The position is located in the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Central News Division. The incumbent reports to the OCB Director or his/her designee. The News Standards & Best Practices Editor is responsible for standards, ethics, balance, and fairness in journalism across OCB, based on professional best practices and the network's mission. The incumbent's mandate will extend to all platforms and with all production-in text, digital video, digital audio, web, and social media.
Summary
The position is located in the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Central News Division. The incumbent reports to the OCB Director or his/her designee. The News Standards & Best Practices Editor is responsible for standards, ethics, balance, and fairness in journalism across OCB, based on professional best practices and the network's mission. The incumbent's mandate will extend to all platforms and with all production-in text, digital video, digital audio, web, and social media.
This announcement is open to all current Federal Competitive Service, Career and Career-Conditional employees. Applicants who have non-competitive eligibility, such as, Schedule A disability, Peace Corps or VISTA, reinstatement eligibles, etc. AND those eligible under the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) or Interchange Agreements with other Merit Systems may also apply.
Provides senior level advice and guidance to OCB senior management and staff involving the standards applied to OCB broadcast and online content. In particular, the incumbent is responsible for ensuring the highest journalistic standards across the agency for OCB content on all platforms.
Responsible for following the VOA Best Practices Guide, and for regularly updating, disseminating, implementing, and monitoring compliance of journalistic standards, policies, and practices under the OCB Charter.
Advises on journalistic and editorial guidelines, and whether they are practiced consistently throughout OCB.
Is actively involved in editorial and production issues involving potentially sensitive and/or controversial subject matter and must provide expert advice based on established sound editorial practices and standards.
Works with support staff to ensure that all OCB content producers and journalists review and internalize journalism standards and practices, and receive other journalistic training that may be required by OCB management.
Advocates at all levels of the organization for ethical standards, practices, and policies and professional workplace practices.
Works closely with the Office of General Counsel on issues that address journalistic and government ethics.
Serves as a spokesperson for OCB's commitment to journalistic professionalism and its mission.
Works with the Office of Human Resources/Labor Employee Relations (LER) on possible instances of lapses in journalist ethics and standards by OCB employees. S/he reviews the work in question and provides expert opinion and guidance to LER.
Serves as OCB's primary representative, in concert with the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Strategy and Development, in the process of approval of short-term and long-term domestic usage requests for OCB news reports and/or programs. In addition, the incumbent works with appropriate public affairs staff to review and recommend approval or denial for one-time-only usage of OCB news reports and/or programs.
Candidates MUST meet all qualification requirements by closing date.
Applicants must complete online questionnaire.
This is a national security> position. If selected, this position requires the completion of the SF-86.
Suitability Determination: If selected, you will be subject to a security investigation to establish your suitability for federal employment. The security investigation will include, among other aspects, a review of your credit and legal history.
This position is not covered by a union agreement.
This position may require working nights, weekends, and holidays.
The full performance grade level for this position is GS-14.
Qualifications
Applicants must have a minimum of one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility comparable to the GS-13 or comparable pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector, and MUST have a comprehensive knowledge of Cuba, its people, history, politics, culture and institutions, including a knowledge of Cuba's National and regional media usage patterns. Applicant must also have fluency in both English and Spanish languages.
Specialized Experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Such experience is defined as work involving:
Journalism principles, practices and methods;
Techniques for delivery of online news including audio and video streaming for online programming;
U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba; knowledge of the principles of management with the ability to plan, advise and manage staff functions and likewise direct the work of others;
Reviewing programs to ensure quality control and compliance with existing policy; training of journalistic standards; and providing guidance on best practices for reporting on complex issues.
Education
Applicant cannot substitute education for experience.
Additional information
If you are an eligible Inter-agency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) applicant you may apply for special selection over other candidates for this position. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 80 or above on the rating criteria for this position. ICTAP eligibles must submit one of the following as proof of eligibility for the special selection priority: a separation notice; a "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) documenting separation; an agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated; an OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; OR a Military Department or National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456.
In addition to your resume, other "accepted" documentation may be required in some situations to support eligibility to apply and be considered, as indicated below:
Current and reinstatement eligible applicants must submit a Personnel Action (SF-50) indicating grade, competitive service, and career or career-conditional tenure.
Applicants applying under Schedule A Disability must submit an appropriate letter from a physician.
Applicants applying under Peace Corps or VISTA eligibility must submit a letter supporting eligibility.
If you are still on active duty, you may submit a statement of service from your Personnel Command which states the date you entered active duty, the date you are separating, and the campaign medals you have received.
Applicants applying for consideration under an Interchange Agreement with Other Merit Systems must submit a recent SF-50 or other personnel action (e.g., Post Office, Non-appropriated fund), reflecting status as a current employee under an approved system.
