This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/620391500. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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Summary
This position is located in the Office of Public Affairs (OPA) within the Office of Communications and External Affairs, and reports to the Associate Director of Public Affairs.
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Overview
- Reviewing applications
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Open & closing dates
11/03/2021 to 11/05/2021
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Salary
$87,198 - $113,362 per year
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Pay scale & grade
IS 12
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Location
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Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
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Travel Required
Occasional travel - May be required.
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Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
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Appointment type
Permanent - This is not a Federal Position, but has similar requirements and benefits. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POSITION IS OPEN TO ALL CANDIDATES ELIGIBLE TO WORK IN THE UNITED STATES.
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Work schedule
Full-time - Full-Time, Permanent
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Service
Excepted
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Promotion potential
12
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Job family (Series)
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Supervisory status
No
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Security clearance
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Drug test
No
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Position sensitivity and risk
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Trust determination process
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Announcement number
22R-SA-306612-TRF-OCEA
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Control number
620391500
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This job is open to
Clarification from the agency
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POSITION IS OPEN TO ALL CANDIDATES ELIGIBLE TO WORK IN THE UNITED STATES. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.
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Duties
The Incumbent serves as Public Affairs Specialist handling all aspects of media relations to promote the experts, research, collections, events, exhibitions and programs from throughout the Smithsonian. Incumbent manages various public relations functions to expand knowledge of the Smithsonian Institution, reach new audiences, and to gain support for its mission and programs. The incumbent will also perform the following duties:
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Serve as member of the OPA crisis communications team, providing communications expertise and strategies.
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Develop and carry out crisis communications plans in conjunction with the Associate Director of Public Affairs, Chief Spokesperson and Director of Communications.
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Keeps abreast of Smithsonian activities and content in assigned units and subject matter areas; plans and coordinates the dissemination and distribution of information about Smithsonian museum programs, exhibitions, research and activities in collaboration with museum public information officers.
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Provides professional communications counsel on strategies and plans to ensure coverage in a variety of media outlets.
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Keeps the Associate Director of Public Affairs informed of public attitudes about Smithsonian as reflected in a variety of media outlets.
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Recommends appropriate measures to expand and extend the scope of media coverage.
- Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with news media in top-tier local, national and international outlets and other external stakeholders with the goal of disseminating information or answering inquires about Smithsonian programs, exhibitions, research and activities.
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Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
- May need to complete a Probationary Period
- Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
- Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
Qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.
More than one selection may be made from this announcement.
You must be fully vaccinated for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized or FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine.
OR
Have an approved Reasonable Accommodation granting an exemption from vaccine requirements. Please see additional information regarding reasonable accommodations below.
The Smithsonian Institution has a mandate requiring all employees (federal and trust), affiliated staff (including volunteers, interns, and fellows), and the contractors who work with us to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee’s duty location or work arrangement (e.g., onsite, 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 Smithsonian Institution, if after November 22. The Smithsonian Institution will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required exemption from this requirement. This requirement applies to employees, affiliated staff, contractors who are working on-site, and those teleworking in whole or in part. Limited exemptions to the Smithsonian Institution’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate will be considered on a case-by-case basis for selected candidates who inform the Smithsonian that they cannot be vaccinated because of a disability, including certain medical conditions the Center for Disease Control (CDC) considers contraindications to the vaccine, or because of a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. Additional information and instructions regarding Smithsonian’s COVID-19 mandate will be provided at the time of selection
Qualifications
Experience:
You qualify for this IS-12 position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the IS/GS 11 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system.
For this position specialized experience is defined as 1) experience providing communication strategies; 2) writing comprehensive media analysis and reports; 3) maintaining relationships with media organizations to generate media coverage; 4) writing and editing materials for media distribution; and 5) producing and managing press conferences and media briefings for a museum, cultural or historical institution.
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.
Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.
There is no education substitution.
Education
NA
Benefits
The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, commuter benefits, health/life insurance, and accidental insurance.
Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:
- Knowledge of communication principles, techniques, methods, trends and best practices.
- Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with representatives of the news media, bloggers and social media practitioners, and with Public Affairs Specialists and other staff and officials around the museum, Museum, cultural or historical institution.
- Skill in written communications, in developing and pitching stories, background statements and news articles that effectively communicate Smithsonian activities.
- Skill in diplomacy and tact; politically savvy.
Important Note:
Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.
To preview questions please click here.
Benefits
The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, commuter benefits, health/life insurance, and accidental insurance.
Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description.
Required Documents
As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.
Your application package should include the following documents:
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Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. If you want to receive full credit for relevant experience your resume MUST contain the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary.
USAJOBS has guidance on how to ensure that you submit a complete resume: If you have not written a Federal resume before, you may watch this Resume Writing Tutorial video on the USAJOBS YouTube channel, or read through a helpful Resume Writing FAQ article on the USAJOBS Help Site to learn what details you should, and should not, include in your resume. If any of the above information is not included in your resume we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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.
How to Apply
Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page.
Please Note:
- You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
- You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process;
OR
You may manually fax required documents. Faxes are received by an automated system, not a physical fax machine. Documents that are faxed as part of the application process must be sent with the system generated cover sheet by the closing date. Documents faxed without the system generated coversheet are not retrievable and cannot be considered as part of the application package. - The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
- If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.
Agency contact information
HR Specialist
- Address
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SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012
United States
Next steps
At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt.
The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed.
Additional Information:
- Tips on applying for Smithsonian jobs are available at www.sihr.si.edu/jobs.cfm.
- The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses.
- The Smithsonian embraces diversity and equal employment opportunity (www.si.edu/oeema).
Fair and Transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
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Required Documents
Your application package should include the following documents:
-
Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. If you want to receive full credit for relevant experience your resume MUST contain the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary.
USAJOBS has guidance on how to ensure that you submit a complete resume: If you have not written a Federal resume before, you may watch this Resume Writing Tutorial video on the USAJOBS YouTube channel, or read through a helpful Resume Writing FAQ article on the USAJOBS Help Site to learn what details you should, and should not, include in your resume. If any of the above information is not included in your resume we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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.
Help
Learn more about this agency
How to Apply
Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page.
Please Note:
- You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
- You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process;
OR
You may manually fax required documents. Faxes are received by an automated system, not a physical fax machine. Documents that are faxed as part of the application process must be sent with the system generated cover sheet by the closing date. Documents faxed without the system generated coversheet are not retrievable and cannot be considered as part of the application package. - The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
- If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.
Agency contact information
HR Specialist
- Address
-
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012
United States
Next steps
At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt.
The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed.
Additional Information:
- Tips on applying for Smithsonian jobs are available at www.sihr.si.edu/jobs.cfm.
- The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses.
- The Smithsonian embraces diversity and equal employment opportunity (www.si.edu/oeema).
Fair & Transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
Beginning of a dialog window for the agency announcing this job. It begins with a heading 2 called "Learn more about Field Operating Offices of the Office of the Secretary of the Army". Escape will cancel and close the window.
Learn more about
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution values and seeks a diverse workforce. Join us in "Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery."
Agency contact information
HR Specialist
- Address
-
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012
United States