Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Office of Communications, Division of Outreach and Stakeholder Engagement. The duty location for this position is in Rockville, MD.

For more information about AHRQ, click the "Learn more about the Agency" Box.

**Applicants please note: Additional selections may be made across the Department of Health and Human Services through this vacancy announcement.**

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

As a Supervisory Health Communications Specialist, you will participate with the OC Management Team in establishing OC goals, objectives, and plans and prepares and plans for external and internal products.

Your major duties and responsibilities include:

• Overseeing and caring out AHRQ's outreach and stakeholder engagement activities about AHRQ and Agency-funded activities.
• Ensuring outreach and stakeholder engagement services provided under OC contracts, blanket purchase agreements, and other service agreements are completed on time and within budget, adhere to Agency priorities, and receive appropriate AHRQ input from key persons. Oversees the performance of work, monitors costs, and approves spending.
• Working with AHRQ Director, Deputy Director, and staff in the Office of the Director, including Director of Congressional Affairs, members of the Agency's Senior Leadership team, and OC staff to create and implement AHRQ's outreach and stakeholder engagement activities as part of overall efforts to communicate with members of Congress and their staff members about AHRQ initiatives.
• Serving as liaison with Federal and other scientific information agencies, health services research grantees and contractors, other Government agencies, and private sector groups to assess opportunities for promotion of the Agency's research, as well as solicit their feedback on AHRQ findings, products, and tools.

NOTE: Do not cut and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U. S. Citizenship is required.
• All qualification requirements and time-in-grade must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Federal applicants must submit an SF-50 to show status and time-in-grade.
• Males ages 18 through 25 must be registered with the Selective Service.
• Employment is subject to the successful completion of the pre-appointment process (i.e., background investigation, verification of qualifications and job requirements, completion of onboarding forms, submission of required documents, etc.)
• PHS Commissioned Corps applicants must submit current personnel orders.
• A one year supervisory probationary period may be required.
• Position is not in the Bargaining Unit.
• Recruitment incentives are not authorized.
• Student loan repayment incentive is not authorized.

Qualifications

THESE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET BY THE CLOSING DATE: 02/26/2021

In order to qualify for this GS-15 position, your resume must clearly demonstrate that you have one full year of specialized experience comparable in difficulty and responsibility to at least the GS-14 level in the federal service.

Specialized Experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, an applicant's one full year of specialized experience must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for successful job performance.

Examples of qualifying specialized experience include performing the following types of tasks on a regular and recurring basis: Setting priorities and goals to ensure that agency communication objectives are accomplished; determining objectives and requirements for meetings, conferences, and workshops on broad public health and regulatory policy matters; and developing plans and program content for all health communication and marketing programs activities.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service Programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; community; student; social). If such experience is on a part-time basis, you must provide the average number of hours worked per week as well as the beginning and ending dates of the experience so it can be fully credited.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

LEADERSHIP - Inspires, motivates & guides others toward goal accomplishment; coaches & mentors subordinates; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations; models high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness, & respect for individuals by applying these values to daily behaviors.

HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS - Knowledge of the practice, methods and techniques of communicating and disseminating health information to influence personal health choices by improving health literacy via written, oral and visual media.

MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY - Uses writing skills and editorial judgment to strategically develop messages for various audiences; and delivers them by evaluating the most appropriate media channel(s) for the particular needs of the target audience.

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION - Knowledge of the principles, methods, and processes used to conduct a systematic and objective inquiry; including study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; and the reporting of results.

TO PREVIEW THE OCCUPATIONAL ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE, please click on the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11027570

Please Note: An SF50 for the current year pay adjustment is NOT acceptable for verifying TIG (ex. 2021 general increases cannot be used to verify TIG). To allow us to verify that you meet TIG requirements, please provide any of the following SF-50s:

Competitive or Career-ladder promotion to your highest grade (this does NOT include 120 day temporary promotions ) Regular Within Range Increase (WRI) or With In Grade (WGI) increase at your highest grade (this does not include quality step increases (QSIs). Competitive career/career-conditional appointment to your highest grade. SF-50 at your highest grade held, that is at least one year older than the announcement closing date of the announcement.

