Duties

Summary

This position is located in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Public Affairs (PAO). The Office of Public Affairs is the principal point of contact for the Department of Justice with the news media. The Office is responsible for ensuring that the public is informed about the Department's activities and about the priorities and policies of the Attorney General and the President with regard to law enforcement and legal affairs.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities for a 1035 Public Affairs Specialist generally include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Serves as the Department's principal point of contact with the news media to provide expert advice on public affairs, particularly on media relations, policies and programs.
• Provides advice and consultation, as a technical expert and recognized authority in the field, on public affairs topics and the implementation and evaluation of public affairs programs.
• Integration, planning, initiation, direction, coordination, and review of the Department's communications strategies to ensure consistency between external and internal audiences, primarily across the Department, and their outreach activities.
• Writes, edits, plans, designs, conducts, and evaluates press releases, statements, and publication and communication programs for the Department.
• Responds to inquiries from the media, the public, other governmental agencies and Congress to provide articulated statements responsively that involve political, controversial, and/or sensitive issues.
• Plans, designs, and oversees Department-wide policies, programs, and procedures governing information dissemination and public relation activities.

The duties listed above are generally written for one grade level. If the position is advertised at multiple grades, the duties will be adjusted in difficulty, complexity, and level of supervision, for higher or lower grades, as appropriate. Organizations may also add 'other duties as assigned' once you are hired, based on what is included and allowed by the position description.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a United States Citizen or National.
• You will be required to complete a pre-employment security investigation and background check which includes a drug screening.
• You may be required to complete a one-year probationary or trial period.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born on, or after, December 31st 1959. Those not registered should have an approved exemption on file.
• You must meet all eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement and continue to meet these requirements throughout the hiring process. Offers can be rescinded if requirements are not met.
• Additional selections may be made from this announcement, for up to 90 days, if openings occur in other offices serviced by Justice Management Division.
• Financial Disclosure: If selected, you may be required to disclose financial information in accordance with DOJ and Federal ethics guidelines.

Qualifications

To qualify for the position of Public Affairs Specialist at (GS-1035-15), you must meet the basic qualification requirements listed below AND possess the required specialized experience specific to this series and grade you're applying to.
If you are a current government employee on a permanent appointment in the competitive service, you will need to demonstrate 1-year (52-weeks) at the next lower grade level, to meet the time-in-grade requirements for this occupational series and grade.
There may also be a positive education requirement for some occupations, please see the Education section for details. If there are licensing or certification requirements, please see the Required Documents section for details on how to verify you license or certificate.

To qualify for the GS-15, you must have 1-year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-14 in the Federal service performing the following duties: 1) Serving as the principal point of contact with the news media and providing expert advice on public affairs of a major agency; 2) Creating, planning and executing press events; 3) Determining the most expeditious and appropriate avenues for disseminating information; and 4) Answering inquiries from the media, the public, other governmental agencies and Congress to provide articulated statements responsively that involve political, controversial, and/or sensitive issues.

You MUST meet all qualification requirements, including Time-in-Grade, by the closing date of this announcement, 10/23/2020.
Your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire and the qualification requirements. Failure to do so may result in an ineligible rating. See the Required Documents section for important notes about what must be included in your resume.

Education

There is no substitution of education for the required specialized experience at this grade level.

Additional information

The bullets below outline the various groups of applicants that fall under the term "status candidates". This vacancy is open to applicants from any of the groups listed below: When you apply you'll have the chance to claim an eligibility pathway, be sure you fully read each statement and any links provided to make sure you know which eligibility you qualify for.
See a full list and learn more at USAJOBS, see: What does Status Candidate mean? or Which Jobs am I Eligible to Apply for?

• Current & Former Federal Employees : For more information, see USAJOBS Federal Employees .
• Career Transition Assistance Programs (CTAP & ICTAP) : For more information visit: USAJOBS Career Transition Programs
Preference Eligible Veterans and Certain Military Spouses: Please see USAJOBS Veterans Preference for more details.
• Schedule A for Persons with Disabilities: Learn more at USAJOBS - Individuals with Disabilities .

