Public Affairs Specialist CTAP/ICTAP/LAND MGMT/VEOA

Clarification from the agency

Open to Career/Career Conditional Employees Government-wide, including IRS and Non-IRS employees. Open to Treasury and IRS CTAP; Interagency ICTAP; Former Federal Employees with Reinstatement eligibility; Land & Base Management; Military Spouses; 30% or more disabled Veterans, Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA), Veterans' Recruitment Authority (for grades GS-11 & Below), Other Interchange Agreements, and Individuals with Disabilities Schedule A.

The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position.

• Plans, directs and executes national communication activities to convey complex information concerning CI programs, responsibilities, and activities.
• Advises management of public reaction/attitudes to policies and emerging issues and identities and develops strategies to assist CI in meeting the needs of internal and external customers.
• Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders including members of the news media, specialized groups interested in CI programs, field offices, other Operating Divisions and Functional Units, and CI employees at all levels.
• Responds to information requests in written and oral form from the national news media and specialized, local and general publics on CI programs and international operations. Responses may require detailed explanations of the organization's activities or performance in a particular situation.
• Provides assistance and consultation to field offices in initiating and maintaining direct contacts with the
  public, specialized groups and community and other governmental entities.

Conditions of employment

Qualifications

Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

GS-14 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: To be minimally qualified for this position you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level payband or GS grade in the normal line of progression. Specialized experience includes one year experience at the GS-13 level or equivalent To be qualifying for this position your experience must be sufficient to demonstrate:

• Directing communications strategy and planning, including administrative and technical work, towards sharing organizational messages and information with the external audiences.
• Leveraging management techniques to ensure the use of personnel and equipment for accomplishing all program objectives through technical and administrative oversight.
• Identifying costly and/or controversial training needs and requests related to subordinate employees and providing the justification of such training needs.
• Participating on organizational-wide communications and liaison councils, as appropriate, to address and resolve multi-faceted and sensitive issues to ensure that consistent information is delivered to target audiences.
• Communicating both orally and in writing to converse and respond on complicated and/or sensitive tax laws and regulations across multiple targeted audiences including the public and subject matter experts.
• Experience preparing and presenting written and oral briefings, talking points, speeches, reports, or other communications materials for executive leadership, employees, or external audiences.
• Managing or advising on communications related to sensitive, high-visibility, or time-sensitive matters involving law enforcement operations, organizational issues, or executive-level initiatives.
• Evaluating communications needs and executing approaches to support organizational objectives, employee engagement, media coordination, or stakeholder outreach.
• Leading or supporting projects, initiatives, or program activities involving communications planning, executive correspondence, media relations, employee communications, or strategic messaging

AND

You must also meet the following requirement(s):

• PERFORMANCE RATING: Current federal employees must have at least a fully successful or equivalent performance rating to receive consideration.
• TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): By the closing date (or if this is an open continuous announcement, by the cut-off date) specified in this job announcement, current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens"
• TIME IN GRADE (TIG): Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements. For positions above the GS-05,applicants must meet applicable time-in-­grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the grade you are applying for. For positions at the GS-05, you cannot advance to the GS-05 if you have held a GS-02 in the past 52 weeks. There is no TIG restriction for GS-02, 03, or 04 positions.

For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

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

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.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated in accordance with the Service's Merit Promotion Plan. A quality group rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level groups, Superior/Best Qualified, Highly Qualified and QualifiedCategory rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates.

Referral: Eligible applicants rated in the highest quality group, may be referred to a selecting official for consideration.

Candidates, if required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring practices), will be interviewed in quality group order. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP), you must receive a rating of Highly Qualified orbetter to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

If you are selected, you may be subject to all requirements listed in the Requirements, Qualifications, and Additional Information sections of this announcement which includes, Prior Employment/Tax Checks, Fingerprint/Criminal History checks.

The following documents are required and must be provided with your application. All application materials, including transcripts, must be in English.
Incomplete or insufficient information may result in not being considered for the position, or not receiving special consideration for which you may be eligible. Please view Application Preparation or How to write a resume for federal job.

1. Resume (Failure to follow instructions, will result in not being considered.)

• Do:
  • Limit to two (2) pages. Recommend a standard 8.5x11-inch document size, a sans-serif font such as Arial or Calibri with a font size no smaller than 10-point, page margins of 0.5 inches. Applicants that attempt to circumvent the 2-page limit page limit, for example by materially reducing readability, will be deemed ineligible.
  • Include your full name.
  • Include relevant work experience - Employer Name, Job Title, Employment dates (start to end date or present), and a brief description of duties that clearly demonstrate your qualifications.
• Don't:
  • Include photographs, classified or sensitive information, SSN, encrypted/digitally signed documents, or other inappropriate content. Resumes containing prohibited information will be deemed ineligible.
  • Copy and paste duties or specialized experience from the job announcement, as this is not a demonstration of your experience.
• Additional Information:
• Pay plan, series, and grade (e.g., GS-0301-09) should be provided for all federal service jobs. Failure to do so could affect your qualification determination.
• To receive full credit for work experience, include number of hours worked per week and specific MM/DD/YYYY start and end dates for every position.
• Do not include personal information such as age, sex, religion, race, or disability.
• Do not include embedded links as they will not be opened or considered when determining qualifications.
• If you update and resubmit your application, only the most recent resume received will be considered to determine qualifications.

2. Education (if applicable) - Refer to Qualification and Education sections above for requirements

• Submit a copy of your transcript(s) or equivalent for positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position based on education or training. An official transcript(s) will be required if you are selected.

3. Registration/License (if applicable) - Current, active registration/license

4. Performance Appraisal/Awards (required for current federal employees)?

• Submit the most recent completed annual performance appraisal.
• Submit copies of any incentive/performance awards received that may have an impact on the qualifications for the position to be filled.

5. Veteran or qualifying family members

• MUST submit a DD-214 (Member 4 copy), that shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your service which includes your rank, dates of service, character of service, and dates of impending separation.
• 10-point preference eligible - Submit an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15, along with the required documentation listed on the back of the form if you are a 10-point preference eligible. For more information on claiming veterans' preference view here.
• Military Spouses - In addition to the documentation above you must also submit:
  • Verification of the marriage to the service member (i.e., a marriage license) AND
  • A copy of your spouse's active military orders OR Documentation of Service Connected Disability OR Death while on active duty (DD-1300/Death Certificate)

6. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) (if applicable)

• Submit the required documentation as outlined under CTAP/ICTAP

7. IRS Reassignment Preference Program (RPP) (if applicable)

• Submit your RPP Notice and most recent performance appraisal.

8. Current and Former Federal Employees Documentation (if applicable)

• You MUST submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) (or equivalent) which shows your current grade and competitive service status, and Tenure.
• Provide an SF-50(s) (or equivalent) which demonstrates you meet the 52-week time-in-grade requirement (e.g., Promotion with an effective date more than one (1) year old, Within-Grade-Increase at the highest grade held).

9. Schedule A Appointing Authority for People with Certain Disabilities

• Submit a Disabilty Letter from your doctor or a licensed medical professional that proves your eligibility for Schedule A appointing authority.

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