Clarification from the agency

Applicants must be U.S. citizens.

As the Director of the Office of Communications (OCOM), you will work directly with OJP leadership, DOJ's leadership offices, the Office of Legislative Affairs, the Public Affairs Office, officials and staff members of the White House, and other Federal agencies on legislative and public liaison aspects of justice related matters.

This includes managing and directing the internal and external communications and digital media, congressional and public liaison activities, and intergovernmental affairs for OJP. The communication program encompasses all communications, through all forums, among OJP and Congress, other Federal agencies, the media, the general public, academia, justice practitioners at all levels of government, and other concerned stakeholders, including representatives of professional associations, officials of foreign governments, and officials of non-profit agencies and organizations.

You will serve as the principal advisor to the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) and other senior leaders within OJP on legislative and public liaison aspects of major policy and program planning initiatives, with particular emphasis on timing and probable reactions.

You will provide advice and assistance to the AAG and senior leaders in the planning, directing, and coordinating Congressional related activities.

You will be responsible for effectively interacting and communicating with Members of Congress, staff, and committees for purposes of exchanging and sharing information between Congress and OJP.

You will coordinate and conduct briefings for Congressional leaders, committees, and their staffs concerning OJP programs and related matters and represents the positions and viewpoints of the AAG and senior leaders.

The Director of OCOM also directs a central correspondence control function to ensure that OJP responds promptly and efficiently to high priority correspondence from DOJ and such external entities such as the White House, Congress, state governments, and others. The Director of OCOM ensures that the communications and messaging across OJP is consistent and supports AAG's priorities and positions.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to qualify for this position.
• Subject to background/suitability investigation/determination.
• Individuals entering the Senior Executive Service for the first time are subject to a one-year probationary period.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service. Visit www.sss.gov.
• As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to such exceptions as required by law. Please see "Additional Information" section for more detail.

Qualifications

As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible executive leadership and supervisory experience that is indicative of senior executive level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below. Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-14/15 grade level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector. As such, your resume should demonstrate that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully fulfill responsibilities inherent in most SES positions such as:

• Directing the work of an organizational unit;
• Ensuring the success of one or more specific major programs or projects;
• Monitoring progress toward strategic organizational goals, evaluating organizational performance and taking action to improve performance;
• Supervising the work of employees; and
• Exercising important policymaking, policy determining, or other executive functions.

Failure to meet the basic qualification requirements and address all Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors will result in your application being disqualified.

Executive Core Qualifications:

You must clearly document and demonstrate the following Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs), not to exceed ten pages total:

ECQ 1: LEADING CHANGE - This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.

ECQ 2: LEADING PEOPLE - This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.

ECQ 3: RESULTS DRIVEN - This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.

ECQ 4: BUSINESS ACUMEN - This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.

ECQ 5: BUILDING COALITIONS - This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, state, local and tribal governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.

Additional information on the Executive Core Qualifications can be found at http://www.opm.gov/ses/recruitment/ecq.asp (http://www.opm.gov/ses/recruitment/ecq.asp)

NOTE: Those applicants currently serving under a career Senior Executive Service appointment, who are eligible for reinstatement into the Senior Executive Service, or who have successfully completed a Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program approved by OPM, need not submit a narrative statement covering each of the Executive Core Qualifications. However, those applicants must address the following Mandatory Technical Competencies.

Mandatory Technical Qualifications:

You will be evaluated on the following Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs). All candidates must submit a narrative statement addressing each MTQ. Your responses to the MTQs should be addressed separately, not to exceed two pages per MTQ.

MTQ 1: Knowledge of the federal legislative process; demonstrated ability to establish effective interaction and communication with members of Congress and their staffs collaborating with the Office of Legislative Affairs to further an organization's agenda, mission and strategic plans.

MTQ 2: Demonstrated ability to plan, implement and manage effective and creative communications and media strategies to communicate and disseminate congressional, intergovernmental or public affairs information, using a variety of media relations principles and communications methods, practices and techniques.

MTQ 3: Demonstrated ability to manage a wide variety of highly complex, and oftentimes sensitive, issues pertaining to agency policies and programs, which may involve providing authoritative guidance and recommended actions on controversial matters.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants will be evaluated based on how well they meet the Executive Core Qualifications and the Mandatory Technical Qualifications, as outlined in the Qualifications section of the announcement.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is required by law to review the executive qualifications of each new career appointee to the Senior Executive Service (SES) prior to appointment. To be considered for this position, applicants must submit a written statement addressing the five (5) Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs).

Applicants must address the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) separately.

Please see How to Apply and Required Documents for specific instructions. The resume should demonstrate the necessary level of management skills, characteristics, qualities, specialized knowledge, and technical competence that would indicate successful performance in the SES. This evidence must include clear and concise examples that emphasize the applicant's level of responsibilities, scope, and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments, policy initiatives, and level of contacts.