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This position is located in the Office of Congressional Relations within the Office of External Affairs at the Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington D.C. The Congressional Relations Office reports directly to the Associate Director of External Affairs and is responsible for coordinating all communications with Congress and serves as liaison to Capitol Hill. The Senior Congressional Relations Specialist reports to the Director of Congressional Relations.
Learn more about this agency11/19/2021 to 12/06/2021
$94,632 - $138,970 per year
FP 3
1 vacancy in the following location:
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
No
Term - 60 months
Full-time
Excepted
None
No
No
21-11298367-MB
623085500
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Current federal employees of this agency.
United States Citizens 30% Disabled Veterans COVID-19 Vaccination Required
The Congressional Relations Specialist performs the following major duties:
Specialized Experience:
You must meet the specialized experience at the grade level(s) in which you choose to be considered by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on 12/06/2021 (the closing date of the announcement). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. To ensure full credit for your experience, please indicate dates of employment by month, day, and year and the number of hours worked per week in your resume.
This vacancy is being announced at one grade level (1):
FP-03
Qualifying experience for the FP-03 level includes one year of specialized experience at least equivalent to the FP-04 or GS-11/12 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Experience in conducting detailed research and analyses of complex functions and work processes and obtaining and organizing complex information into a concise response to facilitate Congressional requests, perform legislative analysis, and draft Congressional testimony under deadlines in order to convert information and clarify operations, programs, and activities for congress and other interested bodies; Experience in presenting authoritative information on the programs, policies, functions, proposals and other activities; Experience with Congressional decision-making and legislative processes including organization, procedures, and practices, as well as Peace Corps legislative history; Experience with handling major issues, program goals and objectives, work processes, and administrative operations of the organization; Experience in providing analytical and evaluative methods, and skill in adapting analytical techniques and evaluation criteria to the measurement and improvement of program effectiveness and/or organizational productivity; Experience in n writing and editing and oral presentation.
Additional information on qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/
Time-in-Grade Requirements: Internal applicants and Federal employees who are currently holding, or who have held within the previous 52 weeks, a position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).Note: All current or former Federal employees (including internal employees) must provide a copy of their SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one), "Notice of Personnel Action" that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position, title, series, grade, step, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
All qualification requirements must be met by 12/06/2021 (the closing date of this announcement). Qualification claims will be subject to verification.
Please note: Peace Corps employees are employed using the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale. The FP pay plan does not follow the same structure as the GS pay plan. In the FP pay plan, as the grade-level numbers decrease the level/pay for the position increases (e.g., the FP-09 is the lowest entry-level pay and the FP-01 is the highest senior-level pay).
This job does not have an education qualification requirement.
COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements (EO 14043)
As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee's duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination by November 22, 2021 or before appointment or onboarding with the agency, if after November 22. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request of the agency a legally required exception from this requirement.
Due to COVID-19, the Peace Corps is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement within 30 days. At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework one or more days a pay period depending upon the terms of the agency's telework policy.
Intelligence Background Information
Peace Corps Manual Section 611 is applicable to this position. This section prohibits the employment of certain persons previously engaged in intelligence activities or connected with intelligence agencies within the past 10 years. If you have ever worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), you are not eligible for employment at the Peace Corps in any capacity, and you should not apply for employment.
Acceptance of employment with Peace Corps precludes employment by certain intelligence organizations for a specific period of time, determined by the employing agency, after Peace Corps employment ceases.
Applicants who are found to be otherwise qualified will be required to submit upon request in the future a completed Intelligence Background Questionnaire, or narrative signed statement, indicating whether the applicant has been involved in or has had any connection with intelligence activities or related work and, if so, the nature and dates of his or her involvement. Failure to meet this requirement will result in the applicant being rated ineligible for further consideration. If you have any other type of possible intelligence connection, your application will not be further considered until you submit this form. Except when the CIA or the National Security Agency (NSA) is involved (see below), if your connection with an Intelligence Agency involves an immediate family member who works or has worked in intelligence, the immediate family member should complete the form, not the applicant. Usually relying on memory is sufficient to answer most if not all of the questions.
If you have an immediate family member who works or has worked for the CIA, you should not give them this form to complete. Please contact your relative in person-not by phone, email, social networking, or any other means that is not in person- and ask him or her to contact the Office of General Counsel at the CIA.
If you or an immediate family member have been employed by or associated with the NSA, you or your family member must contact the NSA Prepublication Review Office at 443-634-4095.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application will be evaluated based on your resume, attached supporting documentation, and your responses to the self-assessment questionnaire. Your materials will be evaluated to validate your possession of any required knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or competencies. The following competencies will be evaluated in the self-assessment questionnaire:
To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package, including:
1. Click "Apply Online" to create an account or log into your existing USAJOBS account.
2. Follow the prompts to complete the assessment questionnaire and upload the required documents.
3. Please ensure you click the "Submit My Answers" button to submit your application.
4. Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on 10/15/2021 to receive consideration.
5. Check your application status by logging into your USAJOBS account. Return to an incomplete application by clicking Apply Online in the vacancy announcement and re-selecting your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account..
Once the online questionnaire is received you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USAJOBS account and by going to the "My Account" tab and clicking on "Application Status". For a more detailed update of your application status, you may go to "more information" under the individual vacancy.
USAJOBS has added an alert setting to their system to provide status updates for applicants. You can elect to activate the status updates from your USAJOBS profile at any point during the application process.
If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to the Selecting Official for further consideration.
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/623085500. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
Top Reasons to Work for Peace Corps! -- (1) Voted in the top 10 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government for mid-size agencies in 2019, (2) the Peace Corps has a unique global mission. (3) Benefits include higher salary caps than the Federal standard with (4) quicker step increases. (5) Peace Corps employees earn non-competitive eligibility after 3 years of service and (6) have the opportunity to pursue leadership development opportunities and many more established through President Kennedy's call to service; the Peace Corps asks applicants what you can do for your country and the world.
