Store Associates work either independently or as part of a team in any assigned retail area of a commissary store within the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) system.
This is an open-continuous announcement with an established initial cut-off date of 11/16/2025. Please see the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section for more information.
Learn more about this agency
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.
Military spouses of active duty service members or whose spouse is 100 percent disabled or died on active duty.
Additional positions may be filled from this announcement.
- Assisting customers by answering questions such as item price or location, and handling bulky/heavy items.
- Operating an electronic checkout system to record unit price, total customer purchase, and make change.
- Performing a variety of duties in handling, preparing and maintaining stock levels of grocery and produce items.
- Reviewing stock levels and gathering inventory data in order to maintain the Computer Assisted Ordering (CAO) system.
- Preparing and maintaining a variety of documents to order commissary items, reconcile invoices and submit requisitions.
- Maintaining security, safety, and sanitation practices and procedures.
Read the entire job announcement. Focus on the following sections to understand whether or not you qualify for the position.
- Duties and Qualifications
- How to Apply (including a preview of the assessment questionnaire, if applicable)
- How You Will be Evaluated
Your resume must thoroughly describe how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the Qualifications section of this announcement and it must support your responses to the assessment questionnaire. We do not assume you have the necessary experience to successfully perform in this job regardless of your employment history or academic career.
- Be a U.S. citizen or national. Applicants with a Permanent Resident Card are authorized to live and work in the U.S. but are not eligible for employment in positions requiring U.S. citizenship. If selected, proof of citizenship is required.
- Meet minimum age requirement. See the Additional Information.
- Males born after 12-31-1959 must be registered with or exempt from Selective Service.
- Appointment is subject to successful verification of identity and employment eligibility through E-Verify. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, at https://www.e-verify.gov/.
- Appointment is subject to a favorable suitability or fitness outcome, as determined by a completed background investigation. New federal employees will be fingerprinted.
- Be able to obtain and maintain clearance eligibility based on the appropriate background investigation.
- May be subject to a probationary/trial period.
- Direct deposit of pay is required.
- Meet the physical requirements identified in the Qualifications section.
- May be subject to a supervisory probationary period.
You must meet the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) qualifications for series 1101 and additional requirements by the announcement closing date. Your resume (and/or transcript if necessary) must clearly show that you have the qualifications described below. You can use experience, education, or a combination of the two to qualify.
Experience: One (1) year of progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of this position (general experience).
OR
Education: Two (2) full years of successfully completed education above high school at an accredited business, secretarial, technical school, junior college, college or university. Transcripts are required if relying on education, in whole or in part, to qualify. See Required Documents for more information.
OR
Combination of experience and education: To calculate the combination, divide your total months of experience by 12, then divide your semester hours by 60 and add the two percentages. If the total is 100%, you meet the minimum qualifications through a combination of experience and education.
You will receive credit for all relevant qualifying experience (paid and unpaid), including volunteer work done through National Service program (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).
Physical requirements: (1) Stand, stoop, kneel, bend and climb for prolonged periods. (2) Lift, push, pull, carry, and handle items weighing up to 40 pounds independently and occasionally over 40 pounds with assistance. You will attest to your ability to perform these physical requirements in the Questionnaire.
As part of the online application process, you will respond to a series of questions designed to evaluate your level of experience in the position's competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics). The competencies are:
- Clerical & Administrative
- Communications
- Customer Service
- Electronic Checkout System
- Safety & Housekeeping
- Store Operations
Overtime: Occasional
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Nonexempt
Bargaining Unit Status: Varies by location
Obligated Position: If obligated, you occupying the position is subject to the former incumbent returning. If the former incumbent does not return to the position, your occupancy may become permanent. Tentative job offers identify if the position you are offered is obligated.
Those retired under CSRS or FERS considered: No. DoD criteria not met.
Work environment: May work in hot or cold weather and/or in damp or drafty conditions, be exposed to differences in temperature in storing or obtaining items from refrigerated rooms or in the warehouse, and while working you may receive minor injuries such as cuts, scrapes, bruises, heat sealer burns, and may slip on wet floors.
Telework eligible: No
Remote work eligible: No
USING YOUR EDUCATION TO QUALIFY.You MUST provide transcripts and/or other documentation to support your educational claims.Transcripts. REQUIRED when using education to meet qualifications or when education is required.
