Public Affairs Specialist

Summary

This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Shortage and Critical Need to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service. This will be a full-time permanent position.

Duties

• •As a Public Affairs Specialist, you will:
• •Research, collect, analyze, select information from a variety of sources to develop the full range of written products for the organization
• •Produce visual media and content to support organization's messaging efforts
• •Develop visual information products to support written work
• •Utilize desktop publishing tools to produce items for publication.
• •Serve as a photographer and photo/video editor for organization
• •Write news stories, feature articles, speeches, biographies, and other communication products
• •Ensure accurate use of grammar, syntax, spelling and style of products
• •*** These duties are described at the full performance level- GS-09. If selected at the GS-05 or GS-07 level, the position will be developmental and eligible for non-competitive promotion to the full performance level.

Qualifications

DEVELOPMENTAL: Management may select at any of the grade levels announced. This recruitment provides promotion opportunities to the target grade of the position, without further competition, when selectee is eligible and recommended by management. Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the experience and/or education requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. GS-05 Qualifications: Experience - GS-05: To qualify based on your experience, your resume must clearly describe the following experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Three years of progressively responsible general work experience with one year of that experience equivalent to at least the GS-04 grade level, which includes the following: Reviewing written articles for proper grammar/clarity and correcting as necessary; Responding to routine requests for information concerning an organization's programs or services. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-04). OR Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you may qualify if your education meets the definitions below: Education: Successful completion of a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work of the position, such as: Journalism, Public Affairs, Communication, Media, Writing, Rhetoric, English, History, Literature or Marketing. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.). Combination of Education and Experience for the GS-05: Possess the specialized experience for the GS-05, but less than one year; and possess some education above the high school level, but less that the required four years. To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 36. Then, divide your total number of undergraduate semester hours by 120.. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.) GS-07 Qualifications: Specialized Experience: To qualify based on your experience, your resume must clearly describe at least one year of specialized experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as experience that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled including: Writing documents (such as news stories, feature articles, speeches, biographies, other communication products) that will be reviewed and approved by senior staff before publication; Researching information provided for publication to ensure accuracy and factuality of information; Utilizing desktop publishing tools to layout/design articles for publication. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05). OR Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience, in order to qualify for this position, you may qualify if your education meets the definitions below: Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Journalism, Public Affairs, Communication, Media, Writing, Rhetoric, English, History, Literature or Marketing. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.). OR Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion of all the requirements for a bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement. In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on: (1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum. OR (3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/). OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages. They should equal 100. QUALIFICATIONS CONTINUED BELOW IN EDUCATION SECTION

Education

CONTINUATION OF QUALIFICATIONS: GS-09 Qualifications: Specialized Experience: To qualify based on your experience, your resume must clearly describe at least one year of specialized experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as experience that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled including: Writing final copy documents (such as news stories, feature articles, speeches, biographies, other communication products) for publication; Copy-editing/approving written material for others before publication/release; Uploading accurate/factual content to websites/social media sites to disseminate information to users; Utilizing desktop publishing tools to layout and design publications; Taking and editing photographs for use in various types of publications. This definition of specialized experience is typical of wor