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Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the Office of Communications, National Park Service (NPS) headquarters in Washington, DC. The Office of Communications serves as the national voice for more than 400 special places and important programs that protect, preserve and share America's historic, cultural and natural beauty. The role of the supervisory public affairs specialist is to produce and supervise the production of a wide range of communications products that engage the public through traditional and new media and other channels on nationally significant priorities in order to promote enjoyment of parks, expand awareness of NPS programs, and explain NPS management decisions, which may be controversial or contentious. The Office of Communications also provides advice, counsel, and useful communication tools for NPS leadership, park and program managers and staff to use in pursuit of similar communications goals on local and issue-specific matters.

Please visit find a park for additional park information.

Current National Park Service employees.
4) Individuals eligible under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act. For more information, select the following link:
Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA).

Career/Career-Conditional Full-Time appointment.

Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses will not be paid. All travel, transportation, and relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the sole responsibility of the selected employee.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
10/03/2017 to 10/12/2017
Salary
$112,021 to - $145,629 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
Washington DC, DC
1 vacancy
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Promotion potential
14
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Announcement number
WO-1614-COMM-17-10049410-MP
Control number
479543200

This job is open to

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Duties

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The position serves as the Chief of Public Affairs and Chief Spokesperson of the National Park Service, in the Washington headquarters Office, reporting to the Assistant Director, Communications.
Duties include:

  • Supporting the Assistant Director for Communications by creating, planning and executing multi-platform communications plans to explain nationally important issues, initiatives and priorities for the National Park Service;
  • Supervising a team of public affairs specialists and providing guidance to public affairs officers across the NPS;
  • Serving as the primary agency spokesperson on high priority national-level and controversial issues;
  • Developing complex, comprehensive communication plans and campaigns that highlight and explain NPS programs and policies;
  • Advising the Assistant Director for Communications, and senior bureau, regional and DOI officials, on anticipated public response to service plans and actions, offering specific recommendations for public information strategies and activities;
  • Advising senior staff on attitudes of the media and special interest groups reflected through print and broadcast news and interaction with the public and assisting with developing information for the news media and special interest groups in complex, controversial and emergency situations;
  • Practicing continuous triage to re-prioritize actions and reactions to address changing circumstances and deploying resources to successfully handle multiple critical tasks simultaneously;
  • Supervising the Washington Office of Communications public affairs staff, creating work plans, monitoring assignments, developing performance standards, and completing staff evaluations;
  • Providing leadership and guidance to a dispersed public affairs workforce in park, program and regional offices;
  • Overseeing the development of training to keep public affairs specialists well-versed in communications issues, policies and techniques.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Financial Disclosure is required
  • Perfomance Evaluation

  • You will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service).


Qualifications

Applicants must have at least one-year of specialized experience in the Federal service equivalent to at least the GS-13 grade level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled. Your experience must demonstrate your ability to perform the work of a Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist. Specialized experience is experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. For this position, you must have specialized experience serving as an organization's spokesperson on national issues, implementing the tactics of multi-channel communications strategies, supervising staff, building relationships with local regional or national media, and advising superiors on communications matters.

You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies".

Education


There is no substitution of education for experience at the grade level(s) of this announcement.

Additional information


The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.

How you will be evaluated

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

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions may affect your rating.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Communications and Media
  • Flexibility
  • Leadership
  • Strategic Thinking

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