Press Support Specialist

Summary

This position is located in the Department of States Office of Press Operations Bureau of Global Public Affairs (GPA) Department of State (DOS). The position provides essential analytical administrative and liaison support that enables PR/OPS to manage daily press engagement maintain situational awareness of media activity and ensures effective communication of U.S. foreign policy.

Duties

• Carries out careful and exhaustive searches for information and performs special research studies on assigned problem usually in the area of Global Public Affairs and press relations.
• Utilizes a thorough understanding of the Department and the practice of press relations.
• Provides input for new or modified guidelines work processes and operations to improve the effectiveness efficiency or timeliness of work processes and information dissemination.
• Serves in a liaison capacity between the Office of Press Operations and various offices both within and outside the Department.
• Serves as a first line to meet and greet journalist and other media types who have business with the office.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the required qualification requirements described below by the closing date of this announcement. If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed below you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application.

NOTE: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Time-In-Grade Requirements: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions per 5CFR 300 Subpart F.

Applicants applying for the GS-11 grade level must meet one of the following requirements: A. Have at least 1 full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service which provided you with the particular knowledge skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

• Experience interacting and working directly with non-governmental or private sector professionals.
• Experience in problem solving and adapting to changing goals and objectives.
• Experience with developing processes to research analyze and synthesize information to create new procedures or guidelines.

OR B. Have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. from an accredited college or university.

OR C. Have a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience (as described above) which is equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal Service. This experience and education together meets 100% of the qualification requirements for this position. Combination of Experience and Education: When an applicant has less than one year of specialized experience as described in the announcement he or she may combine successfully completed graduate-level education with experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Generally 18 graduate semester hours is equivalent to 1 full-time year of graduate study (your school and department determine what constitutes 1 full time year of graduate study). The percentage of specialized work experience and the percentage of graduate study must total at least 100%.

Note: All applicants WILL BE required to submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement. If you fail to provide requested information or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility you may lose consideration for this position.

Education

See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements.

Additional information

• To request a reasonable accommodation foradditionaltime on thetimed sections of theassessment pleasesubmityour request using the Request a Reasonable Accommodation button within theAssessment Application.

  Forall otherreasonable accommodationsat the U.S. Department of State please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations(OAA)at .

  OAAis responsible forreviewing andadjudicatingreasonable accommodation(RA)requests for the Assessment Battery being usedfor this following applies to all RA requests:

  • RA requestscoveradditionaltime on timed sections only.

  • Applicantssubmittinga RA request MUST attach supporting medical documentation signed by a licensed treatingmedical provider. The documentation should describe the nature severity and expected duration of the conditionidentifythe relevant medical condition or diagnosis and explain the basis for the requested extension. RA requests that do notcontainsupporting medical documentation attachmentsatthetime ofinitialrequest may be subject to further review.

  • Note:the following documents do not on their own qualify for automatic approval oftheRA request:Schedule A letters VA benefits lettersorSSA letters.

  • Applicants MUSTsubmittheir application before the vacancy closes even if pending anaccommodationdecision.

  • Applicants are encouraged to carefully follow instructions related to medical documentation provided in the vacancy announcement prior to beginning the RA process.

  • Applicants will have 48 hours after their RA request isadjudicatedto complete the assessment generated after the allottedtimeframewill not be admissible and the applicant will not be considered further for the vacancy.

  • If a different type of RA is needed please contact OAA directly at .

• If eligible situational telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days and may require a higher or lower security clearance. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.
• Agency & Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP & ICTAP):View OPMs CTAP & ICTAP eligibilitywebsite for more information. You must be rated in the Well-Qualified category and submit supporting documents under the required documents section of this announcement to receive selection priority be considered Well-Qualified applicants must: score an85 or above meet Minimum Qualifications and demonstrateproficiencyin some but notall major aspects of the position.

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.

Required Experience:

IC