Current year pay adjustments are not acceptable for verifying TIG (ex. 2021 general increases cannot be used to verify TIG).

Not sure which SF-50 to submit? Check out our video... Go here to watch the video on the SF50s to submit in your application package .

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

HHS is an equal opportunity employer. Selection for this position will be based solely on merit without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, national origin, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, marital or family status or other differences.

Conditions of Employment:

Security and Background Requirements: If not previously completed, a background security investigation will be required for all appointees . Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. False representation may be grounds for non-consideration, non-selection and/or appropriate disciplinary action.

E-Verify: AHRQ participates in the USCIS Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify). E-Verify helps employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their social security numbers.

Direct Deposit: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.

Financial Disclosure: This position requires you to file a public or confidential financial disclosure report prior to receiving a final offer letter as well as within 30 days of your appointment. This will require you to report information such as recent sources of income, financial interests you hold, and outside activities you participate in, as well as similar information from a spouse or any dependent children. If you have questions, please contact AskHR@hrsa.gov .

Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): Click here

AHRQ supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. Telework eligibility may be discussed during the interview process.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Additional selections may be made for similar positions across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within the local commuting area(s) of the location identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with interested selecting official(s) at HHS. Clearance of CTAP/ICTAP will be applied for similar positions across HHS.

To determine your qualifications and referral status, we may review your resume and supporting documentation and compare it against your responses to the vacancy questionnaire. Ensure you support your self-ratings by the information you provide in your application. We may verify or assess your qualifications at any time. Inflated or unsupported qualifications may affect your rating. Any misrepresentation or material omission of facts may be sufficient cause to end further consideration of your candidacy. Persons listed as having knowledge of your past accomplishments or experience in your application may be contacted for verification purposes at any time. Verification may, but need not, begin prior to receiving an offer.

To be considered well qualified for the purposes of the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) and the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) , you must substantively exceed the basic qualifications by scoring at least an 85 on the assessment and meet all eligibility, physical, medical, suitability, and all other requirements.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contact either HRSA's Office of Human Resources at (301) 443-3780 or by email: askhr@hrsa.gov or HRSA's Reasonable Accommodation programs at (301) 443-2538 or by email: RA-Request@hrsa.gov . You must contact the Reasonable Accommodations Program prior to the closing date of this announcement to receive assistance. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Hours of operation: Monday through Friday 7:30AM to 4:00PM EST (except Federal holidays).

Submission of a resume alone is not a complete application. To apply for this position, you must provide a complete online Application Package that includes:

1. A current Resume - For resume writing guidance, please visit USAJOBS Resources Center or view their video tutorial. Your resume must thoroughly describe how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement and it must support your responses to the assessment questionnaire. We cannot assume you have performed the necessary experience required for this position regardless of your employment history or academic career. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builde r.
If you choose to use your own resume, curriculum vitae, or any other written form you choose, then you must ensure it contains all of the required information and you organize it so we can associate the following information for each experience/position:

Job title

Name of employer

Beginning and ending dates of employment (month/day/year format)

Hours worked per week. We will assume full-time unless otherwise stated. We will prorate part-time employment in crediting experience.

Detailed description of job duties, accomplishments, related skills, and responsibilities to include any supervisory/managerial responsibilities and number of staff supervised (if applicable)

Your resume must show the series and grade or equivalent for all federal positions you have held (if a federal position).

You must also ensure that the duties performed are clearly matched to each period of employment.
Do not include a photograph or video of yourself, or any sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter. We will not access web pages linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualifications.

2. A complete Assessment Questionnaire

3. Other supporting documents to be submitted with application:

• SF-50: Federal applicants must submit an SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) that shows status and time-in-grade, and its full performance level. If you are an HHS employee you may obtain a copy of your SF-50 from eOPF.
• Personnel Orders: PHS Commissioned Corps Officers must submit a copy of latest personnel orders in lieu of SF-50.
• College transcripts (if the position has a positive education requirement, or you are qualifying on the basis of education).

For Résumé and Application Tips visit the USAJOBS Resource Center .

The complete Application Package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 02/26/2021.