging in speaking events; and preparing or delivering oral presentation. GS-15 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to experience supervising, leading, influencing, motivating, and challenging others; performing the full scope of supervisory duties; preparing, justifying managing, administering, and executing a budget for a program or organization; monitoring expenditures to ensure cost-effective support of programs; establishing short or long term goals for a program, project, or initiative; planning, coordinating, and executing business functions and resource allocations; overseeing procurement and contract activities for a program or organization; serving as a contract officer representative; promoting the services and products of an organization; engaging in speaking events; and preparing or delivering oral presentation. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Conflict Management Manages Resources Planning and Evaluating Partnering Influencing/Negotiating Leadership Financial Management Contracting Procurement Administration and Management Communication 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: This position requires walking and standing including significant periods of outdoor duty to perform tasks such as attending services and inspection sections of the cemetery (including sections which are active interment areas or sections under construction). The position requires bending, stooping, and lifting cemetery records, manuals, cremains containers, and other small items. The position requires assisting with the moving of caskets placed on wheeled biers in and out of committal shelters. The work is primarily administrative within facilities that are adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated, but includes exposures to outside elements such as heat and cold as well as wet, humid, or arid conditions. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Education There is no educational substitution for experience at the GS-12 or higher. PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. How You Will Be Evaluated IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position: o Conflict Management o Influencing/Negotiating o Manages Resources o Partnering o Planning and Evaluating Supervisory Situational Judgment Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment and decision-making skills that align with relevant competencies, organizational values, and best practices. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete. The assessment for this application does not include a cut score for a minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. However, you must answer each item in the assessment. Required Documents To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes: Resume Please note that resumes must be provided in English to be considered. If your resume includes photographs, inappropriate material, inappropriate content, or personal information such as age, gender, religion, social security number, etc., you will not be considered for this vacancy. Please limit your resume to 2 pages with the font size no smaller than 10 points. The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information. Cover Letter DD-214/ Statement of Service Disability Letter (Schedule A) Disability Letter (VA) References Other (2) Performance Appraisal Resume Separation Notice (RIF) SF-15 SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility): You must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50(s) that verify your eligibility for consideration as a current or former federal applicant; and Your SF-50 must verify your highest competitive grade, time-in-grade, your current promotion potential or full performance level and proof of permanent appointment if applying based on an interchange agreement. DO NOT submit an award SF-50 or pay adjustment SF-50 as these often do not verify grade or eligibility. For consideration for a promotion, Box 4 of the SF-50 must show a date that is at least 52 weeks prior to the job announcement closing. Recommend submitting your last promotion SF-50 or within-grade increase SF-50. Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled Veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit www.fedshirevets.gov/job-seekers/veterans/veterans-preference/#content. How to Apply Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click. (Remove the application preview verbiage and function) The application process is as follows: 1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. 2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. 3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 10/13/2026. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: - Prioritize most relevant and recent experience - Use concise, results focused language - Align language from the job announcement - Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies - Remove outdated or unrelated experience - Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: - https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-planresources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit