Frequently Asked Questions – DOI Office of Policy, Management and Budget (PMB) Experienced Services Program (ESP)

The Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Policy, Management and Budget (PMB) Experienced Services Program (ESP) is a human capital resource for PMB Customers to acquire experienced, skilled workers, aged 55 and older, to support their mission and priority projects on a temporary basis. 

Through its annual appropriations, DOI and its Bureaus and Departmental Offices are authorized to create and implement an ESP by entering into cooperative agreements with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who will recruit and enroll such workers in the program and manage their payroll and other personnel-related administration. The Interior Business Center (IBC) Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD) awards and administers cooperative agreements in GrantSolutions (GS) to NGOs on behalf of PMB. 

The ESP is a Federal Financial Assistance program. IBC AQD issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to select and enter into master cooperative agreements with one or more NGOs for a specified period of performance and maximum dollar amount. 

Through these master cooperative agreements, PMB Customers may request enrollee(s) with a statement of work, through an ESP Project Agreement. The ESP Project Agreement includes an approved project proposal, position description, and project budget, as well as assurances that each proposed project meets eligibility parameters in accordance with applicable laws and policies. When IBC AQD and the NGOs agree to the terms of the ESP Project Agreement, the NGOs will recruit and screen applicants. PMB Financial Assistance Technical Representatives (FATRs) will then receive a list of qualified applicants from the NGOs to interview and to select enrollee(s). Selected enrollees will receive an ESP program orientation and program enrollee handbook from the NGO that recruited them. 

The PMB FATRs will provide an organizational and project orientation, arrange for security clearance(s), Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card(s), and any equipment, specialized training, and travel needed to complete their project. 

PMB's ESP, in coordination with IBC AQD’s administration of the cooperative agreements with NGOs, is supported by an IBC Customer Central website designed as a one-stop shop for PMB FATRs to find forms and guidance to aide in submitting task agreements. 

Each ESP Project Agreement is a task agreement under master cooperative agreements awarded by IBC AQD to the NGOs. Each must be administered through GS. IBC AQD Financial Assistance Officers (FAOs) will administer ESP Project Agreements in GS on behalf of PMB Customers. 

Each ESP Project Agreement will have an application prepared in GS by the selected NGO, and all ESP forms (Statement of Work (SOW), PMB ESP Position Description, PMB ESP Cost Estimate, and ESP Compliance Certification) are required for the application package to be complete, or an award cannot be made. Any additional forms needed will be provided by IBC AQD or the NGO. 

The ESP is an innovative, cost-effective, and flexible way for PMB Customers to obtain the services of skilled, experienced workers on a project-specific basis to fulfill a variety of temporary needs. These include needs for workers with highly specialized skills, who could serve as mentors for newer employees, or who could carry out numerous project roles that need someone to start work right away.  

• Enrollees can be acquired with operational funds and with minimal agency administrative costs, time, and resources; 
• ESP is a highly flexible tool for acquiring needed skills on a temporary basis; 
• Enrollees can include veterans, retired federal employees, members of academia, and others; 
• Bringing on an enrollee generally takes much less time and is less complex than other Federal workforce building tools; and, 
• Participation does not usually impact federal employee retirement benefits. 

This program can support a wide range of disciplines including administrative, scientific, communications, business and other fields that support the work of PMB. This program cannot support supervision of Federal employees or inherently governmental work. 

Under the program’s statutory authority, enrollees may not: 

• Displace Federal employees, including through reduction of overtime or compensatory time opportunities for Federal employees; 
• Replace Federal employees on layoff status;  
• Affect existing agency contracts; and, 
• Carry out inherently governmental tasks, such as supervision, signing contracts, active firefighting; active law enforcement; foreign travel or foreign postings; or making any commitments on behalf of the government. 

PMB ESP also excludes the use of enrollees for use of firearms and explosives. 

The enrollee may be used to support the missions of PMB Customers nationwide in all offices which fall under the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Policy, Management and Budget (PMB). 

Yes, enrollees can be used for full or part-time work, provided they are available to work those hours.

The time it takes to bring on an enrollee may vary, but the NGOs are prepared to enroll applicants in one or more weeks after Requesting Managers (PMB Customers) have interviewed and selected their preferred applicants for the proposed project. Completion of onboarding may take upwards of two weeks depending on the requesting office’s process and resources. Additional time may be needed if enrollees need a security clearance and/or a PIV card.

