This Writer-Editor position is located in the Correspondence & Coordination Branch, Communications and Engagement Division, within the Office of Human Capital (OHC), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If selected for this position, you will be responsible for writing and editing Congressional and direct reply letters and other documents for the Office of Human Capital. You will be conducting research and preparing responses to incoming correspondence from members of Congress, other oversight agencies, TSA employees, applicants, and the general public regarding human resource polices and procedures. Typical assignments include but are not limited to:

• Coordinating data calls from Congress, DHS, and other stakeholders and requesting appropriate information from affected OHC offices. Collecting responses and finalizing correspondence in an organized and timely manner.
•Responding to request from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Office of General Inspector (OIG).
• Editing written material to tailor the response to the audience, ensuring adherence to the rules of grammar, writing, and editing practices.
• Ensuring that deadlines and intervening milestones are met.

Conditions of employment

• You must possess U.S. Citizenship or be a U.S. National.
• You must complete a favorable Background Investigation (BI).
• Selective Service registration is required.
• See additional "Conditions of Employment" and "Other Information" section

You must meet the qualification requirements for this position no later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

Qualifications

To qualify for the SV-G Pay Band (equivalent to GS-11), you must meet one of the qualification requirements (A, B, OR C) outlined below. A. Experience: If you are qualifying using experience, your application must clearly outline one year of specialized experience at the SV-F Pay Band or GS-9 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as:

•Applying knowledge of writing and editing practices in order to research, write and edit responses to varied audiences.
•Conducting research in order to obtain information needed to prepare correspondence.

OR B. Education: Completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field; or three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or a LL.M., if related.

OR C. Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate courses (beyond the second year) leading to a doctoral degree and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for this position, and may be computed by first determining your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the band level; then determining your education as a percentage of the education required for the band level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for the position.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: Education at the graduate level in an accredited college or university in the amounts indicated above meets the requirements for this position. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. One (1) year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full time study requirement.

Applicants who meet the qualifications listed above based on education or a combination of education and experience must provide proof of education, such as a list of completed college courses or the date and school of degree (including the number of semester or quarter hours) or transcript(s) from an accredited college or university. The information must be provided as an attachment to the application by the closing date of the announcement. If selected, you must supply a transcript(s) or certification of degree.

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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.

NOTE: Credit for experience is given based on a 40-hour workweek. Part-time experience is credited on a part-time ratio, i.e., working 20 hours per week for two months equals one month of experience. No additional credit is given for overtime.

To qualify for the SV-H Pay Band (equivalent to GS-12), you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the SV-G Pay Band or GS-11 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as:

•Applying knowledge of writing and editing practices in order to research, write and edit responses to varied audiences.
•Conducting research in order to obtain information needed to prepare correspondence.
•Coordinating responses with subject matter experts in order to provide responses to technical inquiries.

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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.

NOTE: Credit for experience is given based on a 40-hour workweek. Part-time experience is credited on a part-time ratio, i.e., working 20 hours per week for two months equals one month of experience. No additional credit is given for overtime.

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 based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of the experience and/or related education as reflected in your resume and supporting documentation. You are encouraged to ensure work experiences clearly show possession of the competencies required for this position. We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If, after reviewing your resume and any supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your category placement may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

When completing the assessment questionnaire for this position, you will be prompted to elect if you are eligible for consideration as Status (Current or former Federal Employees), Internal to TSA as a current permanent or competitive temporary employee, and/or based upon your eligible Veterans’ Preference status or Veterans’ Service (a veteran who was honorably discharged from the armed forces after completing at least three (3) years of continuous active duty service). At that time, please select the answer(s) that apply to you and your application to this position.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Grouping procedures. Under Category Grouping, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

Best-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all Selective Placement Factors (SPF) and appropriate Desirable (Quality Ranking) Factors as determined by the job analysis.

Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all SPFs as determined by the job analysis.

Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies, including all SPFs as determined by the job analysis.
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