ACCOUNTANT

Duties

• You will serve as an Accountant within the Combined Office of the Judge Advocate General and Commander, Naval Legal Services Command for the Chief of Naval Operations.
• You will apply a knowledge of accounting principles and theories to manage, reconcile, and validate general ledger and subsidiary accounts.
• You will perform detailed analysis of complex accounting transactions to ensure proper recordation in Navy ERP in compliance with the U.S. Standard General Ledger (USSGL).
• You will investigate and resolve discrepancies, abnormal balances, and unreconciled transactions between budgetary and proprietary accounts.
• You will prepare, analyze, and interpret a variety of recurring and ad-hoc financial reports from Navy ERP for management. Duties include preparing trial balances and contributing to the preparation of command and DON-level financial statements.
• You will conduct reconciliation of fund balances with the U.S. Treasury utilizing Advana/Jupiter reports, ensuring financial data integrity and proper funds distribution.
• You will identify and correct errors related to obligations, expenditures, and reimbursements processed through Navy ERP.
• You will provide authoritative advice and guidance to program managers and technical staff on Navy ERP accounting policies and procedures.
• You will assist in the execution of financial business processes, such as funds management, procure-to-pay, and order-to-cash, ensuring transactions are properly documented and recorded.
• You will support audit readiness and internal control activities. Gathering and preparing financial data and supporting documentation for internal and external auditors.
• You will participate in testing internal controls over financial reporting to identify and mitigate weaknesses.
• You will develop and recommend procedural changes to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of financial operations within Navy ERP.
• You will stay current on changes to federal accounting standards, DoD/DON financial management regulations, and Navy ERP system updates.
• You will serve as an accountant with responsibility for maintaining accounting records and performing complex financial analysis within the Navy ERP system.
• You will perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Must be a US Citizen.
• Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
• Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
• New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
• Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Generally, current federal employees applying for GS jobs must serve at least one year at the next lower grade level. This requirement is called time-in-grade. Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
• You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final secret security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
• This is a Financial Management Level 1 certified position per the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2012, Section 1599d. You must achieve this level within prescribed timelines. Certification requirements are in DoD Instruction 1300.26.

Qualifications

Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the federal government, the military, or the private sector. This experience must demonstrate a comprehensive professional knowledge of accounting principles (such as GAAP), the U.S. Standard General Ledger (USSGL), and federal financial management standards. Candidates must possess immediate, hands-on proficiency using integrated financial management systems-specifically Navy ERP (SAP-based)-to extract, analyze, and reconcile complex, and sometimes conflicting, financial data across the full accounting cycle.

Operating with a high degree of independence, the candidate must apply professional judgment to interpret and execute DoD Financial Management Regulations (FMR), OMB Circulars, and Treasury Financial Manuals. As a GS-11 Accountant, experience must include tracing transactions across both budgetary and proprietary accounting, resolving complex discrepancies, and preparing accurately reconcile financial statements (key supporting documentation) to ensure audit readiness and the effective stewardship of public funds.

Additionally, candidates must possess strong oral and written communication skills required to translate dense financial data into actionable guidance, present findings, and deliver clear policy recommendations to both financial and non-financial command leadership.

Financial Management Systems - Utilize integrated federal financial management systems and sub-systems to extract data, identify and resolve system problems, and maintain data integrity.

Financial Stewardship - Manage, allocate and monitor financial resources in compliance with laws, regulations, and policies, with sufficient transparency and appropriate internal controls to ensure these resources are efficiently applied to meet organizational goals and objectives, while considering the Federal Government's fiduciary duty to the Nation.

Problem Solving - Identifies and analyzes problems; weighs relevance and accuracy of information; seeks/generates and evaluates alternatives perspectives/solutions; make timely/effective recommendations, based on potential implications of finding or conclusions. Critically evaluates to identify the cause of problems and chooses courses of action that balance the interest of the mission and stakeholders.

Financial Concept Policy and Principles - Apply fiscal law, policies, regulations, principles, standards, and procedures to financial management activities.

Financial Reporting - Prepare, review and reconcile financial statements and financial reports to meet reporting requirements and to support management decisions.

Accounting Analysis - Analyze, evaluate and review accounting data and reports using business tools and applications, and performance metrics to provide recommendations.

Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

Applicants must meet the following positive education qualifications requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual: Applicants must possess:

Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.")

OR

Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicant's background must also include one of the following:

Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;

A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or

Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

You may qualify based on substitution of education in the following manner:

Have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
OR
Have successfully completed three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent degree.
OR
Have a combination of experience and education that equates to one year of experience. Percentage of education plus percentage of experience must equal 100%.

Additional information

This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program.

This position is eligible for ad-hoc telework at the discretion of management.

Recruitment incentives may be authorized to eligible new hires.

Relocation incentives as described in 5 U.S. Code § 5753 may be authorized in accordance with applicable travel regulations.
Several vacancies may be filled.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.

Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: .

Veteran's preference does not apply when selecting individuals under this specific hiring authority. However, if you claim veteran's preference, you will be required to submit supporting documentation with your application as described in the Required Documents section below.