March 11, 2020

Job Posting: Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

The independent federal that provides mediation services government agencies and other entities worldwide is hiring an Executive Ombudsman. The position will, "provide technical leadership and direction for the FMCS internal ombuds program [and] promote the use of ombuds services to FMCS stakeholders and provide ombuds services to other federal agencies." Some travel is required.

 Applicants must have at least one year of relevant ADR experience (including work as an Ombuds) and be a U.S. citizen. The GS-15 position pays $142,701 to $170,800 per year. Applications are due by March 12, 2020. (USA Jobs.)

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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/11/2020 12:40 PM

    Unfortunately this job is only open to federal employees who are displaced and who qualify for the position, and of course vets. In the event no one applies or no one qualifies, then FMCS can, according to OPM policy, place any current GS-15 federal employee into the position. Therefore, not one of the 220 employees of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service can apply. Also among the vast pool of potential applicants who are excluded include the hundreds of outstanding employees serving in alternative dispute resolution roles throughout government, 125 or so members of the Coalition of Federal Ombudsman, and 100 or so Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioners, to name a few. It is extraordinarily disappointing to see decisions being made at the top like this, where they can just hand-select someone for whatever reason. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. I cannot imagine how the person who was pre-selected for this position will have any chance of being trusted. I'm not sure how the role will be effective. I can't imagine anyone with the highest levels of ethics and integrity would accept being put into a position in this way. Not in the federal government, which is supposed to be built on principles of fairness and merit. Everyone should have a chance to compete. But this is the current state of affairs, and why government gets a bad name. This is shameful and embarrassing.

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    Replies
    1. Tom Kosakowski3/11/2020 1:30 PM

      Thanks for pointing this out, Anonymous. This is highly relevant and helpful info.

      Delete
  2. Mark P.3/11/2020 5:09 PM

    Maybe the pre-ordained selectee (and that is crappy) is a veteran AND in one of the pools of experienced candidates listed above. I am a disabled veteran myself, so I think it is more than possible that at least *one* of the 220 FMCS employees or other ADR professionals is also a veteran. Again, I'm not saying sham searches are a good thing by any means, but veterans shouldn't be lumped in among the automatically undeserving

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  3. Anonymous3/12/2020 7:09 AM

    Mark, you are absolutely right! By the way thank you for your service! You would be great and should definitely apply! They could use someone like you leading this effort. I hope all vets in our field apply and I hope they hire a vet. That would be amazing, and it would prove us all wrong, which I truly hope we are wrong here! Your experience, credentials, leadership etc. goes to the main point that there are a lot of top level folks who could be great for this position, and therefore should be opened up for a fair competition. However I am not optimistic about their intentions. I suspect they're banking that no one will apply or qualify, which enables them to hand select someone.

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    1. Tom Kosakowski3/12/2020 10:22 AM

      Although the commenter is anonymous, I can vouch for their credibility.

      Delete
  4. Mark P.3/13/2020 10:31 AM

    Thanks for the kind words, anonymous. I am sorry I was a little defensive in my response. Nice ombudsing! :-)

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