Yes. If a former Federal employee is selected, the PMB Financial Assistance Technical Representative (FATR) should make the former Federal employee aware of certain restrictions to new employment for former Federal employees and advise them to check in with their former agency ethics office for guidance. The responsibility for determining and fulfilling this obligation rests with the former Federal employee. 

The total cost of each project is paid by the requesting PMB Customer and is negotiated between the IBC AQD Financial Assistance Officer and the selected NGO, using the PMB ESP Cost Estimate completed by the PMB FATR. The form can be found on the NGO Resources & Points of Contact section of the IBC Customer Central site under NGO Forms, Templates and Guidance. 

The PMB Customer must provide a proposed project budget for each enrollee request. When the NGO and the PMB FATR agree to the project terms and total cost, an ESP Project Application can be completed in GS by IBC AQD. When an award is made, the requesting PMB Customer will obligate the necessary funds from their own budget(s). 

The PMB Customer funds will pay for the negotiated hourly rate of an enrollee, any fringe benefits required by law (including health benefits for those working more than 30 hours per week or 60 hours per pay period), direct costs (the cost for administration services from the NGO that are specifically for your project), and indirect costs (this is a percentage of the total cost of the program represented by each individual project). 

To implement the ESP Program, PMB enlisted the services of IBC AQD to award cooperative agreements and subsequent task agreements to the NGOs with decades of experience and significant resources for recruiting a wide range of skills and expertise from workers, aged 55 and older, for similar programs in Federal agencies with responsibilities for natural resources, the environment and agriculture.

PMB Customers can learn more about each NGO on the NGO Resources & Points of Contact section of this IBC Customer Central website. 

The NGOs have a PMB ESP page on each of their websites to help recruit new applicants and to provide a place for prospective enrollees to find, complete and submit applications to be considered for projects. Links to these NGO pages are available from the NGO Resources & Points of Contact section of this IBC Customer Central website.  

The NGOs may also publish notices or job advertisements across a multitude of recruiting outlets including but not limited to professional and/or retirement associations, networking sites, recruiting sites, job search engines, union newsletters, trade association publications, state workforce development career centers, local or regional newspapers, and local job boards. They may use specialty job boards to recruit for specialized experience or for difficult to fill positions, with approval from the PMB Customer. NGOs also maintain databases of existing and past enrollees who may also qualify and be interested in a new enrollee opportunity. 

Specific publication outlets, recruitment, and networking sites include but are not limited to the Diversified Search Group (formerly Commongood Careers), the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Career Center, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Association, Indeed, the Military Veteran Pipeline (MVP), CareerBuilder, Monster, ZipRecruiter, and LinkedIn.

The PMB FATR sets the enrollee position pay rate level, based on the position requirements expressed in the statement of work and Position Description. The PMB FATR may negotiate any rate of pay with the chosen NGO. Both NGOs use the table below for reference when setting enrollee pay rates.  

Here is an approximate example (actual sample rates will be updated after the Master Cooperative Agreement award and before the award of any Task Agreements) of hourly pay rates for potential enrollees: 

Enrollees receive benefits that are required by law, including Social Security and Medicare paid in accordance with the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), unemployment insurance, and worker’s compensation benefits. They also get Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), sick leave, and benefits required by certain local jurisdictions (when the position is in such jurisdictions), such as pre-tax transit (CA, DC, NYC). Enrollees may receive limited health care benefits through the NGO that enrolled them in the program. Those working 30 or more hours a week (or 60 hours a pay period) are eligible to receive some health care benefits provided under the Affordable Care Act, and if they choose to receive those benefits, the cost is added to the total cost of the ESP Project Agreement under which that enrollee is working. 

If you have a vacancy for a career employee, whether due to retirement or other reasons, you may use the ESP to enroll someone to temporarily fill that position, while you are actively taking steps to fill it with a career employee. You may keep the enrollee on board after a permanent or term employee is selected for the purposes of mentoring that new employee. 

Note: Retired Service employees may not return to their previously held position, but they may be able to carry out a specific project that is associated with the position. 

No. The ESP is fully competitive and by law cannot be used to onboard a specific individual. All enrollee positions are published for two weeks, and all qualified candidates referred to the PMB FATR during this time must receive consideration. 

PMB FATR who have possible qualified candidates in mind should encourage them to visit the websites of our NGOs and fill out an application or submit their resume for consideration. 

