Senior Program Manager

About this role

Senior Program Manager

Department of Transportation

Federal Transit Administration

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• Summary
• This job is open to
• Duties
• Requirements
• How you will be evaluated
• Required documents
• How to apply

Summary

This position is located in the Office of Program Oversight (TPO) within the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The incumbent will serve as a Senior Program Manager, under the direction of a division chief, in managing and administering the nationwide program oversight of recipients of federal transit funding.

This job is open to

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The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.

Clarification from the agency

This position will be filled using Direct Hire Authority; traditional rating and ranking, Veterans' Preference, and the 'Rule of Many' do not apply. Applications will be accepted from any U.S. Citizen. Due to the potential of a high volume of applicants, not all applicants may receive consideration.

Duties

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As Senior Program Manager, your responsibilities may include:

• Design, manage, and implement national oversight review programs to assess the compliance of FTA recipients with a broad spectrum of federal requirements; such as Triennial Reviews, State Management Reviews, Procurement System Reviews, Financial Management Oversight Reviews and Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Manage Americans with Disabilities Act compliance determinations, engineering reviews, and corrective actions, including requests for equivalent facilitation review determinations, recipient project proposals, and recipient corrective actions that are related to the compliance of capital and other transit projects.
• Collect, review, and analyze program oversight data to enable data driven decision-making.

The Ideal Candidate for this position is an experienced professional who has excellent program management, communication, and analytical skills with knowledge of, and professional experience in one or more of the following: oversight of federal program requirements, external ADA and nondiscrimination oversight programs, and/or public transit operations and planning.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Be a U.S. citizen or National and meet specialized experience to qualify
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
• Direct Hire Authority/SME will be used to fill this position

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may 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 the 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.

• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel. A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
• WRITING ASSESSMENT: If selected for an interview, you may be asked to complete a writing assessment.
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A background security investigation is required for all selected individuals. Appointment will be subject to the applicant’s successful completion of the security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: Applicants may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the specialized experience requirements.

To qualify for the Grade 14, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-13, it must include:

• Experience managing or leading public or industry-facing programs or projects involving multiple stakeholder groups, teams, or contractors.
• Experience analyzing, evaluating, or investigating issues and developing and implementing solutions for public and industry-facing programs with multiple stakeholder groups.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

• Program Management: Knowledge of the principles, methods, or tools for developing, scheduling, coordinating, and managing programs and resources, including monitoring and inspecting costs, work, and contractor performance.
• Problem Solving: Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.
• Communication: Expresses information orally and in writing to individuals and groups effectively, factoring in the audience and nature of the information (e.g., technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately; and writes in a clear, concise, organized and convincing manner for the intended audience.

For all types of consideration, 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, 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.

**For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.**

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Transportation and its Operating Administrations from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with5 U.S. Code § 9202(c)and5 C.F.R § 920.201certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to the Department of Transportation by email at, [email removed]. To learn more, please visit our page at: The Fair Chance to Compete Act | US Department of Transportation

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

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.

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How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCE: Please be clear and specific when describing your experience, as HR evaluates applications strictly on the facts provided and will not make assumptions. To receive full credit, your narrative responses must be written in paragraph format and explicitly match your resume. Begin each response by listing the exact position title, organization, employment dates (MM/YYYY–MM/YYYY), full- or part-time status, average weekly hours, and federal series/grade (if applicable). Within the body of the paragraph, clearly describe your specific duties, actions taken, tools used, and measurable outcomes. HR will cross-check these details against your resume; if your resume does not fully support every claim and timeframe, the experience will not be considered for credit, which may result in an ineligible determination.

All applicants: Your application will be reviewed in two phases determine how you move forward in the hiring process. Phase I: Your resume will be reviewed to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. ONLY two (2) pages of your resume will be reviewed. Additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume) will not be reviewed. Applicants passing “Phase I” will move on to the “Phase II” of the assessment process where your application will be reviewed and rated based on the KSAs/Competencies listed in the vacancy announcement by a Subject Matter Expert (SME).

You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

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RESUME:In accordance with the OPM memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, resumes with a maximum of two (2) pages in length will be accepted as part of your application. These should be legible and in a readable font size. A determination of your eligibility and/or qualifications will be based only on those two (2) pages.

