This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/592652200. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
You will serve as a Public Affairs Specialist in the Office of Media Relations. The individual plans, participates in, and executes NHTSA's high-profile public information programs directed toward the news media, industry media, consumer organizations, and the public.
02/18/2021 to 03/01/2021
$87,198 - $113,362 per year
GS 12
1 vacancy in the following location:
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - Some travel is required.
No
Permanent
Full-time - Full Time
Competitive
13
No
No
NHTSA.NCO-2021-0005
592652200
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Current federal employees whose agencies follow the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's hiring rules and pay scales.
Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.
Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces or a spouse, widow, widower or parent of a veteran, who may be eligible for derived preference
Military spouses relocating under PCS orders or whose spouse is 100% disabled or died while on active duty.
Individuals who are eligible under Schedule A.
Family members of a federal employee or uniformed service member who is or was, working overseas.
Individuals who have served at least 2 years with the Peace Corps or 1 year with AmeriCorps VISTA.
Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed in another hiring path.
Open to current and former Federal employees with competitive status, VEOA Applicants, AND All U.S. Citizens.
As a Public Affairs Specialist, you will:
Ideal Candidate Statement
The ideal candidate for this position is driven, reliable, adaptable and able to provide consistently excellent, effective customer service in a timely manner while maintaining a high level of quality and productivity in a deadline driven, fast-paced environment. The individual can establish and maintain effective external working relationships with industry media, national and regional media outlets, industry associations, as well as internal working relationships with DOT and NHTSA staff, including Senior Officials. The ideal candidate can craft clear and effective messaging and outreach aimed at the public that can be disseminated through a variety of media channels and platforms; respond quickly to media inquiries; support NHTSA’s social media team by preparing and reviewing materials to posted on a variety of social media platforms; produce related concise and on-point briefing materials, talking points and background information by working with leadership and program offices; and coordinate press releases and media advisories with Office of the Secretary’s media team and where needed works closely with OST’s senior officials on news conferences, campaigns, and special events.
The ideal candidate is resourceful and excels under tight deadlines and pressure situations that require providing timely and accurate information and reflects professionalism. The individual is the consummate team member who works cooperatively and effectively with other media team members and is eager to take on challenging assignments and projects.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the specialized experience qualifications for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.
To qualify for the Grade 12, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-11 it must include:
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:
1. Demonstrated knowledge and experience as a full-time credentialed journalist or public relations professional. Strong writing and grammar skills for communicating to the public and media. Experience explaining and writing information fit for publication in newspapers, magazines, blogs or news websites, and/or newsletters daily under very tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment. Experience writing published news stories, editorials, writing press releases, statements for attribution, and blogs. Experience communicating verbally with reporters and/or editors and responding to questions and providing information requested in an accurate and timely manner.
2. Demonstrated knowledge and skills as a journalist or public affairs professional working under very tight deadlines acquiring information about different subjects and in analyzing, selecting, and presenting the information in a style, manner, and format that is accurate and suited to the requirements of the designated medium. Extensive experience working with reporters and/or editors daily and has a strong relationship with national and regional reports, as well as automotive beat reporters. Incumbent must ensure that the information presented is an accurate expression of the agency and department policy on various highway and vehicle safety issues.
3. Demonstrated knowledge of the news industry and skills as a full-time journalist or public relations professional.
4. Demonstrated ability to communicate with managers, peers, and customers at all levels.
For all types of consideration, 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.
For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4
Applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
This vacancy may be used by any DOT agency to fill similar positions within 90 days.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level.
To compete with U.S. Citizens: If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be placed in one of four categories: Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze, which is based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference that have provided supporting documents will receive selection priority over non-veterans. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position.
To compete with other competitive status government employees: If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be scored based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review.
Eligible Federal employees also seeking consideration for noncompetitive reassignment for this position, must indicate interest in the assessment. In eligibility question 14: select Yes/Other/Former Incumbency of a Position brought into the Competitive Service. Noncompetitive federal candidates must have competitive status on a SF-50, meet minimum qualifications, have served at the same grade or higher, and held or exceeded the promotion potential of this position.
All applicants: Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package. If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be updated on your behalf or you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers. The Automated Staffing Office is ultimately responsible for determining your final rating.
RESUME - All applicants must provide a resume created within USA Jobs Resume Builder, that shows relevant experience, education and support the required specialized experience. Formatted resumes can by uploaded later in the application process.
TRANSCRIPTS are REQUIRED if there is a stated education requirement for the series OR if you are substituting education for experience. The transcripts need not be official, but must show that you meet the stated education requirements, including specific major or class requirements. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS/INCENTIVE AWARDS: If applicable, performance appraisals and/or Incentive award documentation may be submitted and forwarded to the selecting official in consideration of your application. To receive credit, submit a recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable (do not submit a performance plan) and/or incentive award documentation dated within the last 18 months (i.e. performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increases, etc.).
VETERANS: Your last DD214 (member 4 copy), Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty, that shows the type of discharge and all dates of active duty is required to verify your eligibility.
FEDERAL APPLICANTS: You must submit your most current and other SF-50(s) that verify your current position, highest competitive grade, full performance level, and eligibility as a federal applicant. DO NOT submit an award SF-50 as these often do not verify grade or eligibility. For consideration for a promotion, Box 4 of the SF-50 must show a date that is at least 52 weeks prior to the job announcement closing. We recommend submitting your last promotion SF-50, current SF-50 or within-grade increase SF-50. Pay adjustment raise SF-50s for the current year will not support the 52 weeks’ time-in-grade requirements. https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/service/SF-50/
NON COMPETITIVE APPLICANTS: If requesting concurrent consideration for Non-competitive (NC) appointment eligibility, you must provide the appropriate SPECIAL APPOINTING AUTHORITY DOCUMENTS, such as PCS orders (military spouse) describing move & marriage certificate; letter from VA or DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse; letter from State Vocational Office certifying disability (schedule A), etc. For more information, visit military spouse NC appointments or Persons with Disabilities NC appointments.
DISPLACED EMPLOYEES: If requesting consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency CTAP program (ICTAP), you must meet the well qualified standards for this vacancy (meeting minimum requirements for position and scoring at least an 85 or falling in the Gold Category) and provide all of the following documents:
Displaced employees may be eligible for ICTAP or CTAP priority consideration. For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition.
Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date 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.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
You must submit a complete application package (including resume, vacancy questions and supporting documents) no later than 11:59 (EST) on the closing date of the announcement.
If you are having difficulty applying online, please contact the DOT Automated Staffing Office via email at: Transjobs@dot.gov
You may check your application status by logging into USAJobs.com. (Select "My USAJOBS" and click "Applications"). Within two weeks of the closing date, a Human Resources Specialist will evaluate your application. Ratings will be determined based on the documents and information received by the closing date. Qualified candidates will be assigned a category, not including points that may be assigned for veterans' preference. If the vacancy is advertised under status, your application will be scored on a scale between 70 - 100. The most highly qualified candidates are then referred to the hiring manager for further consideration. If the vacancy was advertised under category rating, then the appropriate veteran's preference will be applied. If you are selected for an interview, the hiring agency will contact you directly. Once the position is filled, we will notify all applicants of their final status.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/592652200. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.