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Legislative Affairs Specialist (Congressional Appropriations)

Department of Homeland Security
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Office of the Chief External Affairs Officer-OCEAO
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Who May Be Considered:

  • U.S. Citizens
View common definitions of terms found in this announcement.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
04/09/2024 to 04/22/2024
This job will close when we have received 100 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$62,107 to - $115,079 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Arlington, VA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
OCEAO-DE-12358097-24-VM
Control number
785749700

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Duties

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Typical work assignments include:

  • Develops and leverages strong working relationships, serving as a point of contact with staff of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
  • Monitors activities of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to gather relevant information to an Agency's work on Capitol Hill.
  • Responds to House and Senate staff request for information and coordinates with the respective components/program offices for financial and programmatic inputs.
  • Secures clearance of Congressional briefing and hearing materials by working closely with CISA and DHS offices to gather information.
  • Prepares summaries of relevant Congressional briefings and hearings.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen.
  • Complete the initial online assessment and USA Hire Assessment, if required.
  • Selective Service - Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service see http://www.sss.gov/
  • All Federal employees are required to participate in Direct Deposit/ Electronic Funds Transfer for salary payments.
  • DHS uses e-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.
  • This position is subject to random drug testing and requires a pre-employment drug test and you must have a negative drug test result prior to appointment.
  • You must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance suitable for Federal employment as determined by a background investigation. This may include a credit check, a review of financial issues, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.
  • Current Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements.
  • One-year probationary period may be required.
  • This position may be designated as essential personnel. Essential personnel must be able to serve during continuity of operation events without regard to declarations of liberal leave or government closures due to weather, protests, and acts of terrorism or lack of funding. Failure to report for or remain in this position may result in disciplinary or adverse action in accordance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations (5 U.S.C. 7501-7533 and 5 CFR Part 752, as applicable).
  • You are required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450, (5CFR Part 2634, Subpart I USOGE, 6/08). Executive Branch Personnel Confidential Financial Disclosure Report upon entering the position, as well as annually.
  • Selectee's duty location must reside within 50 miles of the location identified in the announcement. Locality pay will be based on the duty location (50 miles within Arlington, VA).
  • Travel required two days a month.

Qualifications

To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required education and/or experience for the respective grade level in which you are applying.

You qualify for the GS-11 grade level, if you have:
EXPERIENCE: At least one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-09 grade level (or equivalent) performing the following duties:

  1. Having knowledge of the legislative process.
  2. Maintaining files and trackers for a program team.
  3. Tracking materials from development through final approval.
  4. Drafting summaries of congressional hearings and briefings.
  5. Conducting research to produce briefing memos, talking points and issue papers.
OR
EDUCATION:
A.
Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited institution.
OR
B. Three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited institution that included major study in the field of study described in statement "A" above.
OR
C. LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree, if related
OR
COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: To combine education and experience, determine your total qualifying experience as a percentage by dividing your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then determine your education as a percentage by dividing the total number of completed graduate education beyond the second year (total graduate education minus 36 semester hours or 54 quarter hours) by 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours. Finally, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify at this grade level.

You qualify for the GS-12 grade level, if you have:
EXPERIENCE: At least one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level (or equivalent) performing the following duties:
  1. Engaging with congressional staff.
  2. Having knowledge of Appropriations/federal budget process.
  3. Reviewing introduced legislation and laws to determine relevance to Agency.
  4. Drafting materials to support Agency participation in congressional briefings and hearings.
You qualify for the GS-13 grade level, if you have:
EXPERIENCE: At least one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-13 grade level (or equivalent) performing the following duties:
  1. Lead point of contact with congressional staff to share priorities and information.
  2. Analyzing congressional legislation and reports to understand short- and long-term impacts.
  3. Assisting in preparing leaders and staff for participation in congressional briefings and hearings.
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.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for a position by substituting education or training for experience, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted that includes your name, the name of the educational institution, course title(s), number of credits, grade, and date of completion. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.

Education must be from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the qualification requirements. You must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private U.S. organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information.

Additional information

  • Permanent Change of Duty Station (PCS) Expenses will not be paid.
  • Other incentives may be authorized.
  • If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.
  • This position has been designated excluded bargaining unit representation under the national security provision of 5 U.S.C. 7112(B)(6).
  • The salary range indicated in this announcement reflects the minimum base pay, GS-11, step 1 up to the maximum base pay, GS-13, step 10. This announcement covers multiple locations. Upon selection, the salary will be adjusted based on locality for the selected duty location. General Schedule (GS) locality pay tables for all areas may be found on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) website at: Salaries & Wages.
  • When entering a federal job at a grade level lower than the highest promotion potential level, you may be promoted to more complex duties and work more independently, as your career progresses. NOTE: Career ladder promotions are not automatic, and all eligibility and qualifications requirements must be met in order to progress to the next grade level.
Reasonable Accommodation Requests: This agency provides reasonable accommodation to otherwise qualified applicants and employees with a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, unless to do so would create an undue hardship to the agency (29 CFR 1614.203 (2017)). If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, contact the CISA Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (OEDIA) by sending an email to CISA_ReasonableAccommodation@cisa.dhs.gov with the subject line, "Reasonable Accommodation Request @ CISA." In the email itself, you must include your name, vacancy announcement number(s), and state your intent to seek a reasonable accommodation. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. For more information or inquiries, please contact the CISA Reasonable Accommodation Program at CISA_ReasonableAccommodation@cisa.dhs.gov.

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 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.

Shared Certificate: When CISA completes their selections, the remaining list of qualified candidates may be shared with other Federal agencies who are hiring for similar positions. You will have an opportunity to opt-in if you would like your name, application materials, and assessment results shared to be considered for employment with other Federal agencies. There is no guarantee of further consideration, and you can continue to explore other job opportunity announcements.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and the responses you provide on the application questionnaire. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • External Awareness
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Problem Solving
  • Quality Management
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


Category Rating Procedures: If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be placed in one of the following categories:
  1. Best-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all Selective Placement Factors (SPF) and appropriate Quality Ranking Factors (QRF) as determined by the job analysis.
  2. Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.
  3. Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.
Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Program (I/CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not I/CTAP eligible. View information about I/CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered eligible under I/CTAP, you must be placed in the well-qualified category for this position, as described above. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement.

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 https://www.fedshirevets.gov

If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. The interview process may consist of in-person or phone panel interview.

To preview the application questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12358097

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