This job will close when we have received 40 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$76,721 to - $99,741 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Elko, NV
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Information gathering and event production often involve field trips. Other travel may be required to attend meetings, conferences and trainings.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—If converted to permanent travel and relocation expenses will be paid consistent with the Federal Travel Regulation, Chapter 302, and Departmental policy. The use of a relocation service company and home marketing incentive will not be offered.
Appointment type
Permanent - This is a temporary position, NTE one (1) year. May be extended up to a maximum of 5 years, and may be converted to a permanent appointment without further competition.
Assists with developing strategies and practices to effectively communicate with federal, state, local, and tribal agencies and elected officials including members of Congress; non-governmental organizations and interest groups; industry; traditional and new media outlets; public land users; and other stakeholders.
Analyzes emerging and controversial public land issues and, in consultation with management and other teams, develops and implements communication policies, plans, and strategies for a wide variety of diverse and often conflicting resource management programs.
Creates, writes and distributes a wide variety of materials to communicate information about BLM issues, programs and activities to key publics. Materials include high-level correspondence; news releases; opinion editorials; reports; newsletters; early alerts; talking points; briefing papers; speeches; interpretive brochures, signs and maps; web and social media content; and other new information materials.
Develops and maintains professional, proactive, credible relationships with media outlets, including traditional and new media outlets. Serves as a primary spokesperson for the office. Coordinates media coverage of BLM issues, programs and activities and arranges interviews with managers and subject matter experts. Prepares news releases, opinion editorials, and feature stories. Works with media representatives to promote timely, accurate and when possible, positive, news coverage. Handles media inquiries on sensitive or controversial issues.
Physical Demands: The work is generally sedentary and does not require unusual physical effort. Most of the work is performed in an office setting. Driving a car or pickup truck is periodically required. The work often requires walking outdoors and travel in light aircraft, helicopters, and off-road vehicles. Long work days are occasionally required to meet deadlines and resolve specific problems.
Work Environment: Most of the work is performed in an office setting although travel to field sites or other BLM/government offices is often required. Attendance at meetings at night or on weekends is sometimes required. Incumbent will adhere to all safety rules and regulations as prescribed in manuals/supplements or by the designated Safety Officer.
Be sure to read the "How to Apply" & "Required Documents" Sections
You cannot hold an active real estate license; nor can you
have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal land.
Direct deposit is required.
Background Investigation Required
If selected for this position you will need to complete the Federal Information Systems Security Awareness (FISSA) training prior to start date (if applicable).
Qualifications
In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement - please be sure to include this information in your resume. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade (GS-11) of the position to be filled.
For the GS-12: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the federal service showing demonstrated experience in the application of principles, practices and techniques of communication to include writing a broad array of written materials, such as news releases, feature stories, briefing papers, correspondence and Web Master duties for the internal and external web pages.
There is no substitution of education for experience at the GS-12 and above grade levels.
You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.
Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR 300.64.
If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.
Education
This position falls under the group coverage qualification standards for Administrative and Management positions. There is no Individual Occupational Requirement for this position.
Additional information
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) This vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) You apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) You are found well qualified for this vacancy. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Information about CTAP eligibility is available from OPM's Career Transition Resources website at CTAP.
CTAP eligibles will be considered well qualified if they receive a minimum score of 90 based on the rating criteria used for this position.
Reemployment Priority List (RPL): The RPL is the mechanism agencies use to give reemployment consideration to their former competitive service employees separated by a RIF or who have fully recovered from a compensable injury after more than one year. If you are currently on a Reemployment Priority List, you may be given priority consideration.
SELECTIVE SERVICE: Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must certify that they have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. To register or verify your registration go to the Selective Service System website.
May require completion of a one year probationary period.
BLM may use certain incentives, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract high quality applicants.
Government facilities are required to provide a smoke free environment for their employees. Smoking will be permitted only in designated areas.
Temporary Promotion may be extended up to a maximum of 5 years and may be converted to permanent without further competition. At the expiration of this assignment, or whenever your services are no longer needed, you may be returned to your position and agency of record.
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.
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.
Upon receipt of your complete application package, a review of your application will be made to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. Your rating will be based on your responses to the Job Specific Questionnaire and the information stated in your resume. If qualified, your score may range from 70-100 points. In addition, interviews may be conducted for this position. The interviews may be conducted on a pass/fail basis or may be scored. The job specific questions relate to the following knowledge, skills and abilities required to do the work of this position.
KSA 1: In-depth knowledge of laws, policies, and regulations pertaining to public land and resource management, and the objectives, techniques, practices, problems, issues, and implications of diverse public land and resource management programs in order to analyze emerging and controversial public land issues and implement communication policies and strategies for a wide variety of diverse and often conflicting resource management programs.
KSA 2: Skill in developing written, digital and multimedia information products in order to clearly and effectively convey information to others with varying knowledge levels, priorities, and interests. This includes a thorough knowledge of a wide variety of mass communication media, including print, broadcast, digital and social media in order to analyze the potential benefits and limitations of each media as well as the rules, regulations, and practices which apply to each medium.
