Clarification from the agency

Open to all qualified U.S. citizens. Open to current employees within the Federal civil service. SES reinstatement eligibles and SESCDP graduates may also apply for noncompetitive consideration.

The General Deputy Assistant Secretary (GDAS) for Public Affairs reports to the Assistant Secretary (AS) for Public Affairs. The incumbent operates with broad discretionary authority, guided by the broad policy initiatives of Office of Public Affairs (OPA), but is responsible for developing his/her own approaches and initiatives regarding the various duties and assignments.

The primary responsibility of the incumbent is to serve as the GDAS, HUD's senior public affairs career staff expert on housing policy and program issues. The GDAS manages the career staff in OPA and oversees the operations of the office. The GDAS will advise the AS regarding all communication matters, maintain strategy around key stakeholders, support essential enterprise-wide processes and operations, providing sound guidance and strategic recommendations on sensitive, broad, complex, and highly visible public affairs, public engagement, and content issues. The incumbent will ensure continuity of messaging across administrations and will serve as a source of institutional memory during leadership and staff transitions to preclude disruption in the timeliness and effectiveness of public affairs support.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Serve as HUD's senior level technical authority on public affairs and public engagement matters ensuring an enterprise-wide perspective is taken in planning, coordinating, and executing the program. This includes responsibility to:

• Develop, review, approve, and execute strategic communications and roll out plans, programs, and initiatives that include the development, management, and execution of strategic messages, plans, operational concepts, themes, policies, position papers and briefings to support HUD programs.
• Evaluate trends in public opinion to determine public attitudes and perceptions related to HUD policies of community interest. This may include participation in meetings with federal and state legislators, community groups, and other stakeholders to determine HUD's program needs and develop recommendations on ways to improve communication with various constituent organizations and interest groups.
• Advise OPA staff on uniquely challenging, difficult, and sensitive matters; and advise/work with senior leadership and HUD management from various other program areas on special projects and unusual cases by using expertise to guide or modify public affairs methods, techniques, and approaches to special needs.
• Conduct legal, legislative, and regulatory research, review, interpretation and analysis regarding Federal and Departmental issues and activities concerning HUD programs; consider political, social, economic, technical, and administrative factors with potential impact on the recommended policies and public affairs program development.
• Lead and/or support broad projects and/or initiatives that require support from multiple stakeholders. Will deal regularly with internal and external stakeholders, as well as the regional Public Affairs Specialists to gain support and understanding for the project and/or initiative.
• Support Assistant Secretary as HUD spokesperson and serve as senior HUD spokesperson on some national media matters. Provides support and counsel to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on talking points and strategy for high-visibility and high sensitivity issues.
• Provides OPA administrative management and technical supervision. This includes responsibility to:
  • Manage OPA career staff. Serve as direct supervisor for career Public Affairs directors, specialists and officers, website staff in the Office of Public Affairs.
  • Coordinate with FPM on matrix management of regional Public Affairs Officers and coordination around field management process.
  • Ensure all photos, videos, branding, and other content is reviewed for brand integrity and that it is consistent with organizational goals.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Ability to complete personnel security vetting (e.g., investigation, evaluation, and adjudication).
• A one-year probationary period is required, if not previously completed.
• Males must be registered with the Selective Service System. Visit www.sss.gov
• Will be required to submit a Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278e).
• Will be required by PL 104-134 to have federal payments made by direct deposit.

Qualifications

Current or Former Political Appointees: 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 five (5) years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Noncareer SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information on your resume and to the Human Resources Office.

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 managerial capability. This experience should be sufficiently broad in scope and at a major management level in a large or complex organization. The ideal candidate will have experience supervising many employees through subordinate supervisors and have experience hiring, developing, and evaluating employees. Typically, experience of this nature is at the GS-15 or equivalent level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector.

Your application should demonstrate that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully fulfill responsibilities inherent in SES positions such as:

• Leading 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, developing policy and other executive functions

If your experience does not include these basic qualifications, you will not be determined qualified for this position.

YOU MUST FULLY ADDRESS EACH MTQ AND ECQ TO BE RATED FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION.

Current or former career SES employees, or OPM/QRB Candidate Development Program (CDP) candidates are not required to address the ECQs, but MUST fully address the MTQs.

