SUPERVISORY GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SPECIALIST

Summary

Serving as the Freedom of Information (FOI) Branch Chief, this position directly supports the Chief of the Records and Declassification Division (RDD) within WHS. The RDD develops and implements department-wide policies and procedures for Records Management, FOIA, and Prepublication and Security Review services. You will lead FOIA operations supporting the Office of the Secretary of War, OSW Components, the Joint Staff (JS), and Defense Agencies.

Duties

Incumbent typical work assignments may include the following: As Program Manager of the OSW/JS FOIA Program, exercises comprehensive supervisory authority over a team of full-time civilian employees and contract support; manages hiring, promotion recommendations, and workload distribution, establishes and appraises performance standards, delivers training, and resolves employee grievances or disciplinary matters. Serves as the Program Manager of the OSW/JS FOIA Program and senior Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) subject matter expert for the Office of the Secretary of War; reviews, redacts, and clears high-level, classified, and sensitive unclassified records for public release in strict compliance with 5 U.S.C. § 552 and DoD Regulation 5400.7. Collaborates with the DoW Office of General Counsel and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to draft legally sufficient affidavits supporting federal FOIA litigation; interprets disclosure policy and ensures all final release decisions are legally compliant. Formulates and executes strategic plans to achieve the Congressionally and DOJ-mandated 10% annual FOIA backlog reduction target; administers Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a) requests and coordinates release issues with the DoW Privacy Office and OMB. Directs the transition of paper records into the electronic environment; establishes governance for FOIA, records management, and eDiscovery tools, while administering the OSW/JS FOIA electronic public reading room to align with federal information security statutes. Designs and executes periodic FOIA quality control reviews, compliance audits, and risk assessments across OSW/JS Components to measure the effectiveness of automated processing systems and streamline workflow metrics.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, you must meet the requirements described below. You may qualify at the GS-14 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service (experience may have been gained in the private sector) that demonstrates your ability to serve as a FOIA Program Manager, applying expert knowledge of federal or state public disclosure and privacy statutes (such as the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA], the Privacy Act, or state Sunshine Laws) to review, redact, and clear sensitive, proprietary, or classified executive records for public release; Leading and managing a FOIA program to include government and contractor teams to ensure programmatic compliance with all interrelated regulations, leading operational strategies to reduce public records request backlogs and improve processing cycle times; Exercising full supervisory authority over a team of legal, compliance, or information case analysts and contractors; AND Assigning and reviewing complex casework to ensure statutory deadlines are met. 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. All qualifications and education requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume. Your resume may not exceed two (2) pages. For qualifications determinations, it is recommended that applicants include their months and hours worked per week for each employment listed on their resume. If a determination is not able to be made about the duration of your creditable experience for qualification requirements, you will be removed from consideration. Read more about what should I include in my federal resume at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include ACTIVE DUTY SERVICE MEMBERS: Federal agencies treat active duty service member as veterans, disabled veterans, and preference eligible, when they submit, as part of their application package, a "certification" of active service in lieu of a DD-214, indicating the service member is otherwise eligible and will be discharged or released within 120 days from the date of submission.. A "certification" letter should be on letterhead of the appropriate military branch of the service and contain (1) the military service dates including the expected discharge or release date; and (2) the character of service. This "certification" must include your rank, dates of active duty service, type of discharge and character of service (i.e. honorable), and date any terminal leave will begin. It must be signed by, or by direction of, the adjutant, personnel officer, or commander of your unit or higher headquarters. Active duty members that fail to provide a valid "certification" of service with their initial application will be found "not eligible". Members may be appointed before the effective date of their military retirement/separation if they are on terminal leave. Current or Former Political Appointees: Agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level. 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 that to the Human Resources Office. Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume.

Education

Education cannot be substituted for experience.