This position serves as the Director Communications, Congressional and Public Affairs, which is located in the Immediate Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The incumbent in this position serves as the OIG authority and chief advisor on communications, congressional and media affairs. The position requires supervising staff, performing liaison functions with Congress, the media, other agencies, and Department officials.
Summary
This position serves as the Director Communications, Congressional and Public Affairs, which is located in the Immediate Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The incumbent in this position serves as the OIG authority and chief advisor on communications, congressional and media affairs. The position requires supervising staff, performing liaison functions with Congress, the media, other agencies, and Department officials.
Serves as OIG expert and authoritative consultant in the position as the Director Communications, Congressional and Public Affairs and principal advisor to the Inspector General (IG), Deputy Inspector General (DIG), and senior executives in matters concerning Federal legislation and regulations, Congressional requests and media inquiries.
Directs the OIG’s overall communications, congressional and public affairs activities. Manages complex studies of new and proposed legislation and regulations to determine impact on the Department and the OIG' s program and authorities. Leads the OIG’s legislative and regulatory reviews as mandated by the Inspector General Act
Serves as OIG' s liaison to the Department' s Assistant Secretary for the Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs. Provides instruction to congressional specialists throughout the Department on all aspects of the OIG program and congressional relations and how to respond to requests from Congress, the media, and others. Negotiates acceptable agreements to resolve controversial disputes involving responding to Congressional, media or other requests with high level Department officials and specialists, such as the Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs, the Deputy Assistant Secretaries for that office, the Department' s press secretaries, and other Office of Communication and Outreach staff. Elicits support of and provides outreach to Department officials, Congressional and media contacts, and other concerned parties.
Supervises subordinate employees performing the work and functions of the organization.
Prepares and directs preparation of testimony by the IG/DIG and other OIG Staff before Congressional committees, including clarifying with high-level Congressional staff what issues to address, identifying important points to make, and directing development and compilation of supporting background materials. Coordinates with Department officials and specialists regarding content of OIG testimony and Department testimony for the Congressional hearings. Briefs IG, DIG and other OIG staff on backgrounds of Congressional representatives prior to testimony. Accompanies IG and other senior OIG officials to hearing and serves as an immediate resource during testimony.
Serves as point of contact for all media and public inquires (that do not involve the Freedom of Information Act). Drafts responses to inquiries and ensures inquiries are promptly answered through interactions with the IG and other senior staff. Arranges media interviews for IG, DIG and senior staff when she determines they are necessary or desirable, and coordinates and reviews necessary briefing materials. Serves as OIG's liaison lo the Department' s Assistant Secretary for the Office of Communications and Outreach and provides instruction to his staff regarding media requests and responses.
Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
You may be subject to serve a one-year supervisory probationary period.
Must be a US Citizen
Relocation will not be paid.
Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check
You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period.
You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.
If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week.
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).
Qualifications
Minimum Qualification Requirements You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-15, if you possess the specialize experience.
Specialized Experience for the GS-15 One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-14 performing all three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Experience providing operational support; prepares and direct testimony and content, performing duties associated with serving as point of contact for all media and public inquires; briefings; draft responses to inquiries.
2. Experience in supervision to include planning, assigning and review of work; development of performance standards and evaluations; providing advice or counsel to individual employees.
3. Demonstrated ability to lead cross functional teams and build coalitions to creatively address issues, with competing interests and priorities, delivering positive results.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement).
1. Skill in Congressional and Public Affairs
2. Skill in Communication
3. Skill in Leadership
Education
Non-applicable for this position.
Additional information
• Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under competitive, permanent appointments; and, • Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under temporary appointments with reinstatement eligibility.
Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment.
Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check.
Essential: This position is considered essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures.
Financial Disclosure: This position requires financial disclosure.
Telework: This position is telework eligible. At the discretion of the supervisor, generally employees may be authorized to telework one day per week if they are on regular 8-hour work schedule. Teleworkers may participate in some Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) in combination with a Telework Agreement. However, all employees must work from the official worksite location a minimum of four (4) days per work week.
Bargaining Unit: This position is not included in the bargaining unit.
Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized. We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.
INCLUDE ANY OTHER SPECIAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OR WORKING CONDITIONS (e.g., required tour of duty, extensive travel requirements, expected overtime, etc.)