In addition to the qualifying experience, applicants must possess the following technical qualifications that represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities essential to perform the duties and responsibilities of the position.

A. MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (MTQs): All applicants must submit a written narrative addressing each MTQ separately, not to exceed one (1) page per MTQ. You must fully address each MTQ to be rated for further consideration.

MTQ 1 - Demonstrated experience managing high level strategic public engagement and stakeholder engagement for an organization.

MTQ 2 - Demonstrated experience developing effective strategies to publicize organizational policies, goals, and accomplishments; managing or coordinating high priority media campaigns and information programs; and interacting with internal and external organizations, groups and individuals to secure and provide information concerning matters affecting organizational policy, interests, and initiatives.

MTQ 3 - Demonstrated experience managing organizational change.

B. EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): All applicants must submit a written narrative addressing each ECQ, not to exceed two (2) pages per ECQ for a total of no more than 10 pages. You must fully address each ECQ to be rated for further consideration. Current or former career SES employees, or OPM/QRB Candidate Development Program (CDP) candidates are not required to address the ECQs.

Introduction: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has identified five Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs). The ECQs were designed to assess executive experience and potential - not technical expertise. They measure whether an individual has the broad executive skills needed to succeed in a variety of SES positions - not whether they are the most superior candidates for a particular position. Successful competence in the SES requires competence in each ECQ. Candidates must demonstrate executive experience in all five (5) ECQs. Your application should reflect an overall record of the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to succeed in the SES.

Examples of good qualifications statements and the use of the C-C-A-R model (Challenge/Context/Action/Results), the preferred method of writing your ECQs, is provided in OPM's Guide to SES Qualifications.

Format: For each of the five ECQs, provide two examples of your qualifications using the four C-C-A-R elements.

1. Challenge - Describe a specific problem or goal.

2. Context - Talk about the individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked to tackle a particular challenge (e.g., clients, co-workers, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale).

3. Action - Discuss the specific actions you took to address a challenge.

4. Results - Give specific examples of the results of your actions. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills.

NOTE: Your responses to the five ECQs must describe the context and the results of your achievements in lay terminology, free of jargon and excessive reliance on acronyms.

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. (Leadership Competencies: creativity and innovation, external awareness, flexibility, strategic thinking and vision).

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. (Leadership Competencies: conflict management, leveraging diversity, developing others and team building).

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. (Leadership Competencies: accountability, customer service, decisiveness, entrepreneurship, problem solving and technical credibility).

ECQ 4 - BUSINESS ACUMEN - This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. (Leadership competencies: financial management, human capital management and technology management).

ECQ 5 - BUILDING COALITIONS - This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and Local governments, nonprofit and private-sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals. (Leadership Competencies: partnering, political savvy and influencing/negotiating).

Detailed information on the Executive Core Qualifications is available here.

Should you require additional guidance in writing your ECQs, please click below:ECQ Template

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants are required to submit a narrative statement for each Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) listed and each Technical Qualification (TQ). If you are currently serving under a career Senior Executive Service (SES) appointment, are eligible for reinstatement into SES, or have successfully completed a SES Candidate Development Program (CDP) approved by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and had your ECQs certified by OPM, then you only need to address each TQ, and you do not need to submit an ECQ narrative.

All other applicants are required to respond to all ECQs and TQs, addressing each ECQ and TQ separately. Please give a complete and detailed answer for each qualification. Please keep in mind each ECQ and TQ are unique qualifications. Therefore, duplicate responses are not sufficient in determining if you meet that specific qualification.

Do not enter "Refer to Resume" to explain your answer. Applications directing the reader to search within the application or to "See Resume" are considered incomplete and WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Failure to submit a narrative statement or address any of the ECQs and/or TQs is also considered incomplete and WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. As a result, you will be rated as "INCOMPLETE".

How you will be evaluated:
The servicing Human Resources Specialist will forward all minimally qualified applicants to be evaluated by a Rating and Ranking Panel of senior managers to determine the degree to which they possess the executive core and professional/technical qualifications, and best qualified candidates may undergo an interview and a reference check. The Panel will make recommendations on best/highly qualified candidates to the appointing authority. Applicants will be evaluated on the quality and extent of their total accomplishments, experience, the ECQs, and the TQs.

Veterans' preference: Is not applicable to positions in the Senior Executive Service.