Summary
This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Deputy Under Secretary for Operations (DUSO), Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs (OLIA), with one vacancy in Washington, DC.
Duties
As a Congressional Affairs Specialist, you will perform the following duties: Lead Legislative Affairs outreach effort to congressional offices, including state and district-based offices and Congressional case workers. Work closely with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) staff to plan briefings, hearings, meetings, and other external events involving Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and their constituents. Serve as the policy and planning authority for NOAA's policies and priorities with Congress and the Department. Develop Congressional drafts and other official documentation, hearings, meetings, briefings, and other external events involving Members of Congress and staff and their constituents, to increase the understanding of Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and their constituents about the NOAA work and mission. Utilize expert knowledge to provide summaries of feedback from Members of Congress and Congressional staff to inform the Director for Legislative Affairs and Deputy Director about inquiries and requests that come in from Congressional offices and solicit information from senior staff about NOAA's work to be shared with Congressional offices. Provide authoritative and substantive guidance on legislative issues. Recommend strategies for Congressional interaction to management based on knowledge of the interests of the appropriate legislative audience. Conduct and coordinate Freedom of Information and Discovery requests for congressional inquiries. This position will be filled under the DOC Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). Under CAPS, positions are classified by career, pay plan, and pay band. The ZA-4 is equivalent to the GS-13/14. CONDITION OF EMPLOYEMENT: Must be able to obtain and maintain a Noncritical Sensitive security clearance to carry out duties requiring access to meetings, documents/info, and/or systems labeled as confidential or secret. Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.
Requirements
Key Requirements: Applicants must be U.S. Citizens. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Additional Information. Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov) Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. If you are a Federal employee applying for a promotion (under merit promotion procedures) you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of the announcement. Additional Considerations: Position requires Non-Critical Sensitive Security Clearance. Background investigation required. Continued employment is subject to applicant's successful completion of security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination. Nature of Employment: This is a career, non-political position designated as policy-influencing (confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating). Employment in this position is at will. Standard civil service adverse action and performance based removal procedures under chapters 43 and 75 of Title 5, United States Code, do not apply. Consequently, traditional appeals to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) regarding performance or conduct-based removals are unavailable. Conditions of Employment: Selection is made using merit-based evaluation procedures. Applicants and incumbents are not required to personally or politically support the President or the policies of the current administration, but they are required to faithfully implement administration policies to the best of their ability. Schedule Policy/Career employees are at-will employees at all times; therefore, they are not required to serve a trial period.
Education
Substitution of education for specialized experience is not applicable to this vacancy.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire and/or evaluation through a manual assessment process, and your responses to any additional assessments (i.e. USAHire) required for this position. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and a Job Knowledge Test. The Job Knowledge Test is designed to assess technical and professional expertise directly relevant to the requirements of this announcement. This assessment measures the specialized knowledge and skills accumulated over time, which are critical for successful performance in this position. The best-qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Partnering, Planning and Evaluating, Problem Solving, and Strategic Thinking 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. To preview the announcement questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13076068