A classification & compensation platform for APHIS — every workforce, every post.
Under the Rumik task orders, HSG already supports a general class & comp adjustment effort across APHIS's workforces — PPQ, Veterinary Services, Wildlife Services, International Services and more, in the U.S. and overseas. Gilda leads it. This platform runs the whole mandate — and the COPEG Panama work is the proof it already works.
Bigger than any one position — a workforce-wide effort.
Under successive Rumik Consultancy task orders, HSG supports APHIS in reviewing and adjusting how its positions are classified and paid. Gilda (CTR, MRP-APHIS) leads the effort and tasks specialists with slices of it — the COPEG Panama position descriptions are one such slice, in one location, in one workforce. The platform is built to run the whole mandate.
Plant Protection & Quarantine
Plant-health safeguarding specialists & inspectors at ports and plant inspection stations
Veterinary Services
Veterinary medical officers & animal-health technicians; import/export & laboratories
Wildlife Services
Wildlife biologists & specialists in the field
Animal Care
Animal-welfare inspectors
International Services
Overseas program staff & locally employed (FSN) staff — COPEG Panama, Moscamed, preclearance
Business Services (HR / Budget)
Shared HR, budget and administrative backbone for MRP-APHIS
- Headquarters — Riverdale, MD
- Ports of entry — land borders, airports, seaports
- Plant inspection stations (nationwide)
- Veterinary import/export centers & laboratories
- Wildlife field stations
- International posts — Panama (COPEG / Pacora), Guatemala & Mexico (Moscamed), preclearance (e.g., Matamoros)
- GS — Domestic federal positions — OPM classification standards and factor evaluation (FES); locality pay.
- FSN / LE — Overseas national positions — local compensation plans and FSN grading.
- FWS — Trades, craft and labor positions paid on the wage-grade schedule.
Three advantages almost nobody else can claim at once.
Most firms can build software or do classification. The unusual thing here is that all three pieces — the mandate, the proven delivery, and the build capability — already sit inside HSG.
The mandate is already ours
Successive Rumik task orders put HSG inside APHIS's classification & compensation adjustment effort — across workforces and locations. Gilda (CTR, MRP-APHIS) leads it, and we're already trusted with the production.
Proven on the hardest slice
The overseas International Services positions — FSN grading, DS-298 → JF-298 conversion, 24/7 multi-area supervision — are the most complex classification work APHIS has, and we deliver them at Exceptional. Everything domestic is easier than what we already do.
We build the platforms
Every HSG pursuit ships a working, branded portal. Turning a multi-workforce class & comp effort into a single system is exactly our lane — a short step, not a new business.
Proven on the hardest slice — and on comp & class at large.
The overseas International Services work below is the most complex classification APHIS has. We deliver it at Exceptional today — alongside six public-sector comp & class studies bid this year.
Classification production for APHIS
Delivered as senior HR-classification subcontractor to Rumik Consultancy LLC (8(a), Fairfax VA) under successive task orders — APHIS classification & compensation work since June 2022, all performance ratings Exceptional. The COPEG Panama / Matamoros position descriptions below are the most visible slice of a broader adjustment effort.
Biologist — Methods & Development (Coordinator / Dept. Head)
COPEG Finance Specialist
Engineer / COR
Customs Expediter + Warehouse Manager
Position set — Agric. Scientist · Budget Analyst · IT · Legal · Fleet · Veterinarian · Security
NSDD-38 change requests + Ambassador decision memos
Classification & compensation studies, 2026
| Client | Solicitation | Scope | Value | Portal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County DA, CA | RFP 902714 | Classification & Compensation Study | $300K | alameda.housestrategiesgroup.com |
| Greenwood County, SC | 2026-RFP-012 | Compensation & Classification Study | $148.5K | greenwood.housestrategiesgroup.com |
| City of Keene, NH | RFP 02-26-21 | Compensation & Classification Study | $129.5K | keene.housestrategiesgroup.com |
| City of Modesto, CA | INF-RFP-00096 | Public Sector Compensation Study | $72K | modesto.housestrategiesgroup.com |
| Las Virgenes MWD, CA | 2026-RFP-042 | Total Compensation Study | — | calabasas.housestrategiesgroup.com |
| Jefferson City, MO | RFP4371 | Position Classification & Compensation Review | — | jeffersoncity.housestrategiesgroup.com |
Eight modules spanning classification and compensation.
