This Legislative Affairs Specialist position is located in the Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If selected for this position, you will work in a fast-paced office with the office’s senior management and other Legislative Specialists and assist in identifying and jointly resolving problems on complex legislative issues and situations. Typical assignments will include, but are not limited to:

• Working with OLA's Assistant Administrator, Deputy Assistant Administrator and Legislative Director by assisting in the planning, developing, and tracking of the agency’s legislative program, as well as monitoring and researching any proposed legislation impacting the agency’s operations.
• Initiating and implementing internal organizational procedures and processes to ensure timely and accurate responsiveness to DHS, TSA, and congressional inquiries, correspondence, mandates and directives.
• Advising senior leadership on legislative strategies with Congress by assisting in the preparation for subject matter experts for interactions with Congress, including Congressional hearings and briefings.
• Coordinating with DHS and TSA organizations, specifically DHS Office of Legislative Affairs, TSA’s Office of Finance and Administration, as well as TSA’s Office of Chief Counsel, on the mission, goals, and transportation and security policies and working to develop unified and cohesive presentations to Congress.
• Developing daily and weekly reports for wide distribution amongst agency headquarters on significant legislative activities pertaining to TSA.
• Providing legislative advice consistent with the U.S. House and Senate rules and ethics in presenting a strategic framework to promote the agency’s legislative initiatives.

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 Clearance.
• Selective Service registration is required.
• Must pass pre-employment drug screening AND random drug testing.
• 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: 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. Such experience includes:

• conducting legislative research and drafting papers or talking points on transportation security legislative matters; and,
• assisting in the coordination and clearance processes of the documents.

OR B. Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in a related field; OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR LL.M., if related

OR C. A Combination of Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed progressively higher level graduate education (beyond the second year) and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements, and may be computed by first determining the total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the band level; then determining the 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. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower band level may be used to qualify for positions at the SV-G pay band.

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.

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 including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;

Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceed the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job; and

Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
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