The primary role of this position is to plan, schedule, implement, and execute outreach strategy for the state, aimed at targeting diverse audiences, including but not limited to new and beginning farmers, organic and transitioning to organic farmers, small and limited resource farmers, women, specialty crop producers, Hispanic producers, veterans, and other special emphasis groups that are defined as traditionally underserved.

Duties

Develop, implement, and track a statewide outreach plan each fiscal year which includes clearly defined messages, target audiences, types and modes of communication techniques, and report results bi-weekly to the designated state leadership team. Prepare and analyze demographic data for the state in an effort to gain a greater understanding of the different target audiences that could be potentially reached throughout the state. Assist in the development of specialized publications, talking points, presentations, and other communication materials to target the needs and priorities of individualized audiences throughout the state. Promote and maintain working relationship with organization, agencies, and representatives of the media and special interest groups in an effort to provide outreach information, data, and program related information to their constituents. Educate, coordinate, and communicate through a variety of products, training, meetings, one-on-one consultation, and unique outreach tools to targeted audiences in an effort to achieve support of NRCS throughout the state.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. If selected you will be sent instructions on obtaining fingerprints. Please note we are not able to reimburse any fees incurred for fingerprints.
• Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
• Direct Deposit--Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/.
• Must possess and maintain a valid state motor vehicle operator's license for the type of vehicle(s) operated to perform the duties of this position.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: Please note that this job opportunity announcement is only open to current Career/Career-Conditional employees of the NRCS. If you do not possess this status, you will not receive consideration. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-9 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-11 level. One year at the GS-11 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level. (Please submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No Award or General Adjustment SF-50's will be accepted). MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level(s) in which you are applying: GS-11 Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Communicating conservation related programs and policies for Farm Bill Programs such as Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) available to target audiences and underserved populations; Assisting in the development of specialized publications, talking points, presentations, and other communication materials; and Maintaining working relationships with organizations, agencies, media, and/or other stakeholders to provide outreach information and data. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience) OR Education: Possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.M. for which the major course of study must be in a field directly related to the work of this position. (You MUST submit supporting academic transcripts.) OR Combination: Combination of the above-described education and specialized experience such that they total 100% when combined. To determine your combination, first compute your experience as a percentage of the experience listed above; then determine your education as a percentage of the education listed above; then add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent. (Only graduate level education in excess of two years (36 semester hours) may be combined with specialized experience. You MUST submit supporting academic transcripts.) GS-12 Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Preparing communication and outreach materials on conservation programs and policies for Farm Bill Programs such as Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) for internal and external distribution; Developing plans for implementing conservation related outreach activities; Proposing potential solutions that eliminate barriers to effective outreach; and Conducting trainings, meetings and/or consultations to gather support for conservation programs. Note: There is no education substitution at the GS-12 grade level. The OPM Qualification Standards for this position can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

You must submit a copy of your college transcripts or a list of college courses with credit hours, dates completed, and grades received to verify all education requirements (i.e. substitution of education and/or basic education requirement). If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement. You must document all requirements on every vacancy; we cannot use previous determinations as a basis for rating. All required information must be received by the closing date of this announcement, and non-submission of all required documents/documentation will result in non-consideration. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted. This information must be received by the closing date of this announcement. Non-submission of these documents will result in non-consideration.

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. Applicants must, therefore, only report attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation via this link. All education claimed by applicants will be verified accordingly. Important: 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. Please check out this link for more information Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov)

Contacts

• Address Natural Resources Conservation Service 1400 Independence Ave SW Washington, DC 20250 US
• Name: Midwest Services Branch
• Phone: 8164265706
• Email: [email protected]