Digital Communications Specialist

Summary This position is located in the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office, Office of the Chief Communications Officer, Community Engagement Division, Education Branch. The Education Branch provides K-20 educators and learners with unique USPTO learning experiences that enhance their knowledge of intellectual property. The specific work of the branch includes content creation, resource development and curriculum input. Responsibilities The physical worksite for this position is located in Alexandria, Virginia. This position is telework eligible per agency and business unit discretion/policy. TELEWORK: This position is eligible for maximum telework per agency and business unit discretion/policy. Prior to the start date, you may be given the opportunity to elect to work from the Alexandria headquarters, from an alternate/home location within the United States (defined as the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico), or a combination of headquarters and alternate location. Your salary/pay will be based on your selected worksite geographical location. The nature and scope of telework opportunities will be subject to the units telework policy and any applicable bargaining unit agreements. If selected for an interview, applicants are encouraged to discuss telework expectations and specifics with the hiring manager. This position is located in the Office of the Chief Communications Officer (OCCO), Education Branch, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This opportunity is ideal for you if: You are eager to lead planning efforts, and web development projects in cooperation with contractors and vendors in the establishment and maintenance of digital education information products. