Clarification from the agency

This opportunity is currently open to SBA Agency Employees only.

This position serves as the Director of Strategic Communications and, as such, will:

• Lead and supervise staff supporting OIG legislative, external affairs and communications; develop staff, manage performance, and foster a collaborative work environment.
• Serve as a senior advisor on congressional and external relations; direct legislative strategy, testimony, and stakeholder engagement.
• Direct development and oversight of OIG policies, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives, resolve highly complex and sensitive issues, and drive execution of OIG priorities to ensure organizational effectiveness.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen.
• You must be a current SBA career/conditional competitive service employee.
• You must successfully complete a background investigation.
• You may be required to serve a one-year supervisory probationary period.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities, as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to submit a thorough resume that directly relates to this position.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE STATEMENT:

GS-15: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-14 level that demonstrates experience leading and coordinating cross-functional initiatives; developing and implementing organizational polices; advising senior leadership on legislative, communications, media relations, and external affairs matters; managing congressional engagement and stakeholder outreach activities; overseeing internal and external communications programs, including media relations and public messaging; and leading staff, including managing performance and developing employees to support mission priorities.

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 OPM's Qualifications web site:

General Schedule Qualification Standards

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.

TIME-IN-GRADE: If you are a current career or career-conditional federal employee applying for promotion under Merit Promotion you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks in positions at the next level lower than the position being filled

All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 05/14/2026 of this vacancy announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

The Subject Matter Expert (SME) review team will evaluate each candidate based on the extent and quality of their experience in the listed competencies listed below, as well as their demonstrated specialized experience.

• Leadership
• Political Savvy
• Oral and Written Communication
• Strategic Thinking
• Project Management

Candidates will be rated on how well their experience aligns with these requirements. Applicants who are determined to be eligible and qualified will be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration.

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date/time of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.

1. Your Resume - Resume length may not exceed 2 pages and must contain the following information:

• Name, address, telephone number, email address;
• Job Title (if Federal Service, provide series and grade; if not in GS plan, provide GS equivalent grade);
• If qualifying based on related unpaid (e.g. volunteer service) experience, you must provide hours worked per week and beginning/ending dates (mm/dd/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy);
• If other than full time you must provide hours worked per week.
• PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination.
• Should you submit multiple resumes, only the latest uploaded resume will be reviewed.
• Should your resume be longer than 2 pages you will be removed from consideration.

2. In addition to the online application (resume and responses to the occupational questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms, if applicable. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure all documents are legible.

• Federal employees must submit proof of your permanent career/career-conditional competitive status ("1" or "2" in Tenure, block 24 and "1" in Position Occupied, block 34). Submit SF-50 showing current grade and tenure and an SF-50 showing highest (permanent) grade ever held, if different. NOTE: An award or detail SF-50 will not be accepted as proof of status;
• If you are using education as a substitution for experience (the announcement will state whether this is allowed), or if there is an educational requirement for this position, you must submit a copy of your transcripts (unofficial or official) that clearly describes your qualifying education;
• If you are claiming Veteran status, you must submit a copy of all required documents to support your claim (to include member 4 copy of your DD-214 showing character of service)--see VetGuide;
• To receive consideration for a special appointment authority (30%, severely disabled, Peace Corps, VRA), you must submit all required documentation supporting your claim for Special Appointing Authorities;
• Veterans who are still in the service may be granted tentative preference on the basis of information contained in their applications, but they must produce a DD-214 (showing the character of service) or other proof of service to receive consideration for veterans' preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit FedsHireVets.gov.
• CTAP/ICTAP/RPL Applicants: Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (if applicable), your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330, and your most recent performance appraisal.

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