Your resume MUST contain specific information that can be used to make a qualification determination, including employment beginning and ending dates for each position, whether employment is Full-time or Part-time (e.g., Program Analyst, GS-343-11 | January 2009–Present | 40 Hours/Week) and position titles. If the position is/was in the Federal government, you will need to provide the position series and grade level. The resume should show relevant experience and education, as well as support the required specialized experience. Please visit: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to

CURRENT OR FORMER FEDERAL APPLICANTS: Submit SF-50 documentation proving your highest competitive grade, federal eligibility, and 52-week time-in-grade requirement. To pass HR validation, it’s recommended to combine and upload these into a single PDF:

• Start Date: The SF-50 showing when you were originally appointed or promoted to the qualifying grade.
• End Date: An SF-50 dated at least 52 weeks later (e.g., a Within-Grade Increase, promotion, or subsequent action) to prove a sequential 52-week period.

Warning on Incomplete Documentation: Do not submit an award or current-year annual pay adjustment SF-50 by itself. These do not prove your original entry date or grade. If your documents fail to conclusively prove a full 52-week history, you will be rated Ineligible.

DISPLACED EMPLOYEES: If requesting consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency CTAP program (ICTAP), you must meet the standards for this vacancy and provide all of the following documents:

• your most recent performance appraisal,
• the proof of eligibility letter from the Agency, and
• your most current SF-50, displaying current series and grade.

Qualified CTAP/ICTAP candidates receive priority and will be referred to the hiring manager.

For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition.

SPECIAL ATTENTION: To be considered, you must submit all required resume details and applicable documents by the closing date of the announcement.

How to Apply

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To be considered, you must submit all required resume details and applicable documents no later than 11:59 (EST) by the closing date of the announcement.

Note: Uploading documents to USAJobs does not automatically attach them to this application. You must review and verify that all files are successfully transferred to our system before final submission. Late or incomplete applications will be disqualified.

• To begin, click the "Apply Online" button on the job announcement posting.
• Follow the directions to register, submit all required documents and complete the assessment questionnaire.
• You may review your saved application(s) at https://help.usajobs.gov/

If you are having difficulty applying online, please contact the DOT Automated Staffing Office via email at:[email removed]

Agency contact information

Automated Staffing Office

Phone : [phone removed]

Fax : [phone removed]

Email : [email removed]

Address : DOT, FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION Submit Application and Documents Online 1200 New Jersey Ave SE / HAHR - 50 Washington, District of Columbia 20590 United States

Next steps

You may check your application status by logging into USAJobs.com (Select "My USAJobs" and click "Applications". Within two weeks of the closing date, a Human Resources Specialist may evaluate your application. If evaluated, qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager. If you are selected for an interview, the hiring agency will contact you directly. Once the position is filled, we will notify all applicants of their final status.

Fair and transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

Criminal history inquiries

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy

Financial suitability

New employee probationary period

Privacy Act

Reasonable accommodation policy

Selective Service

Signature and false statements

Social security number request

Overview

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Accepting applications

Open 11/03/2026 to 11/12/2026

Location

MANY vacancies in the following locations:

Washington, DC

Atlanta, GA

Chicago, IL

Cambridge, MA

Kansas City, MO

New York, NY

Fort Worth, TX

Work site options

Telework eligible : Yes—This position may be eligible for situational telework. Telework approval will be determined by your immediate supervisor or manager following the agency’s telework policy and guidance. If participating in the telework program, you will be required to sign a telework agreement detailing agency telework policy requirements, working conditions, and expectations for the position.

Remote job : No

Relocation expenses reimbursed : No

Salary : $127,829 - $192,694 per year

Salaries for all areas are available on the OPM website at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2026/general-schedule

Pay scale & grade : GS 14

Promotion potential : 14

Learn more about pay scale and grade

Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.

Work schedule : Full-time - Full Time

Travel Required : Occasional travel - Some travel will be required.

Appointment type : Permanent

Occupations and job series

• 0340 Program Management

Supervisory status : No

Federal service type : This job is in the Competitive Service

Represented by a union : Yes - This is a Bargaining unit position represented by AFGE, local 3313.

Drug test : No

Security clearance : Not Required

Position sensitivity and risk : High Risk (HR)

Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.

Background check type

• Suitability/Fitness

Financial disclosure required : Yes - The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) within 30 days of appointment and annually thereafter. : Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.

Announcement number : FTA.DH-2027-0003

Control number : 891445900