This position serves as the State Public Affairs Specialist on the Assistant State Conservationist for Partnerships staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The primary purpose of this position is to carry out the NRCS information, awareness, outreach, and strategic marketing programs across the zone to communicate NRCS policies, programs, services and activities.

Duties

Compose reports, communications, talking points, briefing packets and power point presentations in support of these efforts. Provide public affairs assistance and activities from a zone or state-wide perspective via photography, videography and feature stories. Utilize media outlets to inform current and potential customers about NRCS programs, technical assistance, and conservation accomplishments; and work with local and state media contacts to communicate NRCS messages and outcomes. Provide guidance in the development and implementation of plans that enable state and field office staff to market natural resources conservation services and products to selected target audiences. Responsible for keeping the Alabama State NRCS website accurate and up to date. Other duties as assigned

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 USDA. 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 in which you are applying: GS-11: Must have one or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized work experience, equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties: Utilizing oral and written communication principles, practices, techniques, and methods to distribute public information or internal information to internal and external audiences; Assisting in the preparation of a variety of articles, feature stories, and news releases to convey information and clarify organizational operations, programs, and activities; Present to various internal and external groups in order to inform them of programs, objectives, and organizational activities; and Utilizing programs such as Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator; Microsoft PowerPoint; desktop publishing; or similar software to create brochures, information materials, edit photographs, and develop other products. OR Must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in Public Affairs, Public Relations, Marketing, Journalism, or other directly related degree. (Must submit transcripts.) OR Must have a combination of the specialized experience and graduate education described above that when combined totals 100 percent. First, determine your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determine your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then add the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. Only graduate education in excess of two years (36 semester hours) may be used to qualify applicants for positions at the GS-11. (Must submit transcripts.) GS-12: Must have 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: Providing guidance on utilizing oral and written communication principles, practices, techniques, and methods to distribute public information or internal information to internal and external audiences; Preparing a variety of articles, feature stories, and news releases to convey information and clarify organizational operations, programs, and activities; Training staff in conducting public involvement meetings to elicit public input among various concerned publics; or conducting workshops with schools, non-profits, state and local agencies, or cooperators to stimulate interest in programs and activities; Utilizing programs such as Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator; Microsoft PowerPoint; desktop publishing; or similar software to create brochures, information materials, edit photographs, and develop other products; and Assessing public reaction and understanding to evaluate effectiveness of information programs. (Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience.) 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. 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

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 the following 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]