ONE PROBATION TEAM ARIZONA MISSION STATEMENT
Our mission is to assist the Court in the fair administration of justice, providing unbiased, accurate information, facilitating lasting positive change in the people we assist and supervise, in order to protect and improve our community.
The U.S. Probation Office for the District of Arizona is seeking an accomplished and self-motivated individual with excellent interpersonal skills and strong work-ethic for the position of Chief U.S. Probation Officer. In this role, high importance is placed on an individual who will embrace our mission of working together creatively to transform lives and enhance the safety of our community.
Our fast paced, prestigious environment will provide opportunities for challenging and rewarding work as a member of the probation team. The successful individual must be able to thrive in an environment that promotes teamwork and professional enrichment by which we support and defend the U.S. Constitution, the worth and dignity of all people, treat all people with fairness and respect, and believe that all are capable of positive change through the use of evidence-based practices.
POSITION OVERVIEW
The United States District Court for the District of Arizona is seeking a qualified individual for the position of Chief Probation Officer. The Chief Probation Officer is directly responsible for the administration and management of the federal probation office in the district. The District of Arizona has 26 district judges and 14 magistrate judges. The probation office has a total staff of 320 employees, including probation officers, probation officer assistants, administrative and clerical support positions. The district supervises approximately 6,700 persons on post-conviction supervision and 2,364 persons on pretrial release. The district prepares approximately 4,760 presentence reports and activated 8,572 pretrial cases last fiscal year. The probation office has employees in four locations in the state of Arizona.
This is an executive level position that reports to the Chief Judge of this District. The Chief Probation Officer and the District Court Executive/Clerk of Court have a long history of working together to meet the unique demands of a border court and its stakeholders.
REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES
Organizes the probation office to ensure expeditious handling of investigative work for the courts, institutions, and parole authorities to include effective case supervision of probationers, parolees, persons on supervised release, and persons on pretrial release.
Reviews, analyzes, and interprets statutory, Judicial Conference, U.S. Sentencing Commission, and Parole Commission requirements for the administration of probation, parole, supervised release services, and pretrial services; promulgates policies, procedures, and guidelines necessary to meet these requirements.
Consistently communicates with the court to promulgate policies, procedures, and guidelines to meet the unique needs of the court, along with standards to ensure an appropriate level of service delivery.
Selects and recommends candidates for appointment as probation officers, as well as all non-officer personnel; provides specific recommendations to the court in all other personnel matters including promotions, salary increases, disciplinary actions and dismissals; determines that all personnel are carefully selected and adequately trained; makes certain the work of all subordinates is systematically evaluated.
Manages the staff of the office including all clerical, professional, supervisory, and administrative personnel.
Estimates number of required personnel, space allocation, and operating allowance needs; approves requisitions; certifies vouchers for payment; and maintains appropriate fiscal controls in all matters pertaining to travel expenses and purchases of services, equipment, and supplies.
Establishes and administers continuing in-service training programs to ensure high-quality service delivery through consistent staff development.
Maintains a system of communication, enables awareness of pertinent information at all levels; delegates decision-making responsibility at appropriate levels; provides qualitative and quantitative measures of work performance; and assures accountability with minimal interference to service delivery.
Maintains liaison with the chief judge and other judges; makes specific recommendations regarding court-related criminal justice issues with particular emphasis on matters relating to sound sentencing practices.
Establishes and maintains cooperative relationships with other probation and pretrial services offices to assure all requests for assistance from other districts are met promptly and effectively.
Establishes and maintains cooperative relationships with all components of the criminal justice system to include federal, state, and local law enforcement, correctional, and social service agencies.
Promotes and maintains conditions which encourage staff loyalty, enthusiasm, and morale.
Develops and maintains a public relations program which explains probation, parole, and other correctional services to the community; assumes responsibility for communication to the news media.
Monitors community events and issues with special attention on alleviating hazardous office and field incidents.
The person selected for this position will have contact with confidential material, which is protected under the Guide to Judiciary Policy, Vol. 20: Chapter 8 and the pretrial services confidentiality regulations, issued under Title 18 U.S.C. § 3153(C)(2). Disclosure of any confidential information to the outside public is prohibited, unless otherwise authorized.
QUALIFICATIONS
To qualify for the position of Chief Probation Officer JSP 16, 17, or 18, a person must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and possess a minimum of three years of specialized experience, one of which must have been at the next lower grade level or its equivalent. For example, to qualify for JSP 16, at least one year of the required specialized experience must be at or equivalent to a JSP 15 or CL 31. Preference will be given to applicants with a masters’ degree and/or five years of specialized experience.
Specialized Experience: Progressively responsible experience in the investigation, supervision, counseling, and guidance of offenders in probation, pretrial or community corrections programs is required. Experience as a police officer, FBI agent, customs agent, marshal, or similar position may not meet the requirements of specialized experience. Specialized experience must be earned after the bachelor's degree has been granted.
Substitution of Substantial Management Experience: Three years of substantial high-level management experience may be substituted for the requirement that one year of specialized experience is at or equivalent to the next lower grade level (and may be part of the three years of specialized experience described above). If the person does not have three years of substantial management experience, then one of the years of specialized experience must have been at or equivalent to the next lower grade level.
Substantial management experience is high-level administrative experience that provides a thorough understanding of the organizational, procedural, and human aspects of managing an organization. Such experience typically includes financial management, space and facilities management, oversight of the information technology, human resources functions, and long and short-range planning. Possible titles indicative of this experience within the judiciary would include deputy chief probation officer, deputy chief pretrial services officer, assistant deputy chief probation officer or assistant deputy chief pretrial services officer.
Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Substantial knowledge of and experience in the operations and management of federal probation and pretrial services. Excellent organizational leadership and management skills. Knowledge of federal judiciary strategic plans, policies, and procedures. Knowledge of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the Bail Reform Act of 1984 and applicable statutes and case law, and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Knowledge of evidence-based practices and re-entry initiatives which clearly link to current and future operations and activities. Experience and tenure in leading teams, managing budgets and financial plans, leading large multifaceted projects, evaluating work processes and organizational impact, re-engineering or creating new organizational models, and planning and implementing organizational change. Understanding of the judiciary’s decentralized administrative model. Ability to effectively interact with judges, the legal community, and other law enforcement, corrections, and service providing agencies. Displays executive leadership skills, vision, and innovation.
Skill in operational leadership, strong analytical skills, and excellent oral and written communication abilities. Ability to learn and adapt to change while leading an organization, to get results under challenging conditions and inspire others to perform at a high level. Exhibits a presence that builds confidence in others. Must possess the ability to analyze problems from a fresh point of view and communicate their ideas/thoughts to others.
REQUIRED CLEARANCES
Successful applicants will be required to submit to a background investigation which includes drug screening, fingerprinting, a credit check, and a full field background investigation by the Office of Personnel Management. As a condition of employment, the
incumbent will also be subject to an updated background investigation every five years.
MAXIMUM ENTRY AGE
There is no “maximum entry age” for this position. However, in order to be included under federal law enforcement officer retirement provisions, an individual would have to meet “maximum entry age” provisions as follows: First-time appointees to positions covered under law enforcement officer retirement provisions must not have reached their 37th birthday at the time of appointment. Applicants 37 or over with previous federal hazardous duty experience under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees’ Retirement System may be eligible for appointment.
MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS – LAW ENFORCEMENT
Prior to first-time appointment under the federal law enforcement retirement provision, the selectee for this position will undergo a medical examination. Upon successful completion of the medical examination and drug screening, the selectee may then be appointed provisionally, pending a favorable background investigation and suitability determination by the court. The medical requirements and essential job functions derived from the medical guidelines for probation officers are available for public review at United States Courts website. As conditions of employment, the incumbent will be subject to ongoing random drug screening, and, as deemed necessary by the court for reasonable cause, may be subject to subsequent fitness-for duty evaluations.
HOW TO APPLY
Qualified candidates must submit an online application and include a cover letter, resume and three professional references. The cover letter should describe your administrative experience as it relates to staffing, budget, project management, philosophy of managing, human resources, procurement, and information technology. The resume should include the years of specialized managerial experience including dates of employment, salary history, functions managed, the number and composition of personnel managed.
Current or former Federal Judiciary employee applicants must clearly state their experience and the corresponding time in the applicable Judiciary Salary Plan (JSP) grade or Court Personnel System (CPS) classification level or equivalent.
If you are a current or former federal employee applicant, please also include a copy of your latest SF-50.
Complete applications should be submitted via the on-line application system at:
https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/azduscourts
Attachments should be submitted only as Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents. Other formats are not acceptable.
Applications will be considered complete when the online application and all required attachments (in proper format) are received by the Human Resources Division.
APPLICANT INFORMATION
The Court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, or to withdraw the announcement, any of which may occur without prior written or other notice. In the event that a position becomes vacant in a similar classification, within a reasonable time of the original announcement, the court may elect to select a candidate from the applicants who responded to the original announcement without posting the position.
Only qualified applicants will be considered for this position. Employees of the U.S. District Court serve under “Excepted Appointments” and are considered “at will” employees (except for probation officers who may be removed for cause). Federal Civil Service classifications or regulations do not apply; however, court employees are entitled to substantially the same benefits as other Federal Government employees.
The initial appointment to this position is provisional pending the successful completion of the required background checks and/or investigations. The U.S. District Court is a drug-free workplace and the applicant selected will be required to participate in a drug screening test prior to employment.
All information provided by applicants is subject to verification and background investigation. Applicants are advised that false statements or omission of information on any application materials or the inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment or dismissal after being employed.
Participation in the interview process will be at the applicant’s own expense and relocation expenses will not be provided.
All promotions are subject to the approval of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
The position is subject to the mandatory electronic fund transfer (EFT) participation for payment of net pay (i.e., Direct Deposit).
Non-citizens may be interviewed and considered for employment, but employment offers will only be made to individuals who qualify under one of the exceptions in 8 U.S.C. §1324b(a)(3)(B). In most cases, this means that an offer of employment cannot be made unless the candidate is a lawful permanent resident who is seeking U.S. citizenship as explained below. Under 8 U.S.C. §1324b(a)(3)(B), a lawful permanent resident seeking citizenship may not apply for citizenship until he or she has been a permanent resident for at least five years (three years if seeking naturalization as a spouse of a citizen), at which point he or she must apply for citizenship within six months of becoming eligible, and must complete the process within two years of applying (unless there is a delay caused by the processors of the application). Non-citizens who have not been permanent residents for five years will be required to execute an affidavit that they intend to apply for citizenship when they become eligible to do so.
The U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officer for the District of Arizona is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $171,608.00 - $234,156.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Schedule:
Education:
Experience:
- Management: 3 years (Required)
Ability to Relocate:
- Arizona: Relocate before starting work (Required)
Work Location: In person
