Assignment Opportunities in Washington

ADTR Change of Station (COS) and Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Assignment Procedure

Background

The Associate Director for Threat Reduction (ADTR) is responsible for the negotiation and execution of all Change of Station/Intergovernmental Personnel Act (COS/IPA) assignments with Threat Reduction (TR) sponsors.* To carry out these responsibilities, ADTR requires a high level of coordination and cooperation between COS/IPA candidates, TR program offices, and the ADTR Office. The following procedure is implemented to ensure adequate and timely coordination between these parties.

*Includes the Department of Energy’s Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation (DOE-NN), all elements of the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and all elements of the US Intelligence Community.

COS/IPA assignments are becoming increasingly costly and are adding to program support (indirect) costs. In some recent cases, staff members have negotiated potential assignments on their own, and then ask program offices to support and help cover the costs of the agreement.

Procedure

Effective immediately, all COS/IPA candidates must coordinate a potential assignment with their Line Manager, appropriate program office Program Manager, Program Director, and the ADTR office before making any commitments to potential sponsors. Notification to ADTR should be through the ADTR Chief of Staff, who is responsible for informing the Associate Director and the Deputy Associate Director (DADTR).

For all proposed COS/IPA assignments, Program Managers/Program Directors must notify the ADTR office of their agreement or disagreement with each potential assignment. Notification should be in writing or via email, again through the ADTR Chief of Staff.

ADTR/DADTR and the appropriate Program Manager/Program Director will decide whether or not to proceed with each proposed COS/IPA assignment and will inform the candidate employee. Following such approval, the employee may proceed with negotiation of the specific COS/IPA assignment and must keep the program office involved in all subsequent negotiations.

ADTR reserves the right to turn down potential COS/IPA assignments if this procedure is not followed.

Potential Assignment

If you receive pre-approval from ADTR to proceed with negotiations for an IPA or COS assignment, then please work with your line management first to coordinate the application process.

Assignment approval requires

• Preparation of the COS/IPA Approval Package;
• Review and recommended approval from immediate supervisor, Program Manager, Division Leader, and Associate Director, or equivalents; and
• Review and approval from the Deputy Director.

COS/IPA Approval Package

Approval package requires

1. Memorandum “Request Approval for Proposed Change of Station (COS) and Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Assignment. Prepared by assignee with guidance of HR-WSD. Use COS/IPA Approval Request Template, listed under Forms.
2. Letter of Request for LANL support from the Host. Provided by the prospective Host.
3. Funding Profile and Cost Estimate Summary. Prepared by Program Office CFO-Financial Analyst and reviewed by the COS/IPA Core Financial Analyst. Use the Funding Profile and Cost Summary Excel Worksheet, listed under CFO Financial Analysts. The initial Relocation and Subsistence estimate should be prepared by Sher Robinson, CFO-1, and submitted to the program office analyst for estimate completion.
4. Negotiated assignment agreement between the Host and the Laboratory. Use either one of the following forms, found under Forms on the External Assignments website.
   • DOE Task Assignment Statement,
   • Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Agreement, or
   • Equivalent documentation.
5. Employee Resume, (for a new assignment)
6. Briefing Certification: Potential Conflicts of Interest for IPA or COS Assignments (pdf).