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

Public Affairs Specialist

Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
OADC / DPA
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The incumbent of this position will develop complete communication plans for an organization with responsibility of advisory, planning, and technical services in designing approaches to resolve public affairs problems in various program areas within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Overview

Help
Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
03/18/2019 to 04/01/2019
Salary
$77,058 to - $119,121 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12 - 13
Location
Few vacancies in the following location:
Atlanta, GA
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Announcement number
HHS-CDC-D1-19-10446582
Control number
527139800

Duties

Help

As a Public Affairs Specialist you will:

  • Develop media plans to communicate strategically about agency priorities.
  • Develop communication materials, including talking points, op-eds, blogs, scripts, and other materials relevant to various public audiences.
  • Establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal stakeholders (CDC staff/contractors and Agency leadership) and external/community partners who have a vested interest in the Agency's internal/employee communication program.
  • Analyze information needs in terms of providing information to public audiences and communicating with staff on a variety of routine or controversial issues.
  • Possess knowledge and skill sufficient for presenting ideas in written materials in new ways that will increase understanding among public audiences with varying levels of comprehension of agency programs and policies and among public audiences opposed to, or indifferent to, the agency's program objectives.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • US Citizenship is required.
  • Background Investigation is required.
  • E-Verify: If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System. Federal law requires DHS to use the E-Verify System to verify employment eligibility of all new hires, and as a condition of continued employment obligates the new hire to take affirmative steps to resolve any discrepancies identified by the system. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is an E-Verify Participant.
  • Direct Deposit: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
  • All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
  • One-year probationary period may be required.
  • Travel, transportation, and moving expenses will be paid: No
  • Bargaining Unit Position: Yes
  • Drug Screening Required: No
  • Recruitment Incentive may be authorized: No
  • Annual Leave for non-federal service may be authorized: No
    Research position: No
  • Promotion potential: Yes: This position has promotion potential to GS-13. Promotion to the next grade level is at management's discretion and is based on your meeting qualifications and time-in-grade requirements, demonstrated ability to perform the higher level duties, the continuing need for the higher level duties, and administrative approval. Promotion to the next grade level is not guaranteed and no promise of promotion is implied.
  • Supervisory position: No

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
APPLYING FOR GS-12:
Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-11 level of difficulty and responsibility in the Federal service as defined in the next paragraph.

Specialized experience is experience at or equivalent to which is directly related to the position which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position to include experience in working with media inquiries and helping to develop materials for media; and, with guidance, developing a variety of products for communicating with multiple audiences about an organization's mission and public impact.

APPLYING FOR GS-13:
Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-12 level of difficulty and responsibility in the Federal service as defined in the next paragraph.

Specialized experience is experience at or equivalent to which is directly related to the position which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position to include experience in proactively pitching story ideas to targeted media, responding to media inquiries and developing near-final materials for media; and developing a variety of products for communicating with multiple audiences about an organization's mission and public impact.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

This vacancy is also being announced concurrently with vacancy announcement HHS-CDC-M1-19-10446581 under merit promotion procedures. Please review that announcement to see if you are eligible for consideration under merit promotion procedures. NOTE: Applicants must apply separately for each announcement in order to be considered.

PHS Commissioned Corps Officers interested in performing the duties of this position within the Commissioned Corps (not as a career/career-conditional employee) are encouraged to apply under the merit promotion announcement indicated above.

Additional selections may be made within the same geographical location CDC-wide.

If you are a veteran with preference eligibility and you are claiming 5-points veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility. If you are claiming 10-point veterans' preference, you must also submit an SF-15, "Application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference" plus the proof required by that form.

For more information on veterans' preference see http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx.

Males born after December 31, 1959 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov). For information on "People with Disabilities" please visit http://opm.gov/disability/PeopleWithDisabilities.asp

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP eligible see http://opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp#ictap. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 85.0 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

To view the questionnaire, click on the following link:
https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10446582

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document(s), view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the application process is complete, a review of the resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility. Category rating procedures will be used to rate and rank candidates.

The category assignment is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the competencies required for this position. Qualified candidates will be ranked into one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified or Qualified. The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher).

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics).

  • Collaboration / Partnering
  • Customer Service
  • Diversity
  • External and Organizational Awareness and Partnership Development
  • Foundations in Health Communication and Marketing
  • Issues Analysis, Planning, Advising, and Consulting
  • News Media Information Dissemination
  • Oral Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Public Affairs Science and Decision Making
  • Results Driven
  • Written Communication

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.