Clarification from the agency

Open to all U.S. Citizens and U.S. Nationals. Salary range listed includes Locality Pay of 31.53%. This position is located in Springfield, VA.

This Public Affairs Specialist position is located within Public Affairs, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Duties include but are not limited to:

• Assists in identifying communication needs and makes recommendations on how to build and/or integrate stronger communication products and systems, such as physical systems and processes, for delivering products.
• Evaluates courses of action that may be different from or conflict with original course outlined by clients, senior officials, and stakeholders and changes course/rapidly adapts with the benefit of new information, or in response to changing conditions or unexpected obstacles.
• Assists in providing input for recommending communications strategy and objectives to meet overall organizational and TSA goals, as well as to organize resources to ensure activities are accomplished within established schedules and budgetary requirements.
• Participates and contributes to project teams in order to develop resolutions to problems and issues with broad impact; assists in facilitating the integration of multiple communications media including graphics, text, audio, and video.
• Conducts extensive research, developing plans and assisting with the implementation of a variety of public affairs projects and programs.

The major duties described above reflect the full performance level of this position. Typically, the lower pay band (G Band) performs the same duties but will receive more guidance and training; and/or projects/work assignments may be less complex.

This position is also being announced through Government Wide procedures under Announcement #HQ-COS2-PA-22-007808-G. Candidates who wish to be considered under both Public (US Citizens) and Government-Wide procedures must apply to both announcements.

Conditions of employment

• Selective Service registration is required.
• You must possess U.S. Citizenship or be a U.S. National.
• You must complete a favorable Background Investigation (BI).
• You must have reached the minimum age (18) at the time of application.
• See additional "Conditions of Employment" and "Other Information" section
• This is an Emergency Essential Position.

Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

Any offers of employment made pursuant to this announcement will be consistent with all applicable authorities, including Presidential Memoranda, Executive Orders, interpretive U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance, and Office of Management and Budget plans and policies concerning hiring. These authorities are subject to change.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• Must be a United States citizen or a U.S. National.
• Requires travel away from duty station (5% of the time for HQ positions and 33% for field positions).
• Duties may require unscheduled night, weekend and holiday duty. Typical hours are 9:00 - 5:30.

COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate:

As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee’s duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination by November 22, 2021, or before appointment or onboarding with the agency, if after November 22. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request of the agency a legally required exception from this requirement.

Due to COVID-19, the agency is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement. At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework one or more days a pay period depending upon the terms of the agency’s telework policy.

Qualifications

To qualify for the SV-G Pay Band (equivalent to GS-11), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-F or GS-09 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as:

• Applying public affairs practices and techniques to communicate policies to various audiences (e.g. Government/Public Officials, Management or the General Public); AND
• Providing public affairs program information to internal and external stakeholders AND
• Providing assistance with communication strategies to support an organization goals and mission;

OR

Achievement of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a field of study which is in or directly related to this position.

OR

Three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.

OR

LL.M., if related.

OR

Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education, beyond the second year, and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for this position, and may be computed by first determining your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the band level; then determining your education as a percentage of the education required for the band level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent.

To qualify for the SV-H Pay Band (equivalent to GS-12), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-G or GS-12 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as:

• Applying public affairs practices and techniques to communicate policies to various audiences (e.g. Government, Management or the General Public); AND
• Providing public affairs program information to internal and external stakeholders; AND
• Advising key leaders on communication strategy, to include the creation, development and implementation of strategic communication plans and other communication efforts.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: Education at the graduate level in an accredited college or university in the amounts indicated above meets the requirements for this position. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the one year of full-time study requirement.

Note: For positions requiring positive education requirements, or if you are using education to meet all or part of the qualification requirements, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts or an itemized list of college courses from an accredited college or university, which includes equivalent information from the transcript (course title, semester/quarter hours, and grade/degree earned) in your resume. The information must be provided with the application by the closing date of the announcement. If selected, the applicant must supply a transcript or certification of degree. 

Note: Credit for experience is given based on a 40-hour workweek. Part-time experience is credited on a part-time ratio, i.e., working 20 hours per week for two months equals one month of experience. No additional credit is given for overtime. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Resumes must include the following:

• Narrative description of duties with start and end dates (including the month and year) for work experience.
• State the number of hours worked in a position (i.e. full-time or part-time). If part-time, state the total number of hours worked per week.
• Performance level (i.e. band or grade)

You must meet the qualification requirements for this position no later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of the experience and/or related education as reflected in your resume and supporting documentation.  You are encouraged to ensure work experiences clearly show possession of the competencies required for this position.  We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If, after reviewing your resume and any supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your category placement may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Grouping procedures.  Under Category Grouping, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

Best-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies as determined by the job analysis.

Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies as determined by the job analysis.

Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies as determined by the job analysis.

Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the best-qualified category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. (This position is not considered scientific/professional.) Other 10-point preference eligibles and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligibles within the category in which they qualify. View information on veterans’ preference .