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
As an ED employee, you will also benefit from our family-friendly work environment. As part of our commitment to maintain a productive balance between work and home, we offer excused leave for Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hours); excused leave for annual health screenings (4 hours); and matching leave for community volunteer service. Other flexibilities that may be available to you include telework and alternative work schedules. You may be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to receive a relocation incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program as a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive student loan repayments, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
• Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under competitive, permanent appointments; and, • Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under temporary appointments with reinstatement eligibility.We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:
1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors. You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements.
2. Rating and Ranking If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by comparing your submitted resume and documents against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. (The occupational questionnaire is the list of questions in the automated system that you will have an opportunity to answer once you apply for the position).
Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be assigned a numerical score (out of 100 possible). If your responses to the occupational questionnaire are not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration.
3. Referral and Selection If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official. As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
As an ED employee, you will also benefit from our family-friendly work environment. As part of our commitment to maintain a productive balance between work and home, we offer excused leave for Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hours); excused leave for annual health screenings (4 hours); and matching leave for community volunteer service. Other flexibilities that may be available to you include telework and alternative work schedules. You may be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to receive a relocation incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program as a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive student loan repayments, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
• Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under competitive, permanent appointments; and, • Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under temporary appointments with reinstatement eligibility.You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS): • A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire. • A completed occupational questionnaire.
If you are a current or former federal employee (including current or former U.S. Department of Education employees), you must also submit: • A Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), which demonstrates your competitive status eligibility. To verify your eligibility, we will review your SF-50 to determine your tenure (block 24) and position occupied (block 34). Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments, promotions, within-grade increases, and pay adjustments.
If you currently hold or previously held a federal position at or above the highest grade of this position or you have/had promotion potential at or above the highest grade of this position, you must also submit an SF-50 documenting your highest grade level held or promotion potential. Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments and promotions.
If you are claiming selection priority under Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), please visit: CTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ctap.html ICTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ictap.html
If you are claiming eligibility under any Special Hiring Authority, you must submit: • Adequate proof of your eligibility.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov.
Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)).
Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system. You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system. Click “Finish” to submit your application.
NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts.
In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application. We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
EDUCATION-OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
550 12th Street S.W.
Attn: Human Resources Services
Washington, District of Columbia 20202
United States
Next steps
• Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under competitive, permanent appointments; and, • Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under temporary appointments with reinstatement eligibility.As an applicant, you may check your application status through your USAJOBS account at any time. We will also notify you via email of your application status at three key stages in the recruitment process. 1. Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will inform you that your application has been received. 2. After we review your submitted resume and supporting documentation, we will inform you if you are eligible and qualified, if your application was referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation, and if you were amongst the most highly qualified candidates referred to the selecting official. 3. Finally, we will inform you of your final disposition for this announcement (e.g., if/when a selection is made, if/when the announcement is cancelled).
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
• Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under competitive, permanent appointments; and, • Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under temporary appointments with reinstatement eligibility.You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS): • A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire. • A completed occupational questionnaire.
If you are a current or former federal employee (including current or former U.S. Department of Education employees), you must also submit: • A Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), which demonstrates your competitive status eligibility. To verify your eligibility, we will review your SF-50 to determine your tenure (block 24) and position occupied (block 34). Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments, promotions, within-grade increases, and pay adjustments.
If you currently hold or previously held a federal position at or above the highest grade of this position or you have/had promotion potential at or above the highest grade of this position, you must also submit an SF-50 documenting your highest grade level held or promotion potential. Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments and promotions.
If you are claiming selection priority under Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), please visit: CTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ctap.html ICTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ictap.html
If you are claiming eligibility under any Special Hiring Authority, you must submit: • Adequate proof of your eligibility.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov.
Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)).
Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system. You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system. Click “Finish” to submit your application.
NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts.
In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application. We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
EDUCATION-OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
550 12th Street S.W.
Attn: Human Resources Services
Washington, District of Columbia 20202
United States
Next steps
• Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under competitive, permanent appointments; and, • Current U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General employees serving under temporary appointments with reinstatement eligibility.As an applicant, you may check your application status through your USAJOBS account at any time. We will also notify you via email of your application status at three key stages in the recruitment process. 1. Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will inform you that your application has been received. 2. After we review your submitted resume and supporting documentation, we will inform you if you are eligible and qualified, if your application was referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation, and if you were amongst the most highly qualified candidates referred to the selecting official. 3. Finally, we will inform you of your final disposition for this announcement (e.g., if/when a selection is made, if/when the announcement is cancelled).
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
