Public Affairs Specialist

Summary This position serves as a public affairs specialist in the Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience (ODR&R) Field Operations Center - East (FOC-E) and Field Operations Center - West (FOC-W). The primary function is to provide information to ODR&R's internal and external customers and appropriate government offices at the Federal, State and local levels concerning the SBA Disaster Assistance Program. Responsibilities As a/an Public Affairs Specialist at theGS- 1035-11, some of your typical work assignments may include: Plans, organizes, and prepares material (e.g., press releases, photographs, flyers, and formal/informal presentations). Prepares and disseminates news releases and articles for the print media, selecting photographs to accompany the written material. Assists the Lead and Senior Public Affairs Specialists in communicating with program managers to determine media, governmental and public information needs of the disaster program. Assists senior Public Affairs Specialists and Field Operations Specialists in preparing for media coverage of local events. IMPORTANT NOTES: The salary listed in the vacancy announcement is from the 2026 Rest of U.S. pay table, your actual salary amount will be dependent on your final duty station location. Your primary residence is considered your official duty station. TRAVEL STATEMENT- You may be required to travel to a disaster site during increased disaster activity for extended periods with little or no advanced notice. If so, you may encounter hazardous working and/or living conditions; i.e., no water or electricity and/or minimal lodging facilities. Travel expenses are compensated based on SBA policy and Federal regulations.This position works on an as needed basis. This means that employees are in a pay and duty status only when activated to respond to workload needs, especially in response to heightened disaster activity. When not needed, employees return to a non-pay status until the next event necessitates additional staff. However, depending on the workload and/or level of disaster activity, your work schedule may be changed to full-time. Subsequently, if the workload decreases, you may be placed in a NonPay Status.Mandatory Overtime: In order to respond quickly and efficiently to disaster survivors, substantial compensated overtime hours may be required while on assignment (up to seven days a week and twelve to fourteen hours a day).A valid driver's license may be required. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications GS-11: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector: Independently planning, organizing, and preparing a variety of communications such as press releases, presentations, articles, fact sheets, photos, and flyers for dissemination to media outlets, government stakeholders, and public audiences; AND Serving as an information link or spokesperson, including responding to inquiries from congressional offices, media, and government officials; preparing and delivering presentations, talking points, or speeches; and maintaining dialogue with stakeholders during high-tempo or disaster situations; AND Monitoring media coverage, identifying and correcting inaccuracies or misinformation, maintaining comprehensive contact lists and reference files. These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume. OR Education: If qualifying based on education, you must submit transcripts by the closing date of this announcement, or you will not be found eligible. 3 academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education. OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR LL.M., in a field directly related to the position.Examples of related degrees include public affairs, Communications, public administration and other related fields. Education must be in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. OR A combination experience as described in "A" and graduate level education as described in "B", when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of two full years (36 semester hours) may be used in this calculation. To compute, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 36 semester hours, and then divide that number by 18 to arrive at a percentage. Then, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12 to arrive at a second percentage. Add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100% to qualify. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's Qualifications web site:General Schedule Qualification Standards 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. Generally, time in Non-Pay status as a federal employee is not creditable towards the specialized experience requirement listed above.All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 10/14/2026. Education APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE: 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 (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.) Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Verify School accreditation. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty. *** 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. *** For further information, click on: Foreign Education. Additional Information This is a non-bargaining unit position. This is not a (drug) testing designated position. Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable\_Accommodations\_for\_USA\_Hire Career and InterAgency Career Transition Assistance Programs: Are programs that applies to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) is a program that helps "surplus" or "displaced" federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job in their current agency (intra-agency, i.e. SBA employees only). Inter-Agency Career Transition Assistance (ICTAP) is a program that helps "surplus" or "displaced" federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job at another agency (inter-agency; i.e. not applying to their current or former agency). You are eligible for CTAP/ICTAP if: 1. You are a current federal employee who meets the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee meaning you have received official notice that your job is no longer needed or that you will lose your job by Reduction-in-Force (RIF). 2. Your agency, or the agency to which you are applying, is accepting applications from within or outside of the permanent workforce. 3. The position to which you are applying MUST BE in the Local Commuting Area of the position of record from which you are being displaced. 4. You meet the qualifications and other requirements of the job for which you are applying. This includes being rated as well-qualified for the position (score of 85 or better based on your responses to the competencies and associated questions listed within the assessment). Continued in the Benefist section.