Education Program Specialist (Emss)

National Defense University•Fort McNair, DC

About The Position

The Education Program Specialist supports the National Defense University (NDU), which provides Joint Professional Military Education to members of the U.S. Armed Forces and select others. The position leads admissions planning, coordinates student nominations and recruiting, and works with service chairs, faculty, and deans on admissions processes and timelines. It supports and improves onboarding for incoming students, manages admissions and course registrations in the Student Information System (SIS), and maintains SharePoint and public web content for diverse audiences. The role requires effective use of SIS, including understanding relational databases, system triggers, and detailed processes. The specialist documents and reviews work processes, identifies efficiencies, maintains data integrity and discretion with personally identifiable information, and works with student records, transcripts, and learning management systems. The position provides communication and support to students, faculty, leadership, and colleagues, and applies and interprets academic policies while drafting and recommending policy updates. This is a federal national security position requiring a favorable suitability review and the ability to obtain and maintain a Secret security determination. The selected employee may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. citizen.
Must meet applicable Selective Service registration requirements for males born after December 31, 1959, unless exempt.
Must obtain and maintain a Secret security determination and receive a favorable suitability review.
Must meet the basic education or experience requirement for the Education Program Series: qualifying education including at least 24 semester hours in a related field, of which at least 9 semester hours are education courses; an eligible combination of education and experience; four years of qualifying experience; or at least one full academic year of professional teaching experience.
Must have one year of specialized experience at the GS-09 or equivalent level, documented in the resume. Specialized experience includes academic records management, student information systems and relational databases, admissions and enrollment processes, and student services; applying academic policies and procedures and maintaining student-record accuracy, integrity, privacy, and confidentiality; analyzing academic or student data and preparing reports; and coordinating with relevant stakeholders to improve academic programs, processes, or student services.
Education may substitute for the GS-11 specialized experience requirement with three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; qualifying combinations of graduate education and experience may also be used.
Must submit transcripts when education is required to establish eligibility or is used to substitute for specialized experience; foreign education must be supported by an equivalency evaluation when applicable.

Responsibilities

Lead admissions planning, coordinate government agency student nominations, and conduct recruiting.
Work with service chairs, faculty, and deans on admissions processes and timelines.
Support, analyze, and improve onboarding for incoming students.
Manage admissions in the Student Information System (SIS) and curate SharePoint and public web content for diverse audiences.
Manage course registrations.
Document and review work processes and identify efficiencies.
Maintain data integrity and exercise discretion with personally identifiable information (PII).
Work with student records, transcripts, learning management systems (LMS), and SIS.
Provide written and verbal communication and support to students, NDU faculty, leadership, and colleagues.
Apply and interpret academic policies in varying circumstances and draft and recommend policy updates.
Analyze academic or student data and prepare reports to support organizational decision-making.
Coordinate with academic leaders, faculty, staff, students, or external organizations to improve academic programs, processes, or student services.