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Public Affairs Specialist

Small Business Administration
Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience (ODR&R), Field Operations Center West (FOCW)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

You will serve as a Public Affairs Specialist for the Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Disaster Recovery & Resilience (ODR&R), Field Operations Center West - FOCW in Citrus Heights, California. This position provides information to ODR&R's internal and external customers (media, the public, business and civic organization, etc.) and appropriate government offices at the Federal, state and local levels concerning the SBA Disaster Recovery Program.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/28/2023 to 09/25/2023
Salary
$86,151 to - $111,996 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Locations
Many vacancies in the following locations:
Hawaii Island, HI
Kahoolawe Island, HI
Kauai Island, HI
Lanai Island, HI
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
76% or greater - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary
Work schedule
Intermittent
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
EXC-23-FOCW-12109468
Control number
746025700

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

United States Citizens

Duties

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As a Public Affairs Specialist at the GS-1035-12, some of your typical work assignments may include:

  • Plans, organizes, and prepares press releases, photos, flyers, presentation. Coordinates and evaluates written and oral DR&R communications directed to specific targeted audiences within the public, the media or government, according to guidelines established by the SBA Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL) and the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA).
  • Keeps abreast of legislative, regulatory, and programmatic changes, their impact on the disaster loan program and any repercussions on loan applicants or recipients. Serves as a disaster program information link to members of Congress and their offices, andstate and local public and elected officials.
  • Writes and edits correspondence for DR&R Center management addressed to public officials and private organizations about individual loan cases or general disaster program information; provides explanations and written materials. Responses to Congressional inquiries and ensures consistent and timely responses within a 14-day timeframe.
  • Participates in the development and coordination of social media campaigns. Takes part in the planning, building and implementation of social media strategy. Researches, writes, and edits content for external audiences in a variety of formats, including blogs, success stories, campaign messaging, scripts, digital tiles, videos, and SBA disaster loan program material for social media promotion.
  • Performs a variety of production and administrative tasks associated with digital and social media and web content projects. Prepares materials and other assets for dissemination on the Agency website and social media sites. Proactively plans for publication and dissemination of information through multiple channels. Implements media outreach and engagement strategies that include developing digital campaigns which support agency events, SBA programs and services and outreach.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
  • Your primary residence is considered your official duty station.
  • If selected, employees work on an intermittent (on-call) work schedule. This means that employees are in a pay and duty status only when activated to respond to workload needs, especially in response to heightened disaster activity. When no longer needed, employees return to a non-pay status until the next event necessitates additional staff.
  • However, depending on the workload and/or level of disaster activity, your work schedule may be changed to full-time. Subsequently, if the workload decreases, your work schedule may be changed back to intermittent.
  • Mandatory Overtime: In order to respond quickly and efficiently to disaster survivors, substantial compensated overtime hours may be required while on assignment (up to seven days a week and twelve to fourteen hours a day).
  • A valid driver's license may be required.
  • This position is not included in a bargaining unit.
TRAVEL STATEMENT- You may be required to travel to a disaster site during increased disaster activity for extended periods with little or no advanced notice. If so, you may encounter hazardous working and/or living conditions; i.e., no water or electricity and/or minimal lodging facilities. Travel expenses are compensated based on SBA policy and Federal regulations.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. citizenship is required.
  • You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government travel credit card.
  • Favorable background investigation and credit check are required.
  • Credit score below 500 may negatively impact consideration in the hiring process.
  • This position is not included in a bargaining unit.

Qualifications

Generally, time in Non-Pay status is not creditable towards the specialized experience requirement listed below.

You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement. You may qualify based on experience.

Experience: To receive credit, you must indicate the month and year as well as the average hours worked per week for each employer. Average work hours must be stated on the resume to quantify each period of work experience or that experience will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement.
You must address the specific specialized experience required for each grade level of this position on your resume or application or you will be rated "Ineligible" for that grade level.

GS-12: To qualify you must have at least 1 full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the GS-11 level in the Federal service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skill, and ability to perform successfully in this position. This experience may have been gained in a Non-Federal service position. In addition, this Specialized Experience must demonstrate the following:

* Expert knowledge creating engaging content (text, image, graphics and video) that can be shared across social media channels to drive engagement and build brand awareness; and* Independently manage X (formally known as Twitter) to engage in online conversations, chats, webinars, and live events; and* Understanding of social media metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns and adjust strategies accordingly; and
* Expert knowledge to use video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, or Final Cut Pro to create engaging video content for social media; and
* Planning, organizing, and preparing written and oral communications, such as press releases, presentations, articles, photos, flyers, etc. for dissemination to various types of media outlets, social media platforms, brochures and periodicals; and
* Acting as spokesperson by making public appearances, preparing presentations, talking points or speeches for local news conferences/events, and town hall meetings or other targeted audiences for the purpose of explaining an organization's programs, policies, and procedures to the media, government officials, business leadership and the public.

Education

GS-12: There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Qualification Standards: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Group-Standards

Additional information

If selected for this position, you will be eligible for benefits. The above link is provided for your reference to explore the major benefits offered to most Federal employees.

If you work or are expected to work at least 90 consecutive days and 130 hours per month, you will become eligible for health insurance benefits only.

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 how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the online assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Communications and Media
  • Computer Skills
  • Customer Service
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Writing


In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Application of Veterans' Preference: The Category Rating process protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-veterans within each quality category. All the veterans must be selected before any non-veterans within each category.

For this position, disabled veterans who meet minimum qualifications for this position and have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% (CPS & CP) are placed at the top of the Best-Qualified category regardless of which category they would otherwise be assigned to.

Preference eligibles who do not have a service-connected disability of 10% or more (XP or TP) are placed at the top of their quality category.

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