Order M3000.1B - Chapter 3, Section 7

This Directive was canceled January 6, 2005.

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration	Personnel Management Manual Part I Chapter 3: Assignment and Utilization of Employees Section 7: Technical Career Tracks Program
	Date: November 16, 2000

Par.	What is the purpose of this section? What is the FHWA policy on technical career tracks? What is the technical career track staffing process? Which disciplines and technical positions are covered by technical career tracks?

What is the purpose of this section? This section establishes the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Technical Career Tracks Program. Technical career track positions require specific high-level technical and professional competencies that are at least at, and usually above, the full performance level.
What is the FHWA policy on technical career tracks? The FHWA policy is to establish technical career tracks at the grade 13, 14, and 15 levels for certain disciplines where the development of a high level of technical or specialized program expertise is critical for the accomplishment of the agency's mission. The purpose of these technical career tracks is to focus efforts on developing needed technical expertise and to support improved career advancement opportunities within the technical disciplines. Nothing in this policy supersedes management's right and responsibility to determine the assignment of duties and who is promoted. All positions in the technical career tracks will be properly classified in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management's classification standards. Initially, the technical career track staffing process will apply to promotions and other intake actions into grade 14 and 15 positions within the technical career tracks. (It will not apply to reassignments from one position to another within the technical career track.) This process will be expanded to include grade 13 positions at a later date.

What is the technical career track staffing process?

Overview. The core elements of the technical career track staffing process are:

(1)	Rigorous threshold standards for entering each grade level in the technical career track;
(2)	Peer/expert review of each candidate through a peer review panel process, and further evaluation of professional and outreach skills by a panel of management officials;
(3)	A collaborative management process both for determining needs and making selections; and
(4)	Use of existing staffing processes, each enhanced by peer/expert review.

Using the staffing process. Staffing actions using the technical career track staffing process are taken to fill actual vacancies or to promote in place a technical career track employee performing at such a level as to meet the criteria for the next higher grade. This process is summarized in the following chart.

Fig. 1. Technical Career Track Staffing Process
External Hire	Vacancy Announcement (Merit Promotion)	Promotion in Place (Reclassification)
Management discussion. Grade level criteria (in place). KSA's. Delegated Examining Unit staffing process. Rating Guide. Peer/expert review panel. Management panel. Certificate. Management discussion. Selection.	Management discussion. Grade level criteria (in place). KSA's. Vacancy announcement. Rating Guide. Peer/expert review panel. Management panel. Certificate. Management discussion. Selection.	Management discussion. Grade level criteria (in place). KSA's (or equivalent guidelines). Career track announcement. Panel guidance (comparable to rating guide). Peer/expert review panel. Management panel. Certificate(s). Management discussion. Decision(s) on whether to promote.

Filling Vacancies. Vacancies within the technical career tracks may be filled through the use of a merit promotion vacancy announcement, in accordance with the FHWA Merit Promotion Plan outlined in Chapter 3, Section 1, with the following modifications:

(1)	Two-step panel process, including a peer/expert review panel and a management panel, will serve in lieu of a promotion panel for advertised positions (regardless of the number of applicants, or whether a panel would normally be required under merit promotion procedures). The panel process will determine whether candidates meet the evaluation criteria established for the technical career track in that discipline, and will only certify those candidates meeting the criteria for selection, in alphabetical order.
(2)	The KSA's and rating guide for the position advertised will be derived directly from the grade level and competency criteria that has been identified and published as part of the technical career tracks, along with any other specific requirements of the position.
(3)	An employee selected for a position with known promotion potential must subsequently be evaluated by a peer/expert review panel and a management panel at the time promotion to the higher grade level is considered. The employee may be promoted to the higher grade only if found to meet the criteria for that position and grade.