KSA 3: Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with diverse individuals and organizations including news media representatives; elected officials and their staffs; special interest groups; federal, state, and local government agency employees; private businesses; public land users; and other individuals and organizations in order to promote greater understanding, support and cooperation regarding BLM’s mission and activities.
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.
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.
Resumes must show relevant experience and other information. Your resume must list your education and work experience including the dates (mm/yyyy) of each employment along with the number of hours worked per week and salary information. Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). You are welcome to submit a cover letter (optional). If you wish to do so, include it with your resume.
In addition to the online application (resume and responses to the questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms:
Current DOI career and career-conditional employees: Submit a copy of your most recent (non award) SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, that verifies tenure (block 24, code 1 or 2) and Competitive Status (block 34, code 1), and shows you are a current DOI employee. If you do not submit an SF-50 showing current DOI status you will be found ineligible. This office will use SF-50s to determine the applicant meets Time in Grade (TIG) or highest previous grade held requirements. Please submit multiple SF50s (if applicable) to verify you have satisfied all job announcement requirements.
Former PLC Member: Submit a copy of your “Certificate of Eligibility for Noncompetitive Hiring” along with a copy of your “PLC Participant Verification Work Hours Sheet.”
Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) eligibles: documentation verifying your CTAP eligibility - this includes a copy of the agency notice and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level and duty location.
You may submit your documents either via Auto-Requested Fax or by uploading your documents from your USAJOBS Profile:
AUTO-REQUESTED FAX: Allows you to submit required documentation that will be electronically displayed along with your resume. The opportunity to do this will be provided during the application process by a pop-up message option to generate an auto-requested fax cover sheet.
UPLOADING DOCUMENTS: Instead of faxing your documents you may use the uploading procedures thru Applicant Manager. Do not use both options.
Hard copy paper supplemental documents, submitted without prior Human Resources approval, will be considered as an incomplete application.
Required documentation must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, on the closing date of this announcement.
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.
To receive consideration for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package, which includes ALL of the following items: 1. Your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire; 2. Your resume; and 3. Applicable supporting documents specified in the Required Documents section of this job announcement.
Click on the button "Apply Online" and login to MY USAJOBS.
If you haven't already registered with USAJOBS, the system will require you to create a user name and password, complete a questionnaire and upload, paste or type a resume into USAJOBS.
If you have already registered with USAJOBS and forgot your login information, select the "Did you forget your username and/or password" link from the right side menu.
Your application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time by the closing date of this announcement.
If you need assistance in applying on-line, please contact the HR Office at (775) 861-6428 or email mtorian@blm.gov. If applying on-line poses a hardship for you (i.e. you do not have access to the internet) you must contact us prior to the closing date of the announcement for an alternative method of applying.
Resumes must show relevant experience and other information. Your resume must list your education and work experience including the dates (mm/yyyy) of each employment along with the number of hours worked per week and salary information. Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). You are welcome to submit a cover letter (optional). If you wish to do so, include it with your resume.
In addition to the online application (resume and responses to the questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms:
Current DOI career and career-conditional employees: Submit a copy of your most recent (non award) SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, that verifies tenure (block 24, code 1 or 2) and Competitive Status (block 34, code 1), and shows you are a current DOI employee. If you do not submit an SF-50 showing current DOI status you will be found ineligible. This office will use SF-50s to determine the applicant meets Time in Grade (TIG) or highest previous grade held requirements. Please submit multiple SF50s (if applicable) to verify you have satisfied all job announcement requirements.
Former PLC Member: Submit a copy of your “Certificate of Eligibility for Noncompetitive Hiring” along with a copy of your “PLC Participant Verification Work Hours Sheet.”
Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) eligibles: documentation verifying your CTAP eligibility - this includes a copy of the agency notice and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level and duty location.
You may submit your documents either via Auto-Requested Fax or by uploading your documents from your USAJOBS Profile:
AUTO-REQUESTED FAX: Allows you to submit required documentation that will be electronically displayed along with your resume. The opportunity to do this will be provided during the application process by a pop-up message option to generate an auto-requested fax cover sheet.
UPLOADING DOCUMENTS: Instead of faxing your documents you may use the uploading procedures thru Applicant Manager. Do not use both options.
Hard copy paper supplemental documents, submitted without prior Human Resources approval, will be considered as an incomplete application.
Required documentation must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, on the closing date of this announcement.
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.
To receive consideration for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package, which includes ALL of the following items: 1. Your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire; 2. Your resume; and 3. Applicable supporting documents specified in the Required Documents section of this job announcement.
Click on the button "Apply Online" and login to MY USAJOBS.
If you haven't already registered with USAJOBS, the system will require you to create a user name and password, complete a questionnaire and upload, paste or type a resume into USAJOBS.
If you have already registered with USAJOBS and forgot your login information, select the "Did you forget your username and/or password" link from the right side menu.
Your application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time by the closing date of this announcement.
If you need assistance in applying on-line, please contact the HR Office at (775) 861-6428 or email mtorian@blm.gov. If applying on-line poses a hardship for you (i.e. you do not have access to the internet) you must contact us prior to the closing date of the announcement for an alternative method of applying.
