The position is located in the Voice of America (VOA), Programming Directorate. The incumbent reports to the VOA Director of Language Programming , Language Programming. The incumbent provides senior level advice and guidance to VOA senior management and staff involving the standards applied to VOA broadcast and online content. In particular, the incumbent is responsible for
ensuring the highest journalistic standards across the agency for VOA content on all platforms.
As a Editor ( News Standards and Best Practices), you will be responsible for duties to include, but are not limited to:
1. Serves as the primary advisor in VOA with regard to interpretation of ethical standards, including journalistic codes of ethical conduct and the VOA Charter, and advises senior leadership throughout the agency on amending, revising, or supplementing the Charter and legislative initiatives to support journalist independence.
- Maintains the VOA Best Practices Guide, and for updating journalistic standards and practices under the VOA Charter. S/he advises on journalistic and editorial guidelines, and whether they are practiced consistently throughout VOA. The incumbent is actively involved in editorial and production issues involving potentially sensitive and/or controversial subject matter.
- Works closely with the Office of General Counsel on issues that address journalistic and government ethics. S/he, in conjunction with OGC's Ethics Staff and the VOA Director of Public Relations, evaluates all requests for outside work by full-time VOA employees and VOA contract personnel, and recommends approval or denial.
- The incumbent works with the Office of Human Resources/Labor Employee Relations on possible instances of plagiarism and other violations of the highest journalistic standards by VOA employees. S/he reviews the work in question and provides expert opinion and guidance to LER.
- Participates with significant influence in any efforts to revise or update the VOA Charter and other legislation related to journalistic independence.
2. Develops and presents rigorous training on standards and best practices to VOA staff, including introductory sessions for new staff, regular refresher training, and specialized sessions to address emergent standards issues. These may include new technologies, novel media platforms, evolving political situations, and more.
- The incumbent, in collaboration with the Office of Workplace Support and Development and the USAGM Office of Human Resources, presents regular sessions on journalistic best practices to new VOA employees.
- Develops and presents high-level mandatory training related to the highest journalistic standards and their application within VOA.
- The incumbent also works with the Media Asset Management Branch to present and discuss journalistic best practices as they relate to VOA's contracts with external newsfeed providers.
- On a yearly basis, the incumbent works with VOA support staff to ensure that all VOA broadcasting personnel complete an online annual review of VOA's standards and practices, and other journalistic training that may be required by VOA management.
3. As assigned, oversees and supervises subordinate editor(s) and may serve as VOA's Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for Agency contracts with external news agencies for video, photos and text. The incumbent ensures that technical, editorial and budget requirements are being met and that evolving needs of VOA are taken into account, both within current agreements and in future agreements. The incumbent monitors the Contractors' performance to ensure that all the technical requirements under the contract including, but not limited to, review and approval of invoices. The incumbent can provide suggestions to the Contracting Officer for improvements and changes that would facilitate better work performance to the advantage of the Government and/or the contractors. The incumbent is required to report any suspected procurement fraud, waste, abuse, bribery, conflict of interest or other improper conduct to the Contracting Officer, and report such actions to other Agency officials if warranted.
4. Serves as VOA's primary representative, in concert with the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Strategy and Development, in the process of approval of long-term subscription requests for domestic dissemination of VOA news reports and/or programs. In addition, the incumbent reviews and recommends approval or denial of outside activities, and one-time-only usage of VOA news reports and/or programs.
Candidates MUST meet all qualification requirements by closing date.
Applicants must complete online questionnaire.
This is a public trust position. If selected, this position requires the completion of the SF-86.
Suitability Determination: If selected, you may be subject to a background investigation to establish your suitability for federal employment. The background investigation may include, among other aspects, a review of your credit and legal history.
This position is not covered by a union agreement.
This position has been designated supervisory requiring that the selectee on an initial appointment as a supervisor or manager serve a one-year probationary period.
The full performance grade level for this position is GS-15.
Qualifications
Qualifications for GS-15
Specialized Experience at the GS-15 grade level: Applicant must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-14 which is directly related to this line of work for News Standards and Best Practices Editor. Specialized Experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. For this position, the following specialized experience is required:
Knowledge of the principles and methods of journalism and effective delivery of news and information programming to an international audience in order to manage news gathering, program preparation and production, and broadcasting operations in a variety of formats.
Knowledge of the principles of management; demonstrated analytical ability to grasp the implications of policy and procedural changes and make sound recommendations, and to readily identify problems and develop effective solutions.
Knowledge of federal personnel laws, rules, and regulations in order to supervise and lead subordinates, recommend training, assess performance, and take disciplinary or performance-based actions, as necessary.
Ability to formulate new policies and programs and to evaluate existing programs and procedures and make changes as necessary to increase the effectiveness or efficiency of programming.
