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Public Affairs Specialist

Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is part of the R1-Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office. As a Public Affairs Specialist, you will be responsible for communications and outreach using myriad oral and visual information products to establish and maintain relationships with media, national organizations, communities, agencies, and the public.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/05/2019 to 08/16/2019
Salary
$74,596 to - $96,978 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location
Boise, ID
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
R1-19-10570085-BP-DE
Control number
541601600

Duties

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  • Develops communication and outreach plans and campaign materials;
  • Develops and transmits written, oral and visual informational materials designed to reach multiple audiences;
  • Develops and transmits written, oral and visual informational materials designed to reach multiple audiences;
  • Advises management officials of the information that should be made available to the public or approaches to take to attain program goals.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
  • Resume and supporting documents (See How To Apply)
  • Suitability for employment, as determined by background investigation
  • Direct deposit of salary to a financial institution
  • May be required to successfully complete a probationary period

Qualifications

Only experience and education obtained by 08/16/2019 will be considered.

You may qualify at the GS-12 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:

One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service that demonstrates your ability to: 1) Develop a natural resource organization's communication outreach strategies for potentially highly complex or sensitive programs or policies; 2) Develop tailored outreach tools (e.g., websites, wikis, blogs, videos, multimedia, written or graphic material, or social media) to distribute complex, potentially sensitive information to a variety of public entities; 3) Evaluate public reactions/opinions to information releases and advising program officials on needed modifications to the content or presentation of informational materials; and 4) Serve as a technical expert to provide advice to management on communication strategies.

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; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

PROOF OF EDUCATION: All applicants who are using education or a combination of education and experience to qualify must submit copies of official or unofficial transcripts which include grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, institution name, and student name. If any required coursework is not easily recognizable on transcripts, or if you believe a portion of a particular course can be credited toward meeting an educational requirement, you must also provide a memorandum on letterhead from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official stating the percentage of the course that should be considered to meet the requirement and the equivalent number of units. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to produce the original official transcripts.

PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

This announcement is being advertised concurrently under R1-19-10569942-BP-MP for current and former federal employees serving under a competitive service career or career-conditional appointment or reinstatement eligible. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): These programs apply to employees who have been or may be involuntarily separated (e.g. reduction in force, declining to relocate/transfer outside their local commuting area) from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) be rated well-qualified with a score of 85 or above; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility (e.g., Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal or Removal Notice; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; or Removal and most recent performance appraisal.). For more information visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/

To register or verify your registration go to the Selective Service System at https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfRegistration.aspx

FWS has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

We may use this announcement to fill additional vacancies within 90 days of 08/16/2019; OR More than one position may be filled from applications received under this announcement in the advertised office or other U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices in the local commuting area

A PCS Move is authorized as follows: travel and relocation expenses including reimbursable real estate expenses will be authorized in accordance with the Federal travel regulations excluding contractor-provided home sale. All moving expenses are taxable.
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: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the basic qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you meet the basic qualifications your resume and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience which resulted in you being listed in the highest quality category, you may lose consideration, or be assigned to a lower quality category for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

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

  • Knowledge of and skill in gathering and evaluating data from a variety of sources concerning the effectiveness of communication programs, and developing outreach strategies designed to reach target audience.
  • Knowledge of computer hardware and software technologies for day-to-day communications, generating written documents, and producing multimedia products for use on internal and external web pages.
  • Knowledge of, and skill in, modifying or adapting standard communication methods (written, oral and visual) to new informational materials.
  • Skill in developing and maintaining effective relationships with media representatives, community groups, state and federal agencies, cooperating organizations, and other internal/external audiences.
  • Ability to apply judgment skills sufficient for determining whether controversial information should be released for internal/external public use.
  • Ability to identify various publics, produce informational products for optimal understanding, and to effectively communicate on a position to persons having opposing viewpoints, without criticism or arousing hostility.
All qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The category assignment is a measure of the degree in which your background matches the competencies required for this position. The category ratings for this position are:
  • Best Qualified: Demonstrates high proficiency and comprehensive level of knowledge, skills, and abilities of the position.
  • Well Qualified: Demonstrates overall competency in the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the position.
  • Qualified: Meets minimum qualifications established for the position.
The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three" but protects the rights of Veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the basic qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-09 level or higher).

If you are a veteran with preference eligibility and you are claiming 5-point veterans' preference, you must attach a copy of your DD-214 showing you were honorably discharged. If you are claiming 10-point veterans' preference, you must attach an SF-15," Application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference" in addition to the proof required by that form.

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