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Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist (Director of Congressional and Public Affairs)

This job announcement has closed

Summary

You are encouraged to read the entire announcement before you submit your application package. Your application may not receive full consideration if you do not follow the instructions as outlined.

This position is in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC, in the Office of Inspector General/ Front Office, at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
04/12/2023 to 04/25/2023
Salary
$155,700 to - $183,500 per year

Salary includes locality

Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Domestic and Overseas travel is expected for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
OIG-23-ST-11900311-MS
Control number
718943000

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Status Candidates (on career or career-conditional appointments), including former Federal employees with reinstatement eligibility, and those eligible for CTAP; ICTAP; VEOA; special hiring programs under a non-competitive appointment authority such as Schedule A; Executive Order 12721, employees eligible under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act and individuals on interchange agreement with Other Merit Systems.

Duties

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The Director of Congressional and Public Affairs is a key member of the OIG's Front Office (FO) team. The employee plays a critical role in ensuring congressional and public affairs programs contribute directly to USAID OIG's mission, goals, and objectives. The position reports through OIG's Office of General Counsel, which includes the Congressional and Public Affairs Division.


As the Director of Congressional Public Affairs, you will:

  • Serve as Director of all OIG Congressional and Public Affairs activities using expert knowledge and understanding of congressional and legislative affairs processes and public affairs methods such as media relations
  • Advise the Inspector General and senior leadership on policy formulation and the potential public reaction to programs and activities of the agency.
  • Routinely provide information to keep the OIG senior leadership abreast of critical issues with media and Congressional interest.
  • Serve as expert advisor to the Inspector General and OIG senior leadership on all public affairs issues and provides technical counsel and recommendations concerning matters involving congressional and legislative affairs and drafts written materials on issues concerning congressional and public affairs for senior OIG leadership.
  • Develop and implement an external communications strategy that includes the use of conventional and various social media channels of communication.
  • Serve as a liaison with Members of Congress and their staff; responding to written and oral requests for information concerning USAID OIG and its activities from congressional sources.
  • Coordinate preparations for appearances of the Inspector General and other OIG senior leaders as witnesses in congressional hearings and briefings; and other duties as may be assigned.
  • Develop communication and outreach strategies and providing public affairs counsel to the Inspector General, advising and preparing OIG leadership to deliver messages on issues of national and international significance with strategic partners and stakeholders.
  • Perform personnel management responsibilities.
  • Establish employee milestones and monitors employee career development; develops performance appraisal standards and evaluates performance; initiates personnel actions involved in the recruitment, selection, promotion, transfer, commendation, and
    disciplining of subordinates.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • United States Citizenship is required.
  • Relevant experience (see Qualifications below).
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret clearance.
  • Time in grade must be met by the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered with the Selective Service.
  • You may be required to serve a one year supervisory probationary period.
  • You may be required to serve a one year probationary period.
  • Must submit a Financial Disclosure Statement.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience:

GS-14:
You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-14 grade level in the Federal service. One year of specialized experience refers to full-time work; we consider a part-time job on a prorated basis. Examples of qualifying specialized experience at the next lower level for this position includes;(1) Managing Congressional and Public Affairs activities: planning, coordinating, implementing, and evaluating external communications programs;(2) Developing congressional strategies and presenting it to senior management; and, (3) Reviewing and analyzing programs and policies and their impact on the way information is disseminated to state and/or local levels, the media, and the general public.

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 relevant to the position's duties to be filled, including volunteer experience.

CTAP/ICTAP candidates will be referred to the selecting official if they are found well qualified. Well-qualified means an eligible employee who possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities that clearly exceed the position's minimum requirements. A well-qualified employee must meet the qualification and eligibility requirements of the position, including any medical qualifications, suitability, and minimum education and experience requirements, meet all selective factors (where applicable); meet quality ranking factors and are assigned a score of 85 or higher; be physically qualified with reasonable accommodation to perform the essential duties of the position; meet any special qualifying U.S. OPM-approved conditions; AND be able to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry without additional training.

A well-qualified candidate will not necessarily meet the definition of highly or best qualified when evaluated against other candidates who apply for a particular position. Selecting officials will document the job-related reason(s) for qualification determinations in the absence of selective and quality ranking factors.

Education

This position does not have a positive education requirement. Therefore, no transcripts are required.

Additional information

Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date. This means that you must have served at least 52 weeks at the next grade level (or equivalent) below the grade advertised on this vacancy announcement.

USAID is an independent Federal Government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. With headquarters in the District of Columbia, we operate in more than 100 countries worldwide, playing an active and critical role in the promotion of U.S. foreign policy interests. When crisis strikes, when rights are repressed, when hunger, disease, and poverty rob people of opportunity, USAID acts on behalf of the American people to help expand the reach of prosperity and dignity to the world's most vulnerable people. USAID employees and contractors must commit to maintaining a workplace free of sexual misconduct, including harassment, exploitation, and abuse, and adhere to USAID's Counter-Trafficking in Persons Code of Conduct. For information on the effort to counter all forms of human trafficking, including the procurement of commercial sex acts and the use of forced labor, visit http://www.state.gov/g/tip. For more information about USAID, visit http://www.usaid.gov.


This announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

These are Testing Designated Positions (TDP's) under the Agency's approved Drug-Free Work Place Program. All applicants selected for this position will be subject to random drug testing once they begin working for the Agency.

Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer is required.

Moving and relocation expenses are not authorized.

Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies: https://hru.gov/Studio_Recruitment/tools/Mythbuster_on_Federal_Hiring_Policies.pdf.

EEO Policy: EEO Policy Statement.

Veterans' Information: Veterans Information.

Telework: https://www.telework.gov/.

Selective Service Registration: http://www.sss.gov/.

Reasonable Accommodation Policy:
USAID is committed to equal employment opportunity; therefore, reasonable accommodations are available to applicants and employees with disabilities. If you need an accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the Reasonable Accommodation Division in the Office of Civil Rights at reasonableaccommodations@usaid.gov. Reasonable accommodation decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. To learn more about the Reasonable Accommodation Division, please visit our website at: https://www.usaid.gov/careers/reasonableaccommodations.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your application package to ensure you meet the job and eligibility requirements, including the education and/or experience required for this position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter, and supporting documentation to your responses on the scored occupational questionnaire (True/False, Yes/ No, Multiple Choice questions) to determine if your answers to the assessment questionnaire are supported in your resume. If your answers to the online assessment questionnaire are not supported in the resume it will affect your eligibility for further consideration. You may be found "not qualified" if you do not possess the minimum competencies required for the position. If your application is incomplete, we will rate you as ineligible. Candidates rated as Highly Qualified will be referred to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview.

The scored occupational questionnaire will evaluate you on the following competencies:

  • Communications and Media
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Leadership skills
  • Oral Communication
  • Public Affairs
  • Strategic Thinking


It is the Government's policy not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. USAID will use information about an individual's employment experience only to determine their qualifications and assess their relative level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Although an individual's conduct may be relevant in any employment decision, including behavior during periods of unemployment or evidence of dishonesty in handling financial matters, financial difficulty that has arisen through no fault of the individual will generally not be the basis of an unfavorable suitability or fitness determination.

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