Foreign education may be qualifying if a private organization specializing in interpreting foreign education programs has deemed the foreign education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program or a U.S. accredited college or university has given full credit for the foreign courses.Unofficial transcripts from U.S. Department of Education accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions listing your name, the name of the school, the date and degree awarded, and the list of classes and credits earned are acceptable for the application process. If selected, official transcripts are required before a firm job offer is made.
A photocopy of your degree/diploma is not acceptable.When relying on foreign education, submit transcripts and a copy of the equivalency evaluation results letter with a course-by-course listing. Documents must be in English or include an English translation. The hiring employer for this position does not evaluate degrees from foreign colleges or universities.
Executive Order 12564 requires a federal workplace to be free of illegal drugs and prohibits the use of illegal drugs both on and off duty by federal employees. As a reminder, marijuana is still classified as an illegal drug by the Federal government and is prohibited for use by Federal employees even if such use is legal in the state where the Federal employee resides and/or works. The Defense Commissary Agency is a Drug-Free Federal Workplace where the use of illegal drugs will not be tolerated and may result in penalties up to and including removal from Federal service.
- Upon first appointment to a civilian position in the Federal government, you are entitled only to the lowest step (Step 1) of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this announcement does not suggest or convey an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.
- The minimum age requirement is generally 18 years. Employing those under 18 may be possible under certain circumstances. If under 18 years of age, ensure you provide documentation showing how you are eligible.
- Applicants with financial difficulty are not automatically removed from consideration.
- Selectees are required to complete an online onboarding process.
- Retired military service members cannot be appointed to a Department of Defense (DoD) civilian position within 180 days of their retirement date. 5 United States Code 3326.
The following may result in a rating of ineligible. Ineligible applicants receive no consideration.
- Submitting an incomplete application package, such as missing documents, illegible documents, and/or missing information necessary to determine qualifications and eligibility. A resume reflecting part-time (PT)/full-time (FT) or nothing rather than the number of hours worked per week (e.g., 40, 30, 20, etc.) may be considered incomplete.
- Submitting encrypted documents or uploading Adobe portfolio documents.
- Submitting any document that contains a photo or image of you.
- Including social media links, inappropriate material or content, classified or government sensitive information, or personal information such as age, gender, race, religion, or social security number on your resume.
- Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or questionnaire responses.
- Deliberately attempting to falsify your application information, such as copying portions of this announcement into your resume.
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.
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. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
HR reviews your documents to determine if you are qualified and meet requirements. Your questionnaire score is a preliminary measure of how well your background matches the required competencies.
HR reviews your documents to determine if you are qualified and meet requirements. Your questionnaire score is a preliminary measure of how well your background matches the required competencies.
Under category rating procedures you are placed into one of three categories based on the evaluation results:
Best Qualified -Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that substantially exceeds the position's minimum qualifications, including all selective placement factors and appropriate quality ranking factors.
Highly Qualified - Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that exceeds the position's minimum qualifications.
Qualified- Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and are proficient in some but not all of the position's requirements.
Candidates in the best qualified category are referred to hiring managers before candidates in other categories. Within the best qualified category, candidates are referred in the following order: adjudicated veterans' preference candidates with 10-point preference, adjudicated veterans' preference candidates with other than 10-point preference, military spouse preference candidates, and candidates with no preference.
Selections are subject to restrictions of the DoD referral system for displaced employees.
Neither preference nor priority entitles you to a Federal job. You must apply, meet the qualification standards and all additional requirements, and submit all necessary documents. Military spouses must be in the best qualified group in order to receive military spouse preference.
Veterans Preference:
- You must provide a copy of your DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty or other acceptable documentation that includes your character of service. The member 4 copy is preferred. Contact the National Archives or your military personnel records center to request a copy of your DD-214.
- Those claiming 10-point preference must submit a completed SF 15 Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (For Veterans and Relatives of Veterans) and all required proof listed on the reverse of the SF 15. Note that a letter from the VA that contains the following may be sufficient instead of a SF-15: Dates of service, Discharge status, and Disability rating.
- Contact the Department of Veterans Affairs or call 1-800-827-1000 to obtain a copy of the VA letter establishing proof of disability.
Your Resume.
- IMPORTANT UPDATE: Your resume must not exceed two (2) pages. If your resume exceeds the two-page limit, you will be removed from consideration for this announcement. The resume and required supporting documentation should provide the minimum qualifications and relevant experience for the announced position. Must include the work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment, and duties performed. If multiple resumes are submitted by an applicant, only the last resume submitted will be reviewed for qualifications and referred for selection consideration, if eligible. The resume must not be more than 5MB and should be saved and uploaded as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. Page margins should be 0.5 inches, and font styles must be legible. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text. We recommend using a font like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans.
