Professional, Technical, & Management Services – NOAA OAR CFO

Ocean Associates Incorporated•Silver Spring, MD

11d•$35 - $55•Hybrid

About The Position

Ocean Associates Inc. (OAI) is seeking applicants to provide Professional, Technical, & Management Services to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Chief Financial Office in Silver Spring, MD. OAI is a Virginia corporation established in 2003 that provides consulting and technical services to the U.S. government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and the private sector. We specialize in scientific program and project management, strategic planning, professional and technical services, and stakeholder engagement, supporting government contracts. The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) is also known as “NOAA Research” which provides the research foundation for understanding the complex systems that support our planet. Working in partnership with other organizational units of NOAA, OAR provides better forecasts, earlier warnings for natural disasters, and a greater understanding of the Earth. OAR provides unbiased science to better manage the environment, nationally and globally. OAR advances climate, weather and water, ecosystem, and mission service program goals. OAR Chief Financial Office (CFO) has a recurring need for professional, technical, and management services for its office. The agency has experienced and will continue to experience changes which result in increased demands for these services. These changes are a result of changing government priorities, re-organizations, special programs, and emergencies. There are four separate positions listed below.

Requirements

A Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university with a major in a field of study directly related to the requirements.
Three (3) or more years of experience related to the outlined tasks. This experience must include demonstrated familiarity with the marine and anadromous species and habitats managed by NOAA Fisheries within the West Coast region.
An Advanced Degree in a related field may be substituted for two (MS) or four (PhD) years of experience.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to efficiently manage dynamic workloads, maintain high organizational standards, and produce high-quality deliverables within established timelines.

