Direct hire authority allows the hiring of candidates without use of standard procedures into competitive service career, career-conditional, term, or temporary positions. Image: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOPM has extended through calendar year 2028 the authority of agencies to use the “direct hire” process for filling positions in nearly two dozen occupational series in the STEM, acquisition and cybersecurity fields.
A memo on chcoc.gov lists the affected occupational series and grade levels and further grants that authority to positions in the criminal investigator series at the GS 12-15 levels involving cybersecurity and related work.
Direct hire authority, which can be invoked on grounds of severe shortages of candidates and/or critical hiring needs, allows the hiring of candidates without use of standard procedures into competitive service career, career-conditional, term, or temporary positions.
Says the memo, “Agencies must identify and use proper assessment tools for the positions being filled with these direct hire authorities to determine who is qualified for the covered positions. Agencies should not conduct additional ratings to determine relative degrees of qualifications when using this authority. Qualified candidates with veterans’ preference should be selected as they are found, just as any qualified non preference eligible candidate would be.”
OPM may request information from agencies on their use of the authorities and “will periodically assess agency use of these authorities as well as the continued need for them and may modify or terminate them as appropriate,” it adds.
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