PMB’s ESP Program Manager strategizes, implements, and maintains program initiatives that adhere to PMB’s organizational objectives. The ESP Program Coordinator serves as liaison to NGOs, coordinates troubleshooting and resolution of technical issues with programs, finance, and NGOs, and coordinates with IBC AQD as needed to resolve issues with GS related processes. Either the ESP Program Manager or the ESP Program Coordinator may work with PMB Customers to finalize their ESP statement of work.  

The PMB Customers should assign PMB FATR responsibilities to a staff member to: 

• identify the need for enrollee requests and complete forms for the ESP Project Agreements to be awarded by IBC AQD in GS; 
• facilitate the onboarding process for Enrollees; 
• maintain coordination, where necessary, with the PMB ESP Program Coordinator; 
• monitor the number of hours their enrollees have worked, so they will not exceed the ESP Project Agreement budget; 
• monitor the conduct of their enrollees and report any issues to the NGO managing the offending enrollee’s payroll; 
• monitor enrollee performance based on their project benchmarks and provide enrollee performance reporting for each of their ESP Project Agreements; and 
• ensure each of their enrollee requests and ESP Project Agreements are carried out in compliance with established guidance, as well as any applicable laws and policies. 

The ESP team includes a National ESP FAO, who resides in IBC AQD and: 

• Serves in an advisory capacity for PMB FATR (PMB Customers), PMB ESP Program Coordinator, and NGOs;  
• Awards and administers cooperative agreements on behalf of PMB; and 
• Conducts official project agreement closeout. 

A “PMB FATR” is the Requesting Manager who oversees and monitors the performance and conduct of enrollees. The PMB FATR may also be the person who requests and selects enrollees. The relationship between the PMB FATR and the enrollee is not explicitly supervisory.  

An “Enrollee” is a worker, aged 55 and older, who has been recruited by one of the NGOs and selected by the PMB FATR to provide skills, technical assistance, and other work in support of PMB Customer missions. Enrollees are employees of the partner organization and are not Federal employees. 

No. There is no hiring authority provided in the authorizing statute. The ESP is intended to target the services of non-federal, experienced workers, age 55 and older, for a temporary, defined period of performance. Enrollees are not Federal employees, and they are free to seek permanent Federal employment in accordance with Federal hiring procedures.

There are no official uniforms for enrollees. PMB Customers may purchase clothing or other identifying swag for enrollees, following any existing PMB Customer office policy which applies. The items may not be made part of reimbursable costs in an ESP Project Agreement. 

Specific questions about applying for enrollee positions, pay, benefits, work hours, etc. should be directed to the NGO.

The DOI’s statutory authorization for the ESP comes through annual appropriations law, which amends the Older Americans Act. The purpose of the Older Americans Act is to promote the well-being of older Americans (aged 55 and older) through services and programs designed to meet their specific needs. These include health care, provision of food and home care, prevention of elder abuse, job training and employment, and other programs. 

NGOs in PMB’s ESP provide meaningful employment opportunities to older Americans. The authorizing statute requires that PMB’s ESP NGOs must be certified by the Secretary of Labor to administer employment programs for older Americans in accordance with the Older Americans Act.

Federal employees receiving a Federal Employees Retirement System annuity would be impacted by participation in the ESP if their total income exceeds the limit placed on Social Security payments for retirees. See OPM.gov Retirement Services FERS Information. 

No, enrollees may be any individual, aged 55 or older, who is qualified and available for the position being offered. 

With approval from the selected NGO and relevant PMB Customer, the PMB FATR may request IBC AQD amend or extend an existing ESP Project Agreement. A PMB FATR “May Not” adjust hours or pay for enrollees without prior approval from and coordination with the selected NGO. Increases in funding for an ESP Project Agreement must be processed as an amendment in GS by the IBC AQD Financial Assistance Officer. ESP Project Agreement amendments or extensions must be communicated to the PMB ESP Program Coordinator. 

• DOI Points of Contact are available on the DOI Resources & Points of Contact section of the IBC Customer Central website. 
• NGO Points of Contact are available on the NGO Resources & Points of Contact section of the IBC Customer Central website. 

To be eligible for a FAOR appointment or FATR designation, candidates must meet the following training requirements:

• Initial:
  • Introduction to Grants and Cooperative Agreements for Federal Personnel (24 CLPs) available in DOI Talent or an equivalent course offered by another training provider;
  • IBC/AQD Training/Presentation on FA (8 CLPs) given by IBC/AQD Financial Assistance Officer (FAO); and
  • 1 hr. of Ethics Training completed within the last year.
• Maintenance:
  • 8 CLPs of FA maintenance training every two years; and,
  • 1 hr. of Ethics Training completed within the last year.