Loan Assistant/Specialist (Agricultural)

Farm Service Agency • Hopkinsville, KY

3d • Onsite

About The Position

This position is located in the Farm Service Agency, Deputy Administrator for Field Operations, Kentucky State Office, duty station located in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The selectee assists the Farm Loan Manager in administering loan programs in a USDA Service Center serving one or more counties. This position works in a developmental capacity receiving on-the-job and classroom training in the administration of farm loan programs. Upon completion of training program, FLOs may be reassigned, at any time, to a different duty station if workload activity changes or vacancies occur.

Requirements

• Must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Must serve a 1-year probationary period.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check.
• Required to submit Confidential Financial Disclosure Report Form OGE-450 within 30 days of your initial appointment date, and annually thereafter.
• This position requires "Agricultural Loan Approval Authority" for the GS-11 Grade Level.
• 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.
• 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.
• For the GS-5 grade level: General Experience: Three years of general experience, one year of which was equivalent to at least GS-4 grade level.
• For the GS-7 grade level: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in federal service or comparable experience not gained through federal service.
• For the GS-9 grade level: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in federal service or comparable experience not gained through federal service.
• 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.
• 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.
• Transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
• Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Nice To Haves

• 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.
• If selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty.

Responsibilities

• Conducts interviews with loan applicants, reviews loan applications, and makes preliminary inquiries to develop factual information to assess the eligibility of applicants.
• Providing technical advice, guidance, and credit counseling to loan applicants and borrowers.
• Applies knowledge of agency farm loan programs and eligibility requirements.
• Applies technical knowledge of farm financing and credit, financial management concepts and practices, farm operations, land use and value, production and marketing of various crops and livestock, and prices and markets in the serviced farming areas.
• Assists the Farm Loan Manager in administering farm loan programs in a USDA Service Center serving one or more Counties.

Benefits

• A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package.
• As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.
• Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level