If you are a male applicant who was born after 12/31/59 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.
Individuals, who would like to apply for this position and who are not eligible to apply as status applicants under one or more of the above, should apply under the announcement DE-11130501-21-RD, which is open to all U.S. Citizens.
Non-citizens are not eligible to apply for this vacancy.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Once your resume or application is submitted, a review of your qualifications will be made to ensure you meet the job requirements and competencies required for this position.
Competencies:
Communications and Media
Journalism
Language Profiency-TA
Leadership
Target Area
Possession of competencies may be addressed in a cover letter and/or resume. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your qualifications. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. You will then be placed in one of three rating categories:
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
Resume
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s), which may not be required for all applicants:
Cover Letter
DD-214/ Statement of Service
Disability Letter (Schedule A)
Disability Letter (VA)
Documentation Supporting CTAP/ICTAP eligibility
Performance Appraisal
Resume
Separation Notice (RIF)
SF-15
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
Although the required documents listed in this announcement only indicate that a resume is required, other documents, such as a SF-50, DD-214, Schedule A letter, Peace Corps/VISTA letter, and/or other personnel action, etc. may be required in specific circumstances, as indicated in application requirements in Other Information above.
You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. If you cannot complete the Application Package online, please contact the Human Resource office.
To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents and any appropriate Accepted Documents.
To begin, click Apply in the announcement; then, choose to create a new USAJOBS account or Sign-in into your existing account.
Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package.
You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before submitting it. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
After completing the questionnaire and uploading appropriate documents, click the Submit Application to submit your application package.
It is applicant's responsibility to verify that information entered and uploaded, (i.e., resume, veteran's documentation, completed assessment questionnaire, and SF-50's) are accurate and were submitted before 11:59 PM (EST) on06/14/2021 of the announcement to receive consideration.
Human Resources will not modify or change any part of your application. If a document is not in legible format, applicant will not be able to view it in Application Manager which means applicant must again upload or fax the documentation by the closing date of this announcement.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account. The page will display the positions for which you've applied as well as the status of each application.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click on the plus sign (+) next to the job title to expand information about the job. Next click on Update Application to complete the application process.
Note: Submission of a resume alone IS NOT a complete application. This position requires the completion of additional forms and/or supplemental materials as described previously. Please carefully review the complete job announcement, including the Required Documents, Other Information, and How to Apply sections of the announcement.
Application packages will NOT be accepted via mail or e-mail. All resumes/applications received at the addresses listed in the Contact Information or Agency Information will be destroyed and will not be considered for this vacancy announcement.
Office of Cuba Broadcasting
330 Independence Avenue SW
Room 4700 Cohen Building
Washington, DC 20237
US
Next steps
Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
Resume
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s), which may not be required for all applicants:
Cover Letter
DD-214/ Statement of Service
Disability Letter (Schedule A)
Disability Letter (VA)
Documentation Supporting CTAP/ICTAP eligibility
Performance Appraisal
Resume
Separation Notice (RIF)
SF-15
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
Although the required documents listed in this announcement only indicate that a resume is required, other documents, such as a SF-50, DD-214, Schedule A letter, Peace Corps/VISTA letter, and/or other personnel action, etc. may be required in specific circumstances, as indicated in application requirements in Other Information above.
You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. If you cannot complete the Application Package online, please contact the Human Resource office.
To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents and any appropriate Accepted Documents.
To begin, click Apply in the announcement; then, choose to create a new USAJOBS account or Sign-in into your existing account.
Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package.
You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before submitting it. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
After completing the questionnaire and uploading appropriate documents, click the Submit Application to submit your application package.
It is applicant's responsibility to verify that information entered and uploaded, (i.e., resume, veteran's documentation, completed assessment questionnaire, and SF-50's) are accurate and were submitted before 11:59 PM (EST) on06/14/2021 of the announcement to receive consideration.
Human Resources will not modify or change any part of your application. If a document is not in legible format, applicant will not be able to view it in Application Manager which means applicant must again upload or fax the documentation by the closing date of this announcement.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account. The page will display the positions for which you've applied as well as the status of each application.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click on the plus sign (+) next to the job title to expand information about the job. Next click on Update Application to complete the application process.
Note: Submission of a resume alone IS NOT a complete application. This position requires the completion of additional forms and/or supplemental materials as described previously. Please carefully review the complete job announcement, including the Required Documents, Other Information, and How to Apply sections of the announcement.
Application packages will NOT be accepted via mail or e-mail. All resumes/applications received at the addresses listed in the Contact Information or Agency Information will be destroyed and will not be considered for this vacancy announcement.
Office of Cuba Broadcasting
330 Independence Avenue SW
Room 4700 Cohen Building
Washington, DC 20237
US
Next steps
Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