General Employment Information :

• Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Our policy can be found at: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/eeos/manual-and-procedures-providing-reasonable-accommodation
• DOJ EEO Statement: The U.S. Department of Justice fosters an inclusive and diverse workforce, find our EEO statement online at: http://www.justice.gov/jmd/eeos/08-eeo-policy.pdf
• Selective Service: If you were born male, on or after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. Additional information is found at: www.sss.gov .

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications described above.

Once the announcement closes, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be conducted by the HR Specialist. This information will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your eligibility for Federal employment, and then whether you are qualified for this particular position.If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your responses when compared to your background information, you may be deemed ineligible, or your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your skills and abilities.
Additionally, we will review your supporting documents and resume to determine if you are in the "Area of Consideration" for this vacancy. Government-Wide Merit Promotion vacancies may only accept applications from a limited audience, pay careful attention to the "Who May Apply" and the "Hiring Paths" information. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

BASIS OF RATING :
DOJ's Merit Promotion Procedures will be used to evaluate candidates.
Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, and other characteristics):

• Communications and Media
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Oral Communication
• Technical Competence

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Sensitive Compartmented Information

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk

Trust determination process
Credentialing , Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

Documentation requirements may vary from applicant to applicant based on your eligibility claims. For example, Veteran documents would be required only from applicants claiming Veteran's Preference. It is your responsibility to carefully review the list of document descriptions below, to see which documents are required for your application.

ALL APPLICANTS : You must submit a detailed resume containing the following pieces of information for each job listed:

• official position title,
• employer name and contact information,
• start and end dates ( including month and year ),
• a detailed list of duties & accomplishments,
• your highest salary (or grade/step) achieved, and
• the number of hours worked per week (or indicate full-time).

If you're unsure about what to include in your resume, please review the USAJOBS Resume Writing Tutorial on YouTube. You are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder , as this will ensure you're including everything that is required.

If you are a current or former Federal employee applying for transfer, reinstatement, or reassignment :

• You must submit your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) or equivalent agency form.
  • Do not submit an award SF-50 document, these do not contain sufficient information about your appointment.
  • Your SF-50 should list the full position title, series, grade and step, organization, duty location, service computation date, effective date, and your service type and tenure status.
• You must also submit a copy of your most recent performance evaluation or appraisal, signed, showing your final rating. If a performance appraisal is not available you must submit a statement explaining why one is not available.
• See USAJOBS Current & Former Employees for more information.

If you are claiming a Veterans Preference eligibility :

• When claiming a Veteran's Preference, you must submit your last DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) form, specifically the Member #4 Copy, indicating dates and character of service and discharge type.
• If you are a V eteran with a service-connected disability rating of 30% or more , you will need to additionally submit the SF-15 (Application for 10-point Veterans Preference) and a copy of your VA Letter stating your disability rating.
• If you are the qualifying parent or spouse of a disabled, deceased, or deployed Veteran, and are seeking a derived preference eligibility, you must submit appropriate supporting documentation such as the Veterans DD-214, SF-15, VA Letter, and/or Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. See Veteran Family Preference for more information.
• For more information on each type of Veterans Preference, and the documentation required for each, see FedsHireVets .

If you are a person with a severe disability, claiming eligibility under Schedule A :

• You must submit "proof of a disability" documentation.
  • "Proof of a disability" is a letter stating that you have an intellectual disability, severe physical disability or psychiatric disability.
  • You must get this letter from your doctor, a licensed medical professional, a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any Federal, state, or local agency that issues or provides disability benefits.
• For more information about Schedule A and verification requirements, please see OPM's Schedule A site .

If you are a displaced Federal employee claiming eligibility under CTAP or ICTAP :

• You must submit your separation notice or agency RIF letter from your agency.
• If you have not yet been separated, you can provide the letter of intent to separate you from the agency because of reduction-in-force.
• See USAJOBS' Career Transition Programs for more information.

If you are using education to qualify for this position, or education is required :

• You must submit a transcript, which may be unofficial, as long as it contains a full listing of courses, credit earned, grade and grade-point-average, subject area, degree(s) earned, and dates of award.
  • Your transcript must come from a nationally-accredited educational institution recognized by the Department of Education.
  • P lease do not submit electronic transcripts with documentation security protection, these may prevent our application system from accepting and processing the document.
• If submitting a foreign transcript, you must have the transcript reviewed by an approved foreign education review organization recognized by the Department of Education. Your transcript must also be in English or have an English translation included.

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