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Government Information Specialist

Department of Commerce
Office of the Secretary
Office of Privacy and Open Government

Summary

This vacancy is for a Government Information Specialist in the Office of the Secretary within the Department of Commerce.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted this week · Apply by 06/25/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 25, 2026
Location
FEW vacancies in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—Situational as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$121,785 - $187,093 per year
Pay scale & grade
ZA 4
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
Yes
Drug test
Yes
Security clearance
Secret
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
OS-OPOG-DE-26-12979957
Control number
873612900

Duties

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As a Government Information Specialist, you will:

  • Serve as the policy and planning authority and the expert advisor to top managers and outside officials on a management function or major extramural program for a bureau or major line component.
  • Develop, recommend, and implement policies that lead directly to the accomplishment of major programs;
  • Serve as the Senior Privacy Policy Analyst is a central policy-making role in the Department's privacy program, responsible for advising the SAOP and other department staff on the requirements in the Privacy Act of 1974, FISMA, the privacy provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002, as well as OMB guidance and NIST standards and guidelines for developing & maintaining privacy policies, procedures & guidance.
  • Formulate policy, advise agency management, and ensure compliance with Federal laws governing the flow of information.
  • Evaluate the impact of the Privacy Act and regulations on the organization's activities.
  • Assess privacy risks associated with programs, operations, and technology.
  • Review and evaluate the privacy program.
  • Manage privacy risks associated with any agency activities that involve the creation, collection, use, processing, storage, maintenance, dissemination, disclosure, and disposal of PII by programs and information systems.
  • Review privacy risks at the earliest planning and development stages of agency actions and policies that involve PII and continued throughout the life cycle of the programs or information systems. Appropriately manages privacy risks that may require agencies to take steps beyond those required in law, regulation and policy.
This Job Opportunity Announcement may be used to fill other Government Information Specialist ZA-0306-4, FPL: 4 positions within the Department of Commerce in the same geographical location or local commuting area with the same qualifications and specialized experience.

This position is also advertised under OS-OPOG-ST-26-12979958, which is open to Merit Promotion eligible applicants. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
  • This position requires a SECRET CLEARANCE: Any required investigations and clearances must be completed before the selectee can be placed in the position.
  • You must successfully pass 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.
  • A probationary period may be required.
  • Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/).
  • 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.
  • All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
  • Bargaining Unit Position: Yes
  • Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE form 450): No
  • Permanent Change of Duty Station (PCS) Expense: Will not be paid
  • License required: No
  • Drug Test Required: Yes, This position is subject to pre-employment drug testing and random drug testing thereafter.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Occupational-Series

Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

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.

This position is being filled under the Department of Commerce Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). Under CAPS, positions are classified by career path and pay band.

The ZA-4 is equivalent to the GS-13/14 grade levels.


To qualify at the ZA-4 level:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZA-3 OR GS-12 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience:

  • Applying Privacy Act, FISMA, E-Government Act, and OMB/NIST guidance to support privacy compliance reviews of programs and systems involving PII;
  • Identifying privacy risks in programs and information systems by analyzing PII lifecycle activities and documenting mitigation recommendations;
  • Supporting development of privacy policies and guidance by researching requirements and identifying compliance gaps in existing procedures and controls; and
  • Conducting privacy impact and risk assessments during system development and modernization efforts, providing findings to support management decisions.

Education

There is no positive education requirement for this position.

See Qualifications Above.

Additional information

The following links provide information on various hiring authorities that do not fall under competitive examining procedures; however, they may enable you to apply through merit assignment procedures, or be eligible for a non-competitive appointment.

  1. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)
  2. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)
  3. Military Spouse Non-Competitive Hiring Authority

ICTAP and CTAP Eligibles: CTAP and ICTAP candidates will be eligible if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a rating of 85 out of 100. Information about ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Management's Career Transition Resources website at: Employee Guide to Career Transition

Military Spouse The spouse of a member of the armed forces seeking eligibility under the non-competitive hiring authority of certain military spouse MUST submit various required documentation by the closing date of the announcement in accordance with one of the three below eligibilities:

  • 1.) Spouse of a member of the armed forces serving on active duty,
  • 2.) Spouse of service member who incurred a 100% disability, or
  • 3.) Un-remarried widow or widower of a service member killed while performing active duty.

Please review the "Required Documents" Section for specific documents pertaining to each of the above eligibilities that MUST be included with your application, if you are applying as a Military Spouse.

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.

Reasonable Accommodations (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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., two-page resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, the result of the USA Hire assessment and Structured Resume Review required for this position.

Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will review ONLY two (2) pages of your resume. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume). Applicants passing the structured resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, you will be placed in one of the three pre-defined categories. The categories are "gold", "silver" and "bronze". Candidates placed in the "gold" category will be identified for referral to the hiring manager.

How you will be evaluated for preference eligibility: Within each category, those entitled to veterans' preference will be listed at the top of the pre-defined category for which they are placed. Preference eligible with a service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest quality category (gold) depending on the position and grade level of the job. For more information on Category Rating, please go to Category Rating.

For Certain Military Spouses: All applicants who meet the qualification requirements and military spouse noncompetitive eligibility requirements (see "Additional Information" section above") will be forwarded to the Selecting Official for consideration on a separate referral list. While veterans' preference is not a consideration when filling positions under the military spouse non-competitive hiring authority, preference eligibles are encouraged to submit their supporting documentation (DD-214, stating disposition of discharge or character of service, VA letter, SF-15, etc.).

All:

The assessments will evaluate you on the following general/technical competencies required to perform the job; please do not provide a separate written response:

  • Technical Credibility
  • FOIA/Privacy Act Expertise
  • Legal, Government and Jurisprudence
  • Compliance
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork
  • Decision Making
  • Reading Comprehension

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.

Do NOT include the following types of information in your resume/application. If any are included, you will be deemed INELIGIBLE for consideration.
  • Classified or government sensitive information
  • Social Security Number (SSN)
  • Photos of yourself
  • Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.

We recommend that you preview the online questions for this announcement before you start the application process. To preview the questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12979957

Office of the Secretary

The Office of the Secretary is the general management arm of the department and provides the principal support to the Secretary in formulating policy and in providing advice to the President. It provides program leadership for the department's functions and exercises general supervision over the operating units. It also directly carries out program functions as may be assigned by the Secretary and provides - as determined to be more economical or efficient - administrative and other support services for designated operating units.

The Office of the Secretary consists of the Secretary, certain secretarial officers, designated staff immediately serving those officials and a number of offices which serve department-wide functions or perform program functions directly on behalf of the Secretary.

Agency contact information

Shawn Blain
Email
sblain1@doc.gov
Address
Office of the Secretary
1401 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20230
US

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Learn more about what it's like to work at Office of the Secretary, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.commerce.gov/

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