Responsibilities

Manage all taskers and prepare spreadsheet reports for the business analyst team by extracting, compiling, evaluating, and analyzing data daily.
Reconcile budget execution information with accounting data and resolve variances; prepare documents for cost adjustments.
Deliver spend plan reports that compare monthly expenditures with a spend plan within five (5) business days after the month closes.
Prepare budget briefings for presentations to senior management and budget officials on a monthly basis.
Perform daily analysis and review, and provide written recommendations via memorandum or electronic mail weekly on budgetary impacts on program planning performance, project proposals, budget changes, program execution, and legislation.
Prepare weekly activity packages by compiling, evaluating, and analyzing relevant materials for the Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer's weekly activities, including, but not limited to, memos to Laboratory and Program network, and guidance for data calls.
Manage daily administrative activities for the Chief Budget Execution and Analysis Division related to Reimbursable Funds Management in accordance with U.S. Department of Commerce Agreements Handbook from Nov 2011, NOAA Standard Operating Procedures for Reimbursable Agreements, and Financial Handbook – Chapter 10 Reimbursable.
Conduct process improvement efforts by reviewing workflows, identifying inefficiencies, and recommending practical solutions to enhance internal controls, customer service, and overall operational effectiveness; written recommendations shall be provided via memorandum or electronic mail quarterly.
Monitor and track all MOU and Reimbursable Agreements including from the Budget Execution and Analysis Division to the Management and Organizational Development Division daily.
Analyze and assess suitable legal authorities for prospective Reimbursable Agreements. Determine the appropriate memoranda or agreement letters by evaluating potential Reimbursable Agreements against applicable authorities.
Confirm that every agreement is prepared for signature and formatted precisely in alignment with its respective statutory or regulatory authority.
Review all outgoing agreement packages for content completeness daily, including alignment with applicable authorities and policies. Package content includes but not limited to Transmittal Memorandum, Unsigned Reimbursable Agreements, Approved Waivers, and Customer Profile Form.
Maintain current data (Excel Spreadsheet) within an electronic share drive database daily. The purposes of this status/tracking database are to maintain specific knowledge of each tracked agreement for coordination with the originator to assure timely and accurate recoveries.
Distribute all Reimbursable Agreements to Sponsors and Financial Management Centers nationally and internationally within three (3) days of receiving due to improved and streamlined NOAA’s internal procedures for agreements and accepting reimbursable funding.
Develop and maintain Reimbursable Agreements and Standard Operating Procedures daily.
Prepare guidance and communication materials for OAR.
Prepare and process CWIP Project Documentation, initiation, draft annual and indirect cost estimates, and closeouts.
Develop, maintain, and enhance tracking tools, spreadsheets, and reporting processes to improve visibility, accuracy, and timeliness of financial data and reimbursable activities.
Process OAR travel actions (including those related to conferences) to facilitate compliance with Agency, Department of Commerce, and Office of Management and Budget guidance.
Conduct travel briefings.
Fulfill administrative requirements for the OAR Headquarters FMC Travel Coordinator by providing guidance on travel processes, E2 Solutions functionality, and coordinating with the Department’s travel management contractor to facilitate timely and compliant travel arrangements.
Review office-operating practices and deliver written recommendations on new methods or initiatives for coordinating administrative/programmatic functions (related to real property, purchase cards, contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements, FOIA, safety, etc.)
Coordinate responses to Government data calls.
Maintain and update data within various databases and spreadsheets; develop and deliver briefing products utilizing Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, and Excel, Google Slides, Docs, and Sheets, etc.
Coordinate reporting for program accomplishments and activities; review a wide variety of documents and communications products.
Distribute and maintain various types of documents and information such as meeting materials, notes, and summaries; develop strategies for efficient and effective communications and provide written recommendations via memorandum or electronic mail weekly.
Manage various legislative items on a daily basis for the Formulation and Congressional Analysis Director, Policy and Congressional Affairs Branch Chief, legislative liaison to OAR, and other NOAA legislative staff by Monitoring and tracking legislative proposals and correspondence, Conducting research and preparing draft responses to members of Congress and Congressional Research Service staff, Tracking Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviews, Review of congressional testimony and drafting of questions for the record.
Develop, review, and track correspondence, deadlines, and other operational materials.
Coordinate the clearance of memoranda, presentations, and rollouts for Office leadership review and signature in compliance with internal clearance processes.
Track and review OAR performance, risk, and evaluation data in coordination with the Strategic Management Team and OAR Laboratories and Programs. Maintain routine communication with laboratories and programs to facilitate accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of information.
Track and analyze data to advance OAR’s Labs and Program Offices’ policy initiatives through tracking legislation, budget analysis, correspondence, performing research, providing training on congressional procedures and communication, and maintaining fact sheets, which detail activities by internal and external audiences.
Conduct policy analysis, strategic planning, and communication initiatives. Meet with the Government regularly to review strategic data, provide technical inputs on proposed initiatives, and align work with established Government priorities for the organization.
Draft and clear with the Government potential questions and answers that may arise during the course of the annual budget rollout process.
Coordinate and develop responses to division taskers to meet required deadlines, to include distributing assigned tasks, clarifying guidance, and delivering follow-up notifications to task assignees one to three (1-3) business days prior to designated deadlines.
Prepare presentations and materials (talking points, briefing memos, etc.) for use by OAR senior management, to include but not limited to, budget and programmatic charts, tables, and supporting narrative in accordance with established priorities.
Conduct impact assessments that include documenting and assessing the impact of congressional actions such as, but not limited to, the introduction of new or revised legislation.
Prepare and maintain annual legislative plans for communication with Congress, including planning, coordination, and strategic development, and ensure that activity logs are updated weekly.
Track, analyze, and provide comments and technical drafting for legislation and congressional action from scientific and policy perspectives.
Compile information for congressional inquiries about OAR activities such as, but not limited to, responses to questions, hearing materials, presentations, reports, and fact sheets to communicate information to a non-scientific audience.
Maintain requisite technical familiarity with NOAA’s activities and services in order to be more effective in executing duties daily.
Compile regular status updates on the Disaster Relief Supplemental Act (DRSA), Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) activities for leadership, and coordinate with agency staff to ensure responsiveness to data calls and requests for information regarding supplemental funding.
Prepare presentations, talking points, briefing memos, and other materials for use by OAR management, performance, risk, and evaluation.
In consultation with the OAR National NEPA Coordinator, develop detailed technical reviews of NEPA compliance documents to analyze clarity, completeness, information and analysis quality, and compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and internal OAR procedures.
Coordinate with OAR National NEPA Coordinator for consistency in identifying and resolving internal comments on draft NEPA compliance documents.
Provide technical editing for development of programmatic Environmental Assessments (EA), including conducting interviews with Subject-Matter Experts (SME) to understand and present technical materials in plain language and using effective graphics, tables, charts, etc., reviewing and synthesizing results of best-available science on impacts of OAR activities that are the subject of the EA, and reviewing and editing materials submitted by SMEs for clarity, punctuation, grammar, content, and conformity to OAR and NOAA’s NEPA procedures.
Revise and update OAR’s draft NEPA and related environmental compliance policies and procedures in consultation with the OAR National NEPA Coordinator, based on knowledge or expertise in relevant environmental laws, regulations, policies, and legal precedent.
Design and conduct a gap analysis of OAR’s compliance with NOAA’s “Trust Resources Statutes” in consultation with the OAR National NEPA Coordinator, including synthesis and analysis of data.
Work products include draft written determinations of whether the correct level of NEPA analysis is being documented by OAR staff, technical comments on OAR compliance documents, and general programmatic comments for issues identified across multiple documents.
Document meetings, create SOPs, organize files, update Google Sites, and maintain administrative tracking for coordination with teams across the Policy and Congressional Affairs Branch.