Knowledge of U.S. foreign policy, including bilateral and multilateral relations, security, economic programs, environmental protection, and other foreign policy concerns.
Expert knowledge of the mission of VOA, the VOA Charter, the VOA Journalistic Code, the VOA Best Practices Guide and VOA programs.
Education
Education cannot be used for qualification purposes for this grade level.
Additional information
Applicants who are interested in applying under Delegated Examining (DE) procedures must apply to vacancy announcement DE-11873869-23-SC.
1. CTAP eligibles are current USAGM Career and Career-conditional employees in the competitive service and any other surplus and displaced agency employees affected by downsizing or restructuring.
2. Your application to this vacancy announcement will only allow consideration for this announcement. We cannot electronically or manually move your application to corresponding announcements, if applicable.
3. Additional vacancies not reflected in the announcement that occur after the opening date of the vacancy announcement for position(s) identical (same grade, series and title) to the original vacancy may be filled from the selection certificate during the validity of the certificate.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Once your resume or application is submitted, a review of your qualification will be made to ensure you meet the job requirements and competencies required for this position.
Competencies:
Communications and Media
Journalism
Personnel and Human Resources
Possession of competencies may be addressed in a cover letter and/or resume. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your qualifications. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Required Documents
As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
Performance Appraisal
Resume
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s):
Cover Letter
Performance Appraisal
Resume
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
All required documents must be submitted before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. These documents are available to you in your e-OPF and e-performance systems. If you need assistance accessing these required documents, you can contact our Human Resources Office at HRcustomerservice@usagm.gov or call 202-920-2400.
1. Current USAGM career or career-conditional employees are required to submit a copy of their latest SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action and/or a copy of the SF-50 that reflects career or career-conditional tenure.
2. Current USAGM employees are required to submit their latest performance appraisal.
3. If education is a requirement or there is an option to use education for qualification purposes, you must submit your unofficial transcripts with your application package at the time of applying or before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. If selected for the position, you will be required to submit official transcripts before your Enter on Duty date.
4. CTAP eligibles must submit proof of eligibility for the special selection priority 1. a separation notice or 2. a "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) documenting separation.
How to Apply
To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 06/02/2023 to receive consideration.
To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log into your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
Click the Submit Application button to submit your application package.
It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://login.usajobs.gov/account/signin. The page will display the positions for which you've applied as well as the status of each application. Click on the plus sign (+) next to the job title to expand information about the job, then click on Additional Application Information to see the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click on the plus sign (+) next to the job title to expand information about the job. Next click on Update Application to complete the application process.
Note: Submission of a resume alone IS NOT a complete application. This position requires the completion of additional forms and/or supplemental materials as described previously, including an Assessment Questionnaire. For a preview of the Assessment Questionnaire, please click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11873873
Please carefully review the complete job announcement and the "How to Apply" instructions. Failure to provide the required information and/or materials, by 11:59 P.M. on 06/02/2023 will result in your not being considered for employment.
Once the online questionnaire and application package is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.
Fair and Transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
Performance Appraisal
Resume
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s):
Cover Letter
Performance Appraisal
Resume
SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
All required documents must be submitted before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. These documents are available to you in your e-OPF and e-performance systems. If you need assistance accessing these required documents, you can contact our Human Resources Office at HRcustomerservice@usagm.gov or call 202-920-2400.
1. Current USAGM career or career-conditional employees are required to submit a copy of their latest SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action and/or a copy of the SF-50 that reflects career or career-conditional tenure.
2. Current USAGM employees are required to submit their latest performance appraisal.
3. If education is a requirement or there is an option to use education for qualification purposes, you must submit your unofficial transcripts with your application package at the time of applying or before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. If selected for the position, you will be required to submit official transcripts before your Enter on Duty date.
4. CTAP eligibles must submit proof of eligibility for the special selection priority 1. a separation notice or 2. a "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) documenting separation.
To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 06/02/2023 to receive consideration.
To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log into your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
Click the Submit Application button to submit your application package.
It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://login.usajobs.gov/account/signin. The page will display the positions for which you've applied as well as the status of each application. Click on the plus sign (+) next to the job title to expand information about the job, then click on Additional Application Information to see the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click on the plus sign (+) next to the job title to expand information about the job. Next click on Update Application to complete the application process.
Note: Submission of a resume alone IS NOT a complete application. This position requires the completion of additional forms and/or supplemental materials as described previously, including an Assessment Questionnaire. For a preview of the Assessment Questionnaire, please click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11873873
Please carefully review the complete job announcement and the "How to Apply" instructions. Failure to provide the required information and/or materials, by 11:59 P.M. on 06/02/2023 will result in your not being considered for employment.
Once the online questionnaire and application package is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.
Fair & Transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply,
visit www.usajobs.gov/job/725048300.
Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.