Clarification from the agency

Open to IRS Career/Career-Conditional, Treasury/IRS CTAP, & IRS RPP employees

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WHAT IS THE COMMUNICATION AND LIAISON (C&L) DIVISION?
A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions

Vacancies will be filled in the following specialty areas:
Communications and Liaison, Stakeholder Liaison, Area 1, Area 2, Area 3, Area 4, Area 5, and Area 6

MAJOR DUTIES:

1. Utilizes an expert knowledge of Tax law Identifies, develops and grows relationships with external stakeholders located within the territory and serves as their point of contact to address issues and concerns. Forwards issues, as appropriate for burden reduction consideration. Identifies, contacts and develops external relationships with governmental agencies, civic associations, trade associations, small business organizations and other stakeholder relationships. Serves as an internal communications link to other IRS functions. Provides support to customer service activities primarily during the filing season, but also throughout the year, in the areas of technical tax law and accounting guidance to taxpayers or practitioners who visit the Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) or through the R-Mail and/or Electronic Tax Law Accounting (ETLA) systems. Also provides tax law and e-file and pay information via seminars and speeches. These efforts highlight IRS programs and pertinent tax law and other modifications to targeted audiences including the small business owner, tax practitioners, trade associations, industry groups, government agencies, etc. As needed, provides assistance to taxpayers residing in federally designated disaster areas.

2. Works within designated work plans and program direction to plan, coordinate and conduct customized marketing events and other non-enforcement activities for issues with an impact on compliance, including but not limited to, complex trusts, abusive schemes, unreported income, non-filing, voluntary agreements and burden reduction. Develops new marketing plans, proposes activities, recommends timelines as well as dissemination vehicles to both internal and external partners and stakeholders, in both English and Spanish to promote the effective and efficient use of IRS products and services. Recommends use of resources and milestone dates to achieve Program goals and objectives. Provides support and feedback to the product and development staff and Centers of Excellence and Operational Priority Leads. Coordinates, via Stakeholder engagement and through other means, with such functions as Compliance, Counsel, the Stakeholder Partnership Education and Communication (SPEC), Return Preparer's Office, Communication and Liaison Division, LMSB, TE/GE, Field Assistance and other components of the operating division to publicize programs, ensure consistent delivery of corporate message, and promote effectiveness. Creates original news releases, newsletters, flyers, bulletins, media events, web pages, product lines, or other marketing promotions. Maintains extensive expertise in the multi-media communication field to ensure effective dissemination of IRS messages. Performs or directs analysis of taxpayer and/or practitioner data derived from various sources to recommend educational and outreach treatments. Develops and implements innovative methods, techniques and approaches to complex marketing plans using market research and analysis. Performs analysis of taxpayer and/or practitioner data to recommend educational and outreach treatments. Develops and implements overall tax assistance marketing plans using market research and analysis. Develops marketing strategies including targeted key messages, information dissemination methods, and communication vehicles. Designs marketing plans and products to address filing, reporting and payment compliance. Develops, coordinates and provides complex pre and post filing tax law and tax related accounting educational assistance to both internal and external customers through speeches, presentations, trade shows, articles, media and use of leveraged resources.

3. Works with management to measure program effectiveness based on established measures and designated performance indicators. Tracks historical, statistical, and demographic data to develop effective marketing plans for products and messages. Analyzes and evaluates data; and facilitates group meetings, surveys, etc. to design new marketing strategies or revise existing ones. Coordinates responses to Area and Headquarters requests. Provides extensive feedback and recommendations to management regarding marketing events, marketing program effectiveness and additional needs for marketing products and/or communication vehicles. Coordinates activities to plan and resolve unusual or controversial issues regarding marketing/promotional ideas and to share best practices. Develops marketing and communication plans with partners and stakeholders to promote the effective and efficient use of IRS assistance and education.

4. Performs other duties as assigned.

Conditions of employment

STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD):
PD24422
Visit the IRS SPD Library to access the position descriptions.

• Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel

Qualifications

Federal experience is not required. The experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement:

POSITIVE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS: (All grade levels) You must have education;

Undergraduate Education: Major study -- any field.

Graduate Education: Major study -- accounting, auditing, taxation, business administration, law, or other related fields.

In addition to meeting the Positive Educational requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the Basic Requirements by the closing date of this announcement:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

Accounting Knowledge: Applicants must demonstrate their knowledge of Principles of Accounting and Intermediate Accounting. Candidates can demonstrate this knowledge either through successful completion of 12 semester hours / 18 quarter hours of college level accounting (with at least 6 semester / 9 quarter hours at the intermediate level) and/or experience. Applicants qualifying based on education must submit transcripts with their application.

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-13: You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience that demonstrates a substantive knowledge of business practices, basic accounting principles, and Federal tax laws and regulations; and that required the ability to audit tax records, analyze systems and bookkeeping, use factfinding techniques, and develop interpersonal skills. Qualifying specialized experience may have been gained in work such as:

• Office auditing of various types of tax returns to determine tax liability of individual taxpayers, businesses, or corporations.
• Applying pertinent parts of the Internal Revenue Code and related regulations and procedures to: (1) conduct comprehensive analytical examinations, (2) use creative in-office factfinding techniques, and (3) develop effective public contact skills.
• Determination and redetermination, or audit, on liability for Federal taxes.
• Program evaluation, internal audit or administrative management of the assessment and collection of Federal taxes (other than alcohol and tobacco).
• Investigating alleged criminal violations of Federal tax statutes and making recommendations for criminal prosecution and assertion of civil penalties.
• Collecting delinquent Federal taxes (other than alcohol and tobacco), including canvassing for unreported taxes due, and securing delinquent returns.

Demonstrates experience and in-depth knowledge of the principles, practices and method of intermediate accounting, tax laws and IRS procedures to determine and deliver programs, products and services to both internal and external stakeholders (such as promoting an event or service and delivering key IRS messages). Experience in defining legal and factual issues in federal tax law (such as providing guidance to tax professional or representatives). Experience using a variety of communication and marketing principles, skills, methods and techniques to plan, coordinate and execute long-term liaison and communication programs (such as a practitioner or industry outreach). Experience delivering verbal presentations and developing or creating written products that adhere to professional style guidelines (such as delivering operational review and writing white papers). Experience applying analytical methods in order to evaluate a program's effectiveness.

AND

MEET TIME IN GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT: You must meet applicable TIG requirements to be considered eligible. To meet TIG for positions above the GS-05 grade level, you must have served at least one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade (or equivalent) in the normal line of progression for the position you are applying to. Advancement to positions up to GS-05 is permitted if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the lowest grade held within the preceding 52 weeks.

AND

TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT: By the closing date (or if this is an open continuous announcement, by the cut-off date) specified in this job announcement, current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens".

AND

THIS IS A BILINGUAL POSITION: Applicants will be required to demonstrate proficiency in Spanish. You must be able to speak, read and write the selected language in order to be considered proficient in that language. If you indicate language proficiency, you may be tested at some point in the hiring process to determine if you possess the required level of proficiency. If you are unable to demonstrate proficiency, you will not be qualified for these positions.

For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires a bilingual assessment to evaluate your language proficiency. The bilingual assessment will test your ability to read, write, and/or converse in Spanish. In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process and meet all qualifications. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated on the Critical Job Elements (CJE) of the position to be filled, in accordance with Article 13 of the IRS/NTEU National Agreement. Your application will also be rated and ranked among others, based on your responses to the online questions/assessment. Your experience, education, training, prior performance, and awards, relevant to the position being filled, will be considered throughout the hiring process. IRS employees may obtain most recent awards listing at https://persinfo.web.irs.gov/.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring polices). We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee eligible for Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), you must receive a score of 80 or better to be rated as well qualified to receive special selection priority.