Public Affairs Specialist

Summary

WHAT IS TAXPAYER SERVICES? A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions Position(s) are to be filled in following area(s): TS - Communications and Liaison - REVIEW THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

Duties

The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position. Provides analysis, oversight and guidance for assigned communication programs and initiatives throughout the Business Unit's Division. Assists the Communications Manager or senior specialist in developing and implementing the required program plans. Advises the Communications Manager or senior specialist or probable internal and external reactions to planned Service actions. Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with members of the new media, and specialized groups interested in IRS programs. STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD): PD96823, PD96824, and PD92132 Visit the IRS SPD Library to access the position descriptions. Requirements

Probationary Period - A person who is required to go through a probationary period and then is transferred, promoted, demoted, or reassigned before he or she completes such period is required to complete the remainder of the probationary period in the new position. Government Credit Card - Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS SHOWN IN QUALIFICATIONS SECTION. Qualifications

Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume. You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: GS-7 You must have one (1) year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-5 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience with communications and program analysis technical rules, regulations, and precedents to apply to assigned portions of programs, projects and studies; Oral and written techniques in order to share factual information with public affairs staff and to document findings; Experience with basic objectives and policies governing various functional programs, operations and processes to assist in providing analysis and guidance. OR At least one (1) academic year of graduate education related field of study that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. OR Superior Academic Achievement may be met by having a Bachelor's degree, with one of the following: A GPA of 2.95 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses or those completed in the last 2 years of study, or a GPA of 3.45 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all courses in the major field of study or those courses in the major completed in the last 2 years of study, or rank in the upper one third of the class in the college, university, or major subdivision, or membership in a national honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. In order to be creditable under this provision, superior academic achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled. OR A combination of qualifying graduate education and experience equivalent to that described above. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: GS-9 You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience with written and oral communication techniques and methods to assist in providing guidance and oversight on assigned communication programs; Experience planning, gathering and verifying and editing digital photography and creating and developing computer graphics/desktop publishing; Analytical methods to evaluate data and make appropriate recommendations and interpersonal relation skills sufficient for establishing and maintaining effective working relationships. OR Master's or equivalent degree in any field of study that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work OR Two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a degree in a related field of study that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. OR LL.B or J.D., if related. OR An equivalent amount of combined graduate education and experience. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: GS-11 You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience with written and oral communication techniques, communications models and applications used to reach audiences effectively and the ability to write articles and releases; Experience developing content for print and web mediums directed at a diverse employee audience; Analytical methods to evaluate data and make appropriate recommendations and interpersonal relation skills sufficient for establishing and maintain effective working relationships. OR PH.D or equivalent doctoral degree in any field of study that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work OR Three (3) full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a degree in any field of study that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work OR LL.M., if related OR A combination of qualifying graduate education and experience as described above. AND You must also meet the following requirement(s): TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): By the closing date (or if this is an open continuous announcement, by the cut-off date) specified in this job announcement, current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens" TIME IN GRADE (TIG): For positions above the GS-05, applicants must meet applicable time-in-­grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the grade you are applying for. For positions at the GS-05, you cannot advance to the GS-05 if you have held a GS-02 in the past 52 weeks. There is no TIG restriction for GS-02, 03 or 04 positions. For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

Education

A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click here (Section 3, Explanation of Terms) or here for Foreign Education Credentialing instructions. We recommend choosing an evaluator from a member organization of one of the following national associations of credential evaluation services: National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE). How You Will Be Evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Communication and Media Interpersonal Skills Oral Communication Problem Solving Writing Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Rating: Your application will be evaluated in accordance with the Service's Merit Promotion Plan. A quality group rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level groups, Superior/Best Qualified, Highly Qualified and Qualified. Referral: Eligible applicants rated in the highest quality group, may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. Candidates, if required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring practices), will be interviewed in quality group order. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site. Performance Appraisal and Awards - Will not be used in determining your overall rating. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. IRS employees may obtain their most recent awards listing at https://persinfo.web.irs.gov/. If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), you must receive a score of Highly Qualified or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority. Benefits

As a current employee, you know the great benefits we offer. Should you have any questions about benefits, please contact the Employee Resource Center (ERC) at 1-866-743-5748 option #1 for ERC. Other Information

Consider each location carefully when applying. If you are selected for a location, that location will become your official post of duty. In the event that a building is closed due to rent management, new hires may be placed in a local commuting location. Additional jobs may be filled from this announcement or any other source to fill these vacancies. Alternative work schedule, staggered work hours may be available. Salary: General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages.