If selected for this position, you will serve as the Legislative Director in the Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Duties include:

• Serving as a technical expert on congressional matters working with senior management to identify and jointly resolve problems in a fast-paced office.
• Providing expert advice on the agency's legislative strategy in order to promote the agency's initiatives and priorities with Congress.
• Planning, constructing, and directing legislative strategies and promoting solid working relationships and effective communication with Members of Congress and their staff.
• Managing a team of legislative affairs specialists and assisting them in resolving congressional inquiries and/or interactions with Members of Congress and their staff.
• Working independently and often under a tight deadline to develop solutions addressing concerns raised by individual Members of Congress, their staff or oversight committees.
• Drafting comprehensive, thoughtful, and well-written agency testimony or talking points for senior leadership for congressional hearings and briefings, which may include navigating the complex interagency clearance process.

Supervisory/Managerial duties includes serving as a first line supervisor for the organization; assigning work, setting priorities, and reviewing and evaluating work and performance of subordinates; approving leave; coaching and developing employees; recommending corrective or disciplinary actions; assisting in budget planning and projecting short-term needs; managing projects within assigned resources; resolving routine problems that typically impact the objectives of the organizational unit; and coordinating with customers outside the immediate organization.

Conditions of employment

• You must possess U.S. Citizenship or be a U.S. National.
• You must complete a favorable Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI).
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI Clearance.
• You must pass Drug and Alcohol Screening, subject to random drug tests.
• You may be required to complete a one-year Supervisory Probation Period.
• Travel required up to (5) percent for airport site visit and outreach tours

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-K Pay Band (equivalent to GS-15), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-J or GS-14/15 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Such experience is defined as:

• providing oversight of congressional relations (e.g., Congressional inquiries, information requests from external stakeholders) to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and policies; and,
• working directly with Members of Congress, their staff, and congressional committees.

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 wish for your application to be considered as External (where Veterans’ Preference applies), as Status (current or former Federal Employees), and/or Internal to TSA as a current permanent or competitive temporary employee. 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.

Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the best-qualified category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. (This position [is or is not] considered scientific/professional.) Other 10-point preference eligibles and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligibles within the category in which they qualify. View information on veterans’ preference .
To preview questions please click here.