Each module digitizes work HSG already performs for APHIS or in its comp & class studies — so the product is our existing practice with the manual labor removed and the whole workforce in view.
Workforce & Position Inventory
One system of record for every APHIS position in scope — by program, location, series/grade and pay system. The map of the whole mandate.
PD Builder (JF-298 · DS-298 · GS PD · OF-8)
Template-driven position descriptions with master-PD libraries, Section 11 duties and one-click export to the exact government forms. The production engine we already run.
Classification Engine (GS · FSN · FWS)
Series, grade and title determination across systems — OPM/FES factor evaluation domestically, FSN grading overseas, FLSA throughout.
Compensation Adjustment
Locality pay, special salary rates, recruitment/retention incentives, FSN local comp plans and pay-equity alignment — the 'adjustment' half of the mandate.
JDHS & KSA Generator
Job Description Help Sheets (Template 10.25) and pre/post-hire Knowledge, Skills & Abilities generated from the duty statements.
Reclassification & Change Management
NSDD-38 change requests, GS reclassifications and decision memos — tracked from request to approval with the rationale attached.
Justification & Audit
Experience / qualification justifications, classification decision records and a full audit trail — anchored by HSG's AI/Expert Reconciliation Log.
Analytics & Counterpart Workspace
Cross-workforce dashboards, plus role-gated views so APHIS counterparts submit taskings and pull finished, audit-ready products themselves.
The build plan — five phases, tap a task to mark it done.
Start where we already win — the proven COPEG slice — then widen to the full mandate: every workforce, every pay system, every location.
Phase 0 — Align & Scope
This weekConfirm the mandate's real shape and stand the project up.
Phase 1 — PD Builder MVP (start with the proven slice)
2–3 weeksGilda drafts a real COPEG position description end-to-end inside the tool.
Phase 2 — Classification + KSA Engine
3–4 weeksTurn duty statements into classification decisions and KSAs across systems.
Phase 3 — Compensation Adjustment + Workforce Inventory
3–4 weeksExtend from position descriptions to pay and the whole position book.
Phase 4 — Counterpart Workspace & Expansion
OngoingGet APHIS counterparts working inside it, then expand workforce by workforce.
How Gilda turns one mandate into agency-wide adoption.
The platform doesn't need a new procurement to start — it needs the person already running the work to run it here. Adoption spreads from her desk outward, workforce by workforce.
Gilda runs her whole mandate on it
Every workforce and location flows through one system — not scattered email folders and attachments.
Show the counterparts
APHIS-IS and MRP HR staff see finished, audit-ready products come back faster than before.
Give them a seat
A role-gated workspace lets counterparts submit taskings and pull deliverables themselves.
Expand workforce by workforce
From International Services to PPQ, Veterinary Services, Wildlife Services, Animal Care and Business Services.
Productize
Package it for other MRP / agency class & comp efforts (AMS, sister agencies) as a GovCert.ai / HSG offering.
The decisions worth making together first.
- Confirm the exact current Rumik task-order scope — which workforces and locations are in this cycle
- First systems to build for — overseas FSN / IS (proven) vs. domestic GS
- Subdomain & naming — aphis. vs. classcomp. vs. an internal-only name
- Contract vehicle — under the Rumik task orders, HSG direct, or a GovCert.ai SaaS product
- Data sensitivity — FOUO / CUI / PII posture for the cloud
A 30-minute working call with Gilda — this is the concept sketch.
The email is drafted. The model is built on a real position. The call is where we size the full mandate and decide how far to take it.