Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist

United States Attorneys' Offices; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is seeking a Supervisory Public Affairs Officer to oversee public, media, and information programs. You will lead a team, shape communications strategy, and ensure accurate, compliant messaging across channels.

The role focuses on managing media relationships, coordinating with partner agencies, and expanding outreach through digital platforms, with opportunities to advance complex, high-profile investigations and initiatives.

Qualifications

• Experience supervising public affairs or communications staff by assigning work and monitoring performance.
• Experience developing and implementing strategic communications plans for senior leadership.
• Experience preparing, reviewing, and editing press releases, statements, and talking points.
• Experience managing media, digital, and social-media communications and coordinating with partner agencies.

Responsibilities

• Supervises and directs the Public Affairs team, assigning work, setting priorities and deadlines, monitoring performance, and ensuring high-quality communications products.
• Develops and executes strategic communications plans supporting the mission and priorities of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
• Reviews and edits press releases, statements, talking points, speeches, media advisories, and other public-facing materials for accuracy, clarity, consistency, and compliance with Department of Justice policies.
• Leads media relations and proactive communications, including managing local and national media relationships, responding to media inquiries, and identifying opportunities to increase coverage of the Office's cases, initiatives, and priorities.
• Oversees the Office's social media and digital communications strategy, overseeing content across platforms and identifying opportunities to expand reach and engagement.

Skills

Supervising public affairs staff

Developing strategic communications

Editing press materials

Media relations & digital strategy

Job description

Summary

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia's mission is to enforce the criminal laws of the United States and the District of Columbia, represent the interests of the United States in civil litigation, and respond to the public safety needs of the community by leading an effective, well-coordinated law enforcement effort that contributes to the overall goal of improving the quality of life in the District of Columbia.

Duties

If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team in the Front Office of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. As the Supervisory Public Affairs Officer, you will provide oversight to designing, conducting, and managing the public, media, and information programs for the United States Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, which is the largest most complex and case-intensive office in the United States.

Typical Work Assignments Will Include

• Supervises and directs the Public Affairs team, assigning work, setting priorities and deadlines, monitoring performance, and ensuring high-quality communications products.
• Develops and executes strategic communications plans supporting the mission and priorities of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
• Reviews and edits press releases, statements, talking points, speeches, media advisories, and other public-facing materials for accuracy, clarity, consistency, and compliance with Department of Justice policies.
• Leads media relations and proactive communications, including managing local and national media relationships, responding to media inquiries, and identifying opportunities to increase coverage of the Office's cases, initiatives, and priorities.
• Oversees the Office's social media and digital communications strategy, overseeing content across platforms and identifying opportunities to expand reach and engagement.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen or National to apply for this position.
• Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).
• All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
• A probationary period may be required.
• If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.
• Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents).
• Time-in-Grade: Current or former Federal employees applying under merit promotion considerations must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements for consideration within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.
• If selected, you will be subject to the satisfactory completion of a one year supervisory or managerial probationary period unless this requirement has been met previously.
• As needed, additional selections may be made using this announcement.

Qualifications

This position is also being announced to all US Citizens and Nationals under 27-DC-13080000-DE

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required basic requirement and specialized experience for the respective grade level in which you are applying.

To Qualify At The GS-14 Level, You Must Possess

Specialized Experience

• Supervising public affairs or communications staff by assigning work, establishing priorities and deadlines, monitoring performance, and reviewing communications products;
• Developing and implementing strategic communications plans and providing communications advice to senior leadership on sensitive matters;
• Preparing, reviewing, and editing press releases, statements, talking points, speeches, media advisories, and other public-facing communications;
• Managing media, digital, and social-media communications, including responding to media inquiries, coordinating messaging with partner agencies, or producing content for media and digital platforms.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

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.

If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). For more information on the qualifications for this position,

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS

Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-13 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-14 level.

• You must submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No award SF-50 will be accepted; recommended SF-50s include promotions and step increases (within grade increases).

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

Background Investigation

To ensure the accomplishment of its mission, the Department of Justice requires each and every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully complete a background investigation for a clearance as a condition of placement in this Moderate Risk position. This review includes financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)

provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified or better category using established category rating criteria. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility,

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)

provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified or better category using established category rating criteria. Additional information about CTAP eligibility,

Special Hiring Authorities for Military Spouse and Family Members

FedsHireVets - OPM.gov

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests

If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA 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, based on your adjudication decision. 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 RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package.

Learn 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.