Consideration for Promotion in Place

(1)	Reclassification using the "impact of person on the job" concept is used as the basis for promotions within the career track, provided that the employee continues to perform the same type of duties in the same job. The use of non-competitive promotion resulting from job reclassification (reconstitution) is appropriate for advancement within the technical career track because of the highly technical nature of the covered disciplines and the need for national and international leadership in these areas within the FHWA. These are areas where extraordinary performance and/or independence on the part of the individual can clearly shape and change the nature of the job being performed and take that work to a higher level. It is the agency's intent to encourage and support this type of job-changing effort, initiative, and self-development.
(2)	The peer/expert review panel and the management panel provide expert advice to the human resources specialist on the grade level of performance, based on the impact of the person on the job, against the pre-established grade level and competency criteria. The panel process will certify whether the employee meets the criteria for the higher level within the technical career track.
(3)	The promotion in place process may be initiated as needed on an ad hoc basis to evaluate individual employee(s), or it may be initiated on a global, periodic basis (perhaps every 1 or 2 years) to cover all promotion in place opportunities in one or more entire disciplines. Whichever method is used, there will be a two-step process for evaluating employees, as described in the next paragraph.
(4)	As part of the evaluation, the peer/expert review panel will first evaluate the candidate(s) for promotion in place for their technical and program skills and their professional skills dealing with leadership within the technical discipline. Those candidates found to meet the higher-grade criteria from a technical and program standpoint are referred to the management panel, which evaluates the outreach skills of those candidates, with particular emphasis on customer service, communications skills, self-initiative, and the ability of the candidates to market their skills. The management panel completes the determination of whether these candidates meet the professional skills criteria, and thus fully meet the grade-level criteria at the higher grade. During this process, either panel and/or the human resources specialist may conduct further in-depth review, including contacting both internal and external sources within the discipline, or conducting fact-finding with the employee and supervisor as part of the panel deliberations. The human resources specialist will fulfill the regulatory requirements in making the classification determination for the position.

Career Track Announcement

(1)	When a promotion in place (reclassification action) has been proposed for panel consideration, there will normally be an opportunity provided to others in that discipline to have their credentials reviewed by the panel process to determine whether they meet the criteria for the next grade level. Employees are encouraged to discuss their credentials with their supervisors for informal feedback. This opportunity will normally be provided by a career track announcement, which is a notice informing employees within a technical discipline that a peer/expert review panel and a management panel will be convened to evaluate the credentials of one or more candidates for promotion in place. The career track announcement will offer other technical career track employees the opportunity to submit their own credentials to the panel process for review for possible promotion in place. The Career Track Announcement will also be used when management decides to announce all promotion in place opportunities in a given discipline on a periodic basis. Detailed information on how an employee may apply is listed in the career track announcement.
(2)	Employees who are certified by both panels as meeting the criteria for the higher grade will be promoted, subject to the approval of the Executive Director at the GS-14 and GS-15 levels. If an employee who is certified by the peer/expert review panel as meeting the technical and program criteria for the next higher level is not found to meet the outreach and professional skills criteria by the management panel, that peer panel certification will remain valid for 1 year. Promotion may subsequently be approved within that 1-year period without further peer/expert panel review, provided the outreach and professional skills criteria and all other requirements are met.
(3)	For employees not meeting the criteria for the higher level at either step in the panel process, the appropriate panel will provide feedback on the areas in which further attainments or development are needed.

Management Collaboration

(1)	When the head of an organizational unit has a vacancy or a proposed promotion in place, he or she may want to consult with and consider the viewpoints of the Directors of Field Services and the Core Business Unit (CBU) Program Manager or Service Business Unit (SBU) Director with program responsibility for the discipline. In addition, the head of the organizational unit may want to consult with the Director of Research, Development & Technology (RD&T) for any positions that are similar in responsibilities to RD&T positions.
(2)	The success of the operation of technical career tracks and a balanced staffing pattern for these positions depends on collegial working relationships among the Directors of Field Services, the Resource Center Managers, and the CBU Program Managers and SBU Directors. In maintaining these collegial working relationships, selecting officials need to have a broader perspective than the needs of their particular organization.
(3)	The concurrence of the Executive Director is required for all selections and promotions at the grade 14 and 15 levels.

Peer/Expert Review Panel. A peer/expert review panel will be used to evaluate candidates, and is required for all promotions and selections at the GS-14 and GS-15 levels within the technical career track.

