Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens, SES, Senior Executives

The USCG is announcing a challenging Senior Executive Service career opportunity to serve as the Deputy Director of Governmental and Public Affairs (CG-092D). The Deputy provides executive level leadership and oversees the management of all offices within the Governmental and Public Affairs Directorate.

In addition, the Deputy:

• Serves as a key advisor and liaison to the Commandant and Vice Commandant to develop policies that conform to the goals of the Commandant, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary and the Administration. 
• Collaborates with senior leadership in the USCG and DHS in formulating complex and strategic long-range plans and policies that are consistent with Administration and Department policy positions; and coordinates, monitors, and formulates appropriate processes and guidelines for policy decision-making by the Commandant. 
• Provides expert guidance to develop strategic communications plans in line with the views of the Commandant, DHS, and the Administration, on a broad range of policies, plans, and procedures to effectively implement Presidential Directives and legislation enacted by Congress.
• Makes appropriate recommendations to the Commandant based on findings and conclusions from proposals received by the Commandant from DHS, Department of Defense (DoD), and other sources; coordinates with senior leadership as necessary, and evaluates their impact on Service programs, to include policy integration with USCG, DHS, and DOD.
• Participates in various issue and policy working groups with the White House, a variety of representatives from various segments of Federal, State, local and tribal governments, as well as, departmental and other government entities. 
• Represents the USCG at various congressional meetings. 

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Applicant subject to pre-appointment and random drug testing.
• Selectee required to complete a Public Financial Disclosure Report.
• This position requires a Top Secret clearance.

The application process for this position is TRADITIONAL-BASED. See below and "How to Apply" for more information. 

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-15 grade level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector.

EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs):

Unless you are currently serving under a Career Senior Executive Service (SES) appointment, eligible for reinstatement into the SES, or a SES Candidate Development Program (CDP) graduate, you must address the ECQs. Your narrative must address each ECQ separately and demonstrate the underlying competencies in the narrative. Examples should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities; the scope and complexity of the programs, activities, or services you managed; program accomplishments; policy initiatives undertaken; level of contacts; the sensitivity and criticality of the issues you addressed; and the results of your actions. You should use action oriented leadership words to describe your experience and accomplishments and quantify your experience wherever possible to demonstrate your accomplishments (e.g., number of employees supervised; size of budget managed; amount of money saved, etc.).

Applicants should use the Challenge, Context, Action, and Results (CCAR) model below when responding to each ECQ:

• CHALLENGE: Describe a specific problem or goal.
• CONTEXT: Describe individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked, to address a particular challenge (e.g., clients, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale).
• ACTION: Describe the specific actions you took to address a challenge.
• RESULT: Describe specific examples of measures/outcomes that had impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills.

Limit your statements to no more than two pages per ECQ, must not exceed 10 pages, be typed in 12 point font with one-inch margins. It is recommended that you include 2 recent (not older than 10 years) examples per ECQ and draft your ECQs in a Word document before uploading into the system to ensure these guidelines are met. Information that exceeds these guidelines will not be reviewed. Detailed information on each ECQ, the underlying and fundamental competencies, sample narratives and a tips sheet for writing effective ECQs are available in the "Guide To Senior Executive Service Qualifications" http://www.opm.gov/ses/recruitment/ecq.asp

Mandatory Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs)

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 Executive Core Qualification (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 and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.

These competencies are the foundation for success in each of the Executive Core Qualifications: Interpersonal Skills, Oral Communication, Integrity/Honesty, Written Communication, Continual Learning, and Public Service Motivation.

A sample executive resume and ECQ narratives can be viewed on this OPM link (resume indexed on pages 30-39 and ECQ narratives indexed on pages 9-22) http://www.opm.gov/ses/reference/GuidetoSESQuals 2012.pdf

Detailed information on the Executive Core Qualifications is available at http://www.opm.gov/ses/recruitment/qualify.asp

Technical Qualifications (TQs):

In addition to the Executive Core Qualifications, all candidates must show evidence of the following TQs below in order to meet basic qualifications for this position. Please label and include your name on each page. Please give examples and explain how often you used your skills, the complexity of the knowledge possessed, the level of people you interacted with, the sensitivity of the issues you handled managing a large public or private sector organization that administers complex, rules-based benefits or services, etc. It is recommended that you draft your TQ(s) in a word document and then upload into the system. You must address each TQ separately and you must not exceed 1page per TQ. You are required to respond to all TQs. If you fail to do so, you will be rated as 'ineligible.'

Mandatory Technical Qualification (TQ1): Demonstrated experience providing leadership and direction in the strategic communications concepts for the legislative, political, stakeholder, multicultural and mass communications efforts of a large world-wide organization, including the development of strategic communications plans and ensuring planning and executive adhere to current precepts of strategic communications, crisis/disaster communications, risk communications and integrated communications. 

Mandatory Technical Qualification (TQ2): Demonstrated experience serving as the primary focal point in an organization/agency for the review, coordination, and action on items requiring congressional; other governmental agency; tribal, state, and local government; and public interpretation; and in advising agency/organizational senior leadership on all external affairs matters, attitudes, and probable reactions as they affect policies, plans, and programs.

DO NOT COMBINE THE TQ AND ECQ STATEMENTS. Failure to meet the basic qualification requirement and address all Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors will result in your application being disqualified.

Veteran's Preference does not apply to the Senior Executive Service.

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.

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 for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. A multi-step process is used to evaluate and refer applicants:

1. Minimum requirements: Your application must show that you meet all requirements, including the education and/or experience required for this position. You will be found "not qualified" if you do not demonstrate possession of the qualification requirements of the position. If your application is incomplete, you may be found "ineligible."
2. Rating and Ranking: A panel of subject matter experts will review your application and evaluate your qualifications for this position based on the information in your application. Your application will be rated based on the extent and quality of your experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of this position. Interviews will be at the discretion of the panel.
3. Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application will be referred to a selecting official for consideration and possible first and/or second level interview. The second level interview panel will review results and make recommendations on final selections to the appointing authority and reference checks may occur. 

The application process to recruit for this position is the TRADITIONAL-BASED method. You must address each ECQ separately and limit your statements to no more than two pages per ECQ, totaling no more than ten pages addressing all ECQs. Combine all ECQ responses into 1 document (i.e., all narratives in 1 PDF or Word document). Additionally, you must address each TQ separately, and you shall not exceed one page per TQ. You are required to respond to all TQs. Combine all TQ responses into 1 document (i.e., all narratives in 1 PDF or Word document). If you fail to do so, you will be rated as 'ineligible.' DO NOT COMBINE THE TQ AND ECQ DOCUMENTS.

If selected for this position, unless you have already been certified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Review Board (QRB) in the past, your ECQs must be certified by the QRB before you will be appointed to an SES position.