State Public Affairs Specialist

Summary This position serves as the State Public Affairs Specialist on the Assistant State Conservationist for Partnerships staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The primary purpose of this position is to carry out the NRCS information, awareness, outreach, and strategic marketing programs across the zone to communicate NRCS policies, programs, services and activities. Responsibilities Compose reports, communications, talking points, briefing packets and power point presentations in support of these efforts. Provide public affairs assistance and activities from a zone or state-wide perspective via photography, videography and feature stories. Utilize media outlets to inform current and potential customers about NRCS programs, technical assistance, and conservation accomplishments; and work with local and state media contacts to communicate NRCS messages and outcomes. Provide guidance in the development and implementation of plans that enable state and field office staff to market natural resources conservation services and products to selected target audiences. Responsible for keeping the Alabama State NRCS website accurate and up to date. Other duties as assigned Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below?. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: Please note that this job opportunity announcement is only open to current Career/Career-Conditional employees of the USDA. If you do not possess this status, you will not receive consideration. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-9 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-11 level. One year at the GS-11 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level. (Please submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No Award or General Adjustment SF-50's will be accepted). MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying: GS-11: Must have one or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Utilizing oral and written communication principles, practices, techniques, and methods to distribute public information or internal information to internal and external audiences; Assisting in the preparation of a variety of articles, feature stories, and news releases to convey information and clarify organizational operations, programs, and activities; Present to various internal and external groups in order to inform them of programs, objectives, and organizational activities; and Utilizing programs such as Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator; Microsoft PowerPoint; desktop publishing; or similar software to create brochures, information materials, edit photographs, and develop other products. OR Must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in Public Affairs, Public Relations, Marketing, Journalism, or other directly related degree. (Must submit transcripts.) OR Must have a combination of the specialized experience and graduate education described above that when combined totals 100 percent. First, determine your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determine your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. Only graduate education in excess of two years (36 semester hours) may be used to qualify applicants for positions at the GS-11. (Must submit transcripts.) GS-12: Must have one or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Providing guidance on utilizing oral and written communication principles, practices, techniques, and methods to distribute public information or internal information to internal and external audiences; Preparing a variety of articles, feature stories, and news releases to convey information and clarify organizational operations, programs, and activities; Training staff in conducting public involvement meetings to elicit public input among various concerned publics; or conducting workshops with schools, non-profits, state and local agencies, or cooperators to stimulate interest in programs and activities; Utilizing programs such as Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator; Microsoft PowerPoint; desktop publishing; or similar software to create brochures, information materials, edit photographs, and develop other products; and Assessing public reaction and understanding to evaluate effectiveness of information programs. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience.) IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. The OPM Qualification Standards for this position can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series Education You must submit a copy of your college transcripts or a list of college courses with credit hours, dates completed, and grades received to verify all education requirements (i.e. substitution of education and/or basic education requirement). If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement. You must document all requirements on every vacancy; we cannot use previous determinations as a basis for rating. All required information must be received by the closing date of this announcement, and non-submission of all required documents/documentation will result in non-consideration. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted. This information must be received by the closing date of this announcement. Non-submission of these documents will result in non-consideration. 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. Applicants must, therefore, only report attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation via this link. All education claimed by applicants will be verified accordingly. Important: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. Please check out the following link for more information Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov) Additional Information Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP or RPL eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100. Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period. If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed. This position is eligible for telework within the local commuting area of the position and other flexible work arrangements. Current USDA policy includes telework for an 8 hour work day, 4 days per week; other flexibilities are possible dependent upon availability and/or the position and its associated duties. Employee participation is at the discretion of the supervisor. PLEASE NOTE: In the interest of filling these positions as efficiently as possible, we are requiring the following: If called for an interview, applicants must be available to interview within 3 business days of being contacted. If a tentative job offer is extended, selectee will have 2 business days in which to accept or decline. Recruitment and/or relocation incentives may be authorized; Management may authorize superior qualifications & enhanced annual leave for applicants who are deemed to be highly qualified. Relocation expenses may be authorized as allowable by Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) and USDA policy.