(1)	The peer/expert review panel ensures that rigorous requirements for technical expertise are met. Candidates must fully meet criteria specific to the discipline and grade level. In particular, the peer/expert review panel evaluates the candidates for their technical and program skills and technical leadership within the discipline.
(2)	Peer/expert review panels will consist of one or more technical experts within the technical discipline having full knowledge of the technical requirements of the positions under consideration. The peer/expert review panels should reflect the diversity of the work force to the extent possible. Panel members should be at least the same grade level as, and preferably a higher grade than, the highest grade level of the positions under consideration. Panel membership will rotate among a cadre of experts throughout the agency who are identified for their technical expertise and trained in the process. Composition of a particular peer/expert review panel will be agreed upon by the heads of the organizational units of the positions to be filled and the CBU Program Manager or SBU Director for the technical discipline, in consultation with the human resources specialist. For grade 14 and 15 positions that require national and international involvement, panels may also include experts with a national/international perspective from outside the FHWA.
(3)	The size and composition of the peer/expert review panel may vary. The size of the panel is a function of the number of applicants and other circumstances related to filling the position. For Career Track Announcements and vacancy announcements with a significant number of applicants, the panel will normally consist of 3 technical experts within the discipline in question. For vacancies where there is a very small number of applicants, an urgent need to expedite the process, or other unusual requirements, the panel may consist of as few as one subject matter expert.

Management Panel. A management panel will also be used to evaluate candidates, and is required for all promotions and selections at the GS-14 and GS-15 levels within the technical career track. Candidates who pass the review by the peer/expert panel will be referred to the management panel.

(1)	The management panel evaluates the outreach skills of the candidates, with particular emphasis on customer service, communications skills, self-initiative, and the ability of the candidates to market their skills. This panel will also address the issue of the full utilization of the technical expert at the current location of the candidate as part of its determination of outreach skills. This review completes the evaluation of the professional skills criteria.
(2)	Management panels consist of some or all of the following management officials or their designees (at or above the grade level of the highest level position to be filled): the four Directors of Field Services, the CBU Program Manager or SBU Director with program responsibility for the technical discipline in question, and where appropriate when the discipline is significantly represented in their organizations, the Director of Research, Development & Technology and the Program Manager for Federal Lands Highways.
(3)	The size and composition of the management panel may vary. The size of the panel is a function of the number of applicants and other circumstances related to filling the position. For Career Track Announcements and vacancy announcements with a significant number of applicants, the panel will normally consist of 3 or more heads of organizational units or their designees representing the major organizations where the discipline in question is found. For vacancies where there is a very small number of applicants, an urgent need to expedite the process, or other unusual requirements, the panel may consist of as few as one management official.

Opportunity for Promotion. Within the technical track, there is no commitment to or guarantee of promotion, but there is a commitment to the opportunity to develop professionally to the extent permitted by resources and the mission requirements of the organization. Establishment of these positions in the Resource Centers implies management support for these positions operating at the national or international level, if incumbents can develop and operate at those levels, and resources are available. It is expected to be very difficult and rigorous to achieve those levels. Opportunities exist at the higher levels, but they depend upon both the individual initiative and self-development of the employee, and upon organizational and external circumstances making work assignments at those levels possible.

Which disciplines and technical positions are covered by technical career tracks?
1. Disciplines Covered by Technical Career Tracks. Technical career tracks are established in certain disciplines identified as providing critical technical and program expertise and other disciplines identified by top agency leadership. These disciplines are: Air Quality, Civil Rights, Environment, Finance, Geometric Design, Geotechnical, Hydraulics, ITS, Logistics, Materials, Pavements, Planning, Right-of-Way, Safety, and Structures. Other disciplines may be added or deleted at the discretion of the Management Council. The Directors of Field Services, the appropriate CBU Program Manager or SBU Director, and where appropriate, the RD&T Director (in conjunction with these other individuals when the positions are similar to RD&T positions), make the recommendation to the Management Council on adding or deleting a technical discipline.
2. Technical Career Tracks Positions. Technical career tracks will include, as appropriate, technical specialist positions at grades 13 through 15 in covered disciplines in Resource Centers, Division Offices, Federal Lands Divisions, and Headquarters Offices. It will be the responsibility of the heads of the organizational units to recommend which positions within the technical career track disciplines are sufficiently technical or highly specialized to warrant being covered by the technical career track staTechnical Career Tracks Positions. Technical career tracks will include, as appropriate, technical specialist positions at grades 13 through 15 in covered disciplines in Resource Centers, Division Offices, Federal Lands Divisions, and Headquarters Offices. It will be the responsibility of the heads of the organizational units to recommend which positions within the technical career track disciplines are sufficiently technical or highly specialized to warrant being covered by the technical career track staTechnical Career Tracks Positions. Technical career tracks will include, as appropriate, technical specialist positions at grades 13 through 15 in covered discipline from the technical career track staffing process.

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