Deputy Director, Legislative and Public Affairs

Clarification from the agency

See Requirements section of this announcement for information on who may apply.

This position plays a critical role in supporting the Architect of the Capitol’s mission by fostering effective relationships with Members of Congress, congressional committees, congressional staff, oversight organizations, media representatives, external stakeholders and the public. The incumbent provides strategic counsel to senior leadership on highly visible, politically sensitive and complex matters affecting agency operations, priorities and public perception.

The successful candidate will possess exceptional executive leadership skills, political acumen, strategic vision and communication expertise necessary to represent the agency and effectively navigate a dynamic legislative environment.

As the Deputy Director, Legislative and Public Affairs, you will:

Executive Leadership and Strategic Management

• Serve as the deputy to the Director, Legislative and Public Affairs, providing executive leadership and strategic direction for the agency’s congressional relations, legislative affairs, communications and public affairs programs.
• Advise the Architect of the Capitol and senior executives on legislative developments, public affairs issues, congressional priorities, stakeholder concerns and communications strategies impacting agency operations and mission delivery.
• Lead the development and execution of long range strategic initiatives that strengthen agency engagement with Congress, stakeholders and the public while advancing organizational priorities and objectives.
• Exercise delegated authority for organizational planning, resource management, workforce development and operational oversight.
• Represent the Director and the Architect of the Capitol during high level meetings, briefings and engagements with Members of Congress, congressional staff, executive leadership, stakeholders and partner organizations.

Congressional Relations and Legislative Affairs

• Provide executive leadership for agency congressional relations and legislative affairs programs.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with Members of Congress, congressional committees, congressional staff and legislative branch stakeholders.
• Direct agency responses to congressional inquiries, correspondence, briefings, reports and requests for information.
• Lead the development, review and coordination of congressional testimony, legislative proposals, briefing materials, mandated reports and executive correspondence.
• Monitor legislative developments, appropriations activities, oversight initiatives and congressional actions that may affect agency operations, programs and strategic priorities.
• Advise senior leadership on legislative strategies, congressional interests and emerging issues requiring executive attention.
• Serve as a senior liaison between the agency and Congress to ensure effective communication, transparency and responsiveness.

Public Affairs and Strategic Communications

• Provide executive oversight of agency public affairs, strategic communications, media relations, digital communications, stakeholder engagement and internal communications programs.
• Lead the development and implementation of communication strategies supporting agency initiatives, organizational priorities and high profile projects.
• Provide strategic guidance regarding communications risks, crisis communications, media inquiries and sensitive public affairs issues.
• Direct the preparation and dissemination of speeches, talking points, news releases, public statements, reports, publications and executive communications.
• Represent the agency at public events, stakeholder meetings and community engagement activities.

Executive Advisory Services

• Serve as a senior advisor to the Architect, Director of Legislative and Public Affairs and executive leadership team on complex, controversial and high visibility matters.
• Provide executive level briefings, recommendations and analysis regarding congressional interests, stakeholder concerns, media coverage and emerging public affairs issues.
• Build strategic partnerships and collaborative relationships across the legislative branch, federal government, stakeholder organizations and external partners.
• Ensure senior leadership remains informed of significant issues requiring executive awareness, engagement or decision making.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Exercise delegated supervisory authority over professional, technical and contractor personnel.
• Establish organizational priorities, performance expectations and accountability measures aligned with agency goals and strategic objectives.
• Manage workforce planning, staffing, employee development, performance management and succession planning initiatives.
• Oversee budget execution, workload management and resource allocation to ensure efficient and effective program operations.
• Promote Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), diversity, inclusion and a respectful workplace environment.
• Ensure compliance with applicable safety, security and organizational policies.

Conditions of employment

• You must be able to pass a drug test.
• Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs.
• You must meet the definition of specialized experience.
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.

To be employed by the Architect of the Capitol in a paid position, an individual must meet one of the categories below:

• A citizen of the United States;
• A person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence and is seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B);
• A person who is admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 or is granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1158 and has filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible;
• A person who owes allegiance to the United States (nationals of American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and nationals who meet other requirements described in 8 U.S.C. 1408); or
• A person who is currently an officer or employee of the Government of the United States.

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position.  You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement.  Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions.  It is available for your review on the OPM web site at OPM qualification standards
 
Specialized experience: is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled.  To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level.

For the GS-15:

Candidates for the GS-15 grade level must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-14) grade level in the Federal service.

Specialized experience is defined as having experience: (1) Leading or directing legislative affairs, congressional relations, public affairs, communications or stakeholder engagement programs for a large and complex organization; (2) Advising senior executives, agency heads, elected officials, Members of Congress or other high level decision makers on legislative, communications, policy or stakeholder matters; (3) Developing and implementing strategic communication initiatives involving congressional stakeholders, executive leadership, media representatives and external partners; (4) Leading the preparation, review or coordination of congressional testimony, legislative reports, executive briefings, responses to congressional inquiries or other high profile communications products; (5) Building and maintaining effective relationships with congressional offices, oversight organizations, senior government officials and external stakeholders; and (6) Supervising professional staff while managing organizational priorities, resources and strategic initiatives.

Experience must demonstrate executive level leadership, political savvy, strategic thinking, sound judgment and exceptional oral and written communication skills.

How you will be evaluated

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

Review your resume and responses carefully. Your eligibility for consideration and qualifications for the position will be determined based upon a review of your detailed resume and your responses to job specific self-assessment questions.

Your resume will be evaluated based on evidence of your ability to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for this position, possession of any specialized experience, and how well your background and experience relates to the self-assessment questions in the job announcement.  The self-assessment questions relate to the following knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies:

• Executive Leadership
• Strategic Thinking
•  Congressional Relations
• Public Affairs and Strategic Communications
• Influencing and Negotiating
• Oral and Written Communication

Your responses to the self assessment questions serve as the basis for your initial rating.  You will receive a numerical score based on your responses to these questions.  Next, your responses will be evaluated by a Human Resources Specialist and/or a subject matter expert against the information provided in your resume and optional cover letter.   Your resume must support your answers to the self assessment questions.  Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you or disqualification for further consideration. 

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the “Required Documents” section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).

The Architect of the Capitol's job application process is designed to ensure that we only ask you for the information that is absolutely needed to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility for the position.

To apply for this position, you only need to submit online the following: a) your resume and 2) answer the online vacancy assessment questionnaire. The online questionnaire contains eligibility and screening questions and other relevant supplemental information. No additional documentation or attachment is required at the time of application. 

We ask that you prepare and submit a resume that best describes fully your background experience, skills, abilities, education, training and other relevant credentials. The resume should include dates of employment.

Nothing further is required until it is requested by the staff of the Human Capital Management Division. If additional documentation is required for a position, you will be asked to provide it during the selection process or upon selection. At that point, we may ask you to submit documentation to support statements made in your resume.

For example, we may ask you to provide documents such as college transcripts, copy of diploma or proof of Federal employment status. If the position requires a license or certification, we will ask candidate(s) to provide proof at the time of selection.

If you are claiming veterans' preference, we may ask you to submit proof of Veterans preference (DD-214, and, if claiming 10-point preference, the SF-15 plus proof required by that form).

If you fail to provide the required documents, we will withdraw a tentative job offer made and/or remove you from further consideration.

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