PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST Job

Vacancy No. DE-26-FOCE/W-12814223 Department Small Business Administration
Salary $88,621.00 to $115,213.00 Grade 12 to 12
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 10/10/2025 Close Date 10/24/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Citrus Heights, CAAtlanta, GA


Summary

You will serve as a PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST for Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience (ODR&R), Field Operations Center East in Atlanta, GA and Field Operations Center West in Citrus Heights, CA.

This position is also being announced under Merit Promotion Procedures, MP-26-FOCE/W-12814234 to apply in order to receive consideration as a status candidate.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to the Public

Duties

This not a Remote position, however, situational telework may be available. Telework may be available. For information on Telework visit: http://www.telework.gov/

This position provides operational planning and leads the field delivery of the SBA disaster loan program to businesses of all sizes, private non-profits, homeowners, and renters.

As a PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST at the GS-1035-12, some of your typical work assignments may include:

  • Participating in the coordination of social media campaigns and strategies for driving engagement and building brand awareness.
  • Participating in creating correspondence for ODR&R leadership addressed to public officials and private organizations about the disaster program.
  • Monitoring newspaper, radio, television, and internet coverage of the disaster program and provide supplemental information to correct any irregular or inaccurate media information.
  • Using video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, or Final Cut Pro to edit videos highlighting SBA staff and leadership in action.
  • Creating scripts, digital tiles, and videos to create engaging content to be shared across multiple social media channels.
  • Preparing presentations, talking points, or social media posts to convey information about the disaster program, objectives, and ongoing activities

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen
  • You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government travel credit card.
  • Favorable background investigation required.
  • This is not a bargaining unit position.
  • Mandatory Overtime: In order to respond quickly and efficiently to disaster survivors, substantial compensated overtime hours may be required while on assignment (up to seven days a week and ten to fourteen hours a day).
  • If required to travel to a disaster site, you may encounter hazardous working and/or living conditions, for example, no water or electricity and/or minimal lodging facilities.
  • You may be required to complete a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

Generally, time in non-pay status is not creditable towards the specialized experience requirement listed below.

Experience: To receive credit, you must indicate the month and year as well as the average hours worked per week for each employer. Average work hours must be stated on resume to quantify each period of work experience or that experience will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. You must address the specific specialized experience required for each grade level of this position on your resume or application or you will be rated "Ineligible" for that grade level.

GS-12: To qualify you must have at least 1 full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the GS-11 level in the Federal service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skill, and ability to perform successfully in this position. This specialized experience must demonstrate the following:
  • Experience in creating engaging content (text, image, graphics and video) to be shared across social media channels to drive engagement and build brand awareness; AND
  • Experience using video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, or Final Cut Pro to create engaging video content for social media; AND
  • Planning, organizing, and preparing written communications, such as press releases, presentations, articles, photos, flyers, etc. for dissemination to various types of media outlets, social media platforms, brochures and periodicals.
Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

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: Public Affairs Series 1035

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work. 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.

Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur within 180 days from the closing date.

All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on 10/23/2025.

Education

Education may not be substituted for experience for this position.

Additional information

Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations 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 Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. For additional information visit www.sss.gov.

Political Appointees (Current or Former): 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 or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.
Consistent with work requirements and current SBA Policy, and all applicable provisions of the collective bargaining agreement with AFGE the SBA offers employees opportunities to perform work at an alternative location (e.g. home).

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.

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.

If selected for this position, you will be eligible for benefits. The above link is provided for your reference to explore the major benefits offered to most Federal employees.

Review our 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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet all the Specialized Experience listed in this vacancy announcement. If you do not, you will be rated "Ineligible". Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and the result of the online assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Your resume should not exceed two pages and must demonstrate the specialized experience related to the position for which you are applying. If your resume goes beyond two pages, we will only consider the first two pages for the required experience as outline in the specialized experience.

Agency Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not CTAP eligible. View information about CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. You must submit the supporting documents listed under the Required Documents section of this announcement. To be considered well qualified under CTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position.

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.

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. You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. Your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Required Documents

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 must 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.
2. In addition to the online application (resume), you are required to submit the following forms, if applicable. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure all documents are legible:
  • If you are claiming Veteran status, you must submit a copy of all required documents to support your claim (including a DD-214 showing character of service) --see VetGuide;
  • To receive consideration for a special appointment authority (30% Disabled Vet, Schedule A, Peace Corps, VRA, etc) 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.
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) is a program that helps "surplus" or "displaced" federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job in their current agency (intra-agency, i.e. SBA employees only).

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) is a program that applies to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position score of 85 or better based on your responses to the competencies and associated questions listed within the assessment; 3) the position to which you are applying MUST BE in the Local Commuting Area of the position of record from which you are being displaced; and 4) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. For more information: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

You MUST submit a copy of your separation notice or other proof of eligibility.

How to Apply

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions will affect your rating. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience your rating may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities.

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application.
To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:
1. To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button.
2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
4. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you both on screen and via email notification.
5. If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements
6. Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account.

To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account. There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Update Application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account at https://www.usajobs.gov/
All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/

Agency contact information

Linhsie Saelee
Address
Field Operations Center West - FOCW
6501 Sylvan Road
Citrus Heights, CA 95610
US

Next steps

Based on your application and your responses to the application questionnaire, you may be presented with instructions on how to access the USA Hire system to complete the online assessments. The online assessments must be completed within 48 hours following the close of this announcement. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation for the assessment should you have a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Your assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments.

SUITABILITY, CLEARANCE & REQUIREMENTS: A background investigation may be required for all new hires. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.

SBA 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.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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