- Additional guidance on writing a federal resume can be found at: USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job? The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.
- Your resume must thoroughly describe how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the Qualifications section of this announcement and it must support your responses to the assessment questionnaire. We do not assume you have the necessary experience to successfully perform in this job regardless of your employment history or academic career.
- At a minimum, your resume MUST contain your name, address, and contact information, and the following for each listed job experience: Job title; Pay Plan, Series and grade, if it is a federal civilian position; Employer's name and address; Employment beginning and ending dates (Month/Year); and Description of duties performed. Part-Time employment MUST include work hours for each job entry.
Questionnaire. Preview at https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12946112 .
- Appointment Eligibility Criteria. You choose how you wish to be considered for this position by selecting one or more of the eligibilities listed in the Assessment Questionnaire and providing the supporting documents for the selected eligibility/eligibilities. Documents required to prove you can be considered for the selected eligibility/eligibilities are listed within the eligibility description.
- HR does not select or change your eligibility/eligibilities for you, regardless of the supporting documents you submit. You are considered ONLY for the eligibility or eligibilities you select and for which you provide all required supporting documents. If you have questions about which eligibility/eligibilities apply to you, contact the HR POC listed on this announcement.
SF 50 Notification of Personnel Action.
- To obtain copies of your SF 50s, all current Department of Defense (DoD) employees can access MyBiz, employees receiving HR servicing from DLA can access eOPF and former civilian employees can request a copy from the National Archives.
All DeCA employees, regardless of location or human resources provider, submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 showing your current position title, pay plan-series-grade, tenure, and position occupied.
Current active duty armed forces personnel within 120 days of separation must submit written documentation from the armed forces certifying that the service member is expected to be separated from active duty service not later than 120 days after the date the certification is signed. The document must include the following information: (1) service member's name, (2) date of the expected separation from active duty, (3) expected character of the active duty service at separation, (4) pay grade/rank/rate at separation, (5) dates of active duty service, and (6) any campaign or expeditionary medals received. You must submit the DD-214 when it becomes available.
PLEASE REVIEW THE BELOW LINK FOR OTHER SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS needed for proof of eligibility:
https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/Careers/downloads/DODCustomersRequiredSupportingDocumentation.pdf?
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
You are responsible for verifying your application package is complete, accurate, and submitted timely. As uploaded documents may take one or more hours to clear the virus scan, plan accordingly to ensure your application process is complete and your application package is submitted by the specified closing date and time.
To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date to receive consideration.
- To begin, click Apply Online to access an online application. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account or you may need to create a new account.
- You will be taken to an online application. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation, and submit the application. NOTE: Resumes up to a total of two pages will be accepted. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.
- You will receive an email notification when your application has been received for the announcement.
- To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, https://www.usajobs.gov, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Application Status page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and your responses submitted to the online application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
Please review the General Application Information and Definitions at:
https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/Careers/downloads/DoDGenAppInfo%2012-1-2020.pdf?ver=ECNbdsHtGilTd3OENN4A0Q%3d%3d
DeCA DE West Servicing Team
Phone
614-693-3917
Fax
215-516-6081
Email
Address
Defense Commissary Agency West
1300 E Avenue
Fort Lee, VA 23801-1800
US
Notices post to your USAJOBS account and are emailed to you. You can expect to receive a notice when you complete the application process, when your qualifications status is determined (qualified or not qualified), and when your referral status is determined (referred or not). If you are referred but not selected, you can expect to receive a final notice after the hiring manager makes a selection.
The hiring manager may choose to conduct interviews and may conduct telephone interviews to preclude travel hardships for applicants. Someone from the hiring agency (i.e., DeCA) will contact you if the hiring manager decides to interview you.
Should you receive a tentative job offer, be aware such offers are automatically withdrawn if you fail to (1) record an acceptance or declination by the response date provided in the offer notice and/or (2) meet any pre-employment requirements, including a scheduled appointment. If you receive a job offer, use a computer to submit your response rather than a mobile/cell phone.
Accepting applications
Location
MANY vacancies in the following locations:
No matching locations found.
Work site options
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$17.82 - $22.68 per hour
Pay scale & grade
GS 4
Learn more about pay scale and grade
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
- 1101 General Business And Industry
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
DECA-26-12946112-OC-DE
