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Ascension is seeking a Senior First Step Act Inquiry Resolution Analyst to support the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ administration of First Step Act (FSA) Time Credits.

This individual will serve as a senior operational analyst within the National Inquiry Resolution Center, researching, coordinating, documenting, and resolving routine, moderate, and selected complex inquiries concerning FSA Time Credit administration.

This is an important mission-support role because FSA Time Credit questions may directly affect inmate eligibility determinations, time-credit application, prerelease custody and supervised release considerations, institutional operations, stakeholder confidence, and potentially litigation or congressional interest.

The successful candidate will combine strong analytical research, federal program operations, case management, written communication, stakeholder coordination, and policy interpretation skills with the judgment necessary to determine when an issue can be resolved through established guidance and when it requires escalation to BOP operational, policy, legal, sentence computation, or other subject matter experts.

Ascension is particularly interested in candidates who are organized, highly detail-oriented, intellectually curious, responsive, and comfortable working with complex information where an accurate, well-supported answer is more important than simply providing a fast answer.

The ideal candidate is self-directed and capable of managing multiple concurrent inquiries with limited supervision while maintaining complete case documentation, protecting sensitive information, meeting established service levels, and communicating professionally with government stakeholders.

Position Summary

The Senior First Step Act Inquiry Resolution Analyst supports the centralized capability responsible for receiving, researching, tracking, coordinating, and resolving inquiries involving FSA Time Credits.

The Analyst researches statutes, regulations, BOP policies, operational procedures, approved business rules, system information, case documentation, and other Government-approved sources to develop fact-based responses.

The individual coordinates with appropriate BOP program offices and subject matter experts when a response requires additional operational, policy, technical, legal, or sentence computation expertise.

This position is expected to support inquiries referred by BOP personnel and, as authorized by the Bureau, inquiries involving inmates, attorneys, family members, congressional offices, courts, executive stakeholders, or other designated parties.

The Analyst will maintain detailed case files documenting the inquiry, research conducted, coordination performed, evidence reviewed, determination reached, response provided, and any necessary follow-up.

Beyond resolving individual cases, the Analyst will help BOP recognize recurring and systemic problems. This requires identifying trends that may indicate inconsistent policy interpretation, training deficiencies, unclear guidance, calculation issues, system problems, or other matters requiring corrective action.

The Analyst may also draft Frequently Asked Questions, knowledge articles, standardized response language, job aids, issue summaries, and escalation packages and may serve as an acting inquiry lead when operationally necessary.

Success in this role requires balancing accuracy, responsiveness, documentation quality, stakeholder service, confidentiality, and sound professional judgment.

Day-to-Day and Recurring Responsibilities

• RECEIVE, review, categorize, prioritize, and track assigned FSA Time Credit inquiries using the Government-approved inquiry or case management process.
• RESEARCH routine, moderate, and selected complex inquiries using applicable statutes, regulations, DOJ/BOP policy, operational procedures, approved business rules, system information, historical case documentation, and Government-authorized reference materials.
• ANALYZE case-specific facts and supporting documentation to determine whether an inquiry can be resolved using established guidance or requires additional subject matter expertise.
• COORDINATE with BOP operational offices, program personnel, sentence computation resources, policy SMEs, information technology personnel, legal personnel, records personnel, or other designated stakeholders when additional research is necessary.
• DRAFT clear, concise, professional, fact-based responses supported by documented research and approved Government guidance.
• DOCUMENT research performed, evidence considered, coordination completed, determinations made, responses issued, and follow-up actions within the designated case management system.
• MAINTAIN complete, organized, auditable case records capable of demonstrating the basis for each response.
• MONITOR assigned cases against established acknowledgement and resolution objectives, including routine, moderate, and complex inquiry service levels.
• ESCALATE urgent, sensitive, high-risk, executive-level, congressional, legal, policy, or unresolved matters in accordance with established escalation procedures.
• PREPARE escalation packages containing the inquiry, relevant facts, research performed, supporting documentation, unresolved questions, risks, and recommended next actions.
• IDENTIFY recurring inquiry patterns, inconsistent interpretations, documentation deficiencies, training gaps, operational problems, or other systemic issues.
• ANALYZE inquiry trends to support recommendations for policy clarification, training updates, knowledge-base improvements, system changes, or corrective action.
• DEVELOP and UPDATE Frequently Asked Questions, knowledge articles, standardized response templates, quick-reference material, and other inquiry-resolution resources.
• REVIEW draft responses and case documentation for completeness, clarity, consistency, accuracy, and adherence to approved procedures.
• SUPPORT quality reviews of inquiry records and recommend corrective action when documentation or response quality does not meet established standards.
• CONTRIBUTE inquiry statistics, case trends, backlog information, complexity information, systemic issues, and knowledge-management updates for the monthly Inquiry Management Report.
• PARTICIPATE in team meetings, case reviews, operational coordination sessions, quality discussions, and continuous-improvement activities.
• MAINTAIN current working knowledge of changes affecting FSA Time Credit administration, including changes to policies, operational procedures, business rules, systems, and approved guidance.
• PROTECT sensitive Government, inmate, personnel, and operational information in accordance with DOJ/BOP security, privacy, records-management, and acceptable-use requirements.
• SERVE, when designated, as an acting inquiry lead by assisting with workload coordination, case triage, peer review, escalation management, or operational continuity.