Skip to main content
U.S. flag
Back to results

Public Affairs Specialist, GS-1035-11/12 (Open to All U.S. Citizens) HK

Department of Transportation
Office of the Secretary of Transportation
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position serves as a Public Affairs Specialist in the Office of Media Relations, Office of the Director of Public Affairs. You will be responsible for participation in the planning, organization and execution of a comprehensive national program involving all phases of the Department’s public affairs programs directed toward the media.

The ideal candidate for this position will have significant prior experience working on blog(s) and other social media platforms. The candidate will have experience providing the best presentation methods for upcoming news events, news releases, programs, and legislation for senior Departmental officials in communicating with the public.

Overview

Help
Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/25/2017 to 08/03/2017
Salary
$66,510 to - $103,639 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 12
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington DC, DC
1 vacancy
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time -
Service
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Announcement number
OST.A-2017-0002
Control number
475227900

This job is open to

Help

Duties

Help

As a Public Affairs Specialist, you will:

  • Draft blog posts which require little editing, clears them through the appropriate channels, and posts them to Transportation.gov using the content management system.
  • In coordination with senior leadership, support responses to media inquiries regarding the blog.
  • In coordination with supervisor, support social media amplification plans for the Departmental initiatives and announcements using tools including but not limited to the Secretary’s blog, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
  • Study and keep abreast of ongoing and special programs of the Department for the purpose of disseminating information to the public and news media and advising on public implications of such programs and policies.
  • Edit and rewrite copy prepared by staff members from other areas of the Department in order to ensure consistency with Departmental policies and effective communication.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • Applications will be accepted from any U.S. Citizen.
  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
  • Provide all required documents by closing date
  • Announcement may be used to fill similar positions within 60 days
  • Announcement also advertised Merit Promotion: OST.A-2017-0001

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  • Selective Service - Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service
  • DEU REQUIREMENTS: Applicants selected under delegated examining procedures may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet either the education or experience qualifications for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.

To Qualify For the GS-11,

On Education, you must have:

  • Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR
  • 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related.
On Experience, you must have one year of specialized experience equal or equivalent to the following:
  • Experience in ghostwriting written materials intended for public dissemination (e.g., op-eds, blog post, verbal testimony, speeches, PowerPoint presentations.
  • Experience developing and implementing communications, marketing strategies, public-facing social media postings, branding, and seeking opportunities to advance public relations and marketing goals using social media tools.
You can also qualify on a combination of higher level graduate education and matching experience.

To Qualify For the GS-12

On Experience, you must have one year of specialized experience equal or equivalent to the following:
  • Experience planning, organization and execution of a comprehensive national program involving all phases of the Department’s public affairs programs directed toward the media.
  • Experience writing materials, for the Department’s day-to-day content postings such as: speeches, news releases, news and feature articles, responses to inquiries that effectively convey information concerning programs and functions to any major organization.
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.

Applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Additional information

Displaced employees may be eligible for ICTAP or CTAP priority consideration. For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition.

EEO STATEMENT: The Department of Transportation (DOT) maintains a model federal work environment that is free of discrimination. DOT ensures equal employment opportunity for employees and applicants for employment, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), genetic information, age, disability, sexual orientation, or protected activity.

How you will be evaluated

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

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level.

If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be placed in one of four categories: Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze, which is based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference that have provided supporting documents will receive selection priority over non-veterans. The top-rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position.

Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package. If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be updated or you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review. The Automated Staffing Office is ultimately responsible for determining your final rating.
To preview questions please click here.

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.