Community Outreach Specialist

Summary

This position is located in the Civil Rights Division's Office of the Assistant Attorney General. As the Community Outreach Specialist, you will serve as the liaison between the Division and the public by maintaining relationships with community members and stakeholders to promote civil rights programs and to ensure that organization's goals align with community needs.

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Duties

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As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the multitude of experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.

The incumbent will serve as a Community Outreach Specialist. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Shares information with community organizations about civil rights programs, maintain relationships with key stakeholders in the community, and coordinate internal and external program opportunities and resources.
• Knowledgeable of the organization's mission, program goals, and objectives to represent the organization.
• Works closely with public relations and marketing teams to develop and implement outreach strategies; raise awareness of initiatives, projects, and programs; and promote the mission and vision of the Civil Rights Division.
• Develops and execute media strategies, including press outreach, interview coordination, and message development with key communities.
• Writes and edit high impact materials including op-eds, press releases, talking points, memos, and reports.
• Participates in community events, conduct outreach, and respond to inquiries from potential customers via email, telephone, and in-person dialogue.
• Works closely with public relations and marketing teams to develop and implement outreach strategies; raise awareness of initiatives, projects, and programs; and promote the mission and vision of the Civil Rights Division.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• You may be required to complete a pre-employment security screening to initiate your background investigation, which includes a drug screening. Continued employment is contingent upon successful completion and adjudication of your investigation.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born on, or after, December 31,1959. Those not registered should have an approved exemption on file.
• Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level) by the closing date of this announcement. Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
• ALL APPLICANTS, regardless of eligibility(ies) selected, MUST submit their most recent completed (within the past 18 months) performance evaluation or appraisal, which shows a final rating. If an evaluation or rating is not available, you must provide a statement indicating the reason. If you do not submit an appropriate appraisal or statement, you WILL NOT receive consideration for this position.
• DOJ uses E-Verify, an internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, by visiting
• You must meet all eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement and continue to meet these requirements throughout the hiring process. Offers can be rescinded if requirements are not met.
• Resume cannot exceed two (2) pages.

A probationary or trial period may be required as a condition of employment for this position. If required, you will be expected to serve either a 1-year probationary period or a 2-year trial period. During this time, we will evaluate your fitness for continued employment and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining whether your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment may be terminated unless you receive written certification that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience Requirements

To qualify for the position of Community Outreach Specialist, at (GS-0301-11), you must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09. Your resume must clearly demonstrate that you possess all of the specialized experience listed below, showing you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of the position.

• Assisting with the development and implementation of media and community outreach activities to support organizational programs, initiatives, or public awareness efforts; AND
• Supporting outreach efforts by coordinating with community organizations, stakeholders, and media representatives to share information and promote engagement opportunities; AND
• Drafting and reviewing communication materials such as newsletters, social media content, fact sheets, talking points, press materials, and outreach correspondence for internal and external audiences; AND
• Assisting with the planning and coordination of outreach events, workshops, meetings, or community engagement activities, including responding to routine public inquiries and providing program information.

OR

Education Requirement:

• Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or

• 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; or
• LL.M. if related

A transcript must be submitted to receive consideration.

OR

Combining Education and Specialized Experience: To combine education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of the first 36 semester hours (54 quarter hours) may be combined to be considered for qualifying education.

Time-In-Grade Requirement : Applicants who are current Federal employees applying for a higher grade must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. You MUST provide an SF-50 , which shows position, type of service appointment, tenure group, grade, duty location, and salary. If your most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year (52 weeks) time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. Consider providing an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade ( examples of appropriate SF-50s include: Promotions; Within Grade/Range Increases; and SF-50s dated a year apart within the same grade/position. No award SF-50s will be accepted ). Failure to submit the required SF-50 document will result in an ineligible rating under merit promotion procedures.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement and current Federal employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement - please be sure to include this information in your resume. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade of the position to be filled.

Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.

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.

All qualifications, time-in-grade, and education requirements, if applicable, must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume.

YOUR RESUME MUST support your responses to the online questionnaire and provide specific details as to how your experience meets the specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement. If you are using experience to meet all or part of the qualification requirements, please ensure that your resume includes the month and year that you began and ended each position held or that position will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating. Your latest resume submitted for this vacancy announcement will be used to determine qualifications and supersedes previous submissions. See the Required Documents section for important notes about what must be included in your resume.?

During the eligibility review process, the Human Resources Specialist will only review the latest document uploaded to USA Jobs. Therefore, if you submit duplicate documents, ensure the last version uploaded to USA Jobs is the necessary document required to meet the criteria/qualifications described in this job announcement.

Education

This position does not have an education qualification requirement but can qualify using education.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements, please see the statements below:

You will need to submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and/or semester hours earned, degree earned and confer dates. Failure to provide this documentation will result in objection to your qualifications, and removal from consideration. You will be required to submit your official college transcript if you are selected.

All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Click here to check accreditation.

Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For more information about this requirement, please visit the U.S. Department of Education website for Foreign Education Evaluation.

All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

Additional information

The bullets below outline the various groups of applicants that fall under the term "status candidates". This vacancy is open to applicants from any of the groups listed below. Read each statement, and any links provided, to ensure you select all applicable eligibilities.

See a full list and learn more at USAJOBS, see: What does Status Candidate mean? or Which Jobs am I Eligible to Apply for?

1. CURRENT AND FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: For more information, see USAJOBS - Federal Employees.
2. CAREER TRANSITION PROGRAMS ( CTAP or ICTAP ): For more information visit: USAJOBS Career Transition Programs
3. VETERANS : Please see USAJOBS - Veterans Preference for more details.
4. MILITARY SPOUSES: Please see USAJOBS - Military Spouses
5. SCHEDULE A, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES : Learn more at USAJOBS - Individuals with Disabilities. DOJ welcomes and encourages applicants from persons with disabilities and is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advance on the basis of merit. The Civil Rights Division also encourages eligible Schedule A applicants to submit their resumes directly to Diane Turner by email to View email address on click.appcast.io.
6. PEACE CORP & AMERICORPS VISTA: Please see: USAJOBS - PEACE CORP & AMERICORPS VISTA
7. LAND MANAGEMENT : Please see: USAJOBS - LAND MANAGEMENT

DOJ EEO Statement/Policy :

FAIR CHANCE TO COMPETE FOR JOBS: The Fair Chance Act prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicant's criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment. If you believe a DOJ employee has violated your rights under the Fair Chance Act, you may submit a written complaint within 30 days of the date of the alleged non-compliance directly with the DOJ component hiring office listed in the job opportunity announcement. For more information visit USAJOBS Help Center - What are criminal history inquiries?

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:

Any documentation submitted other than that required in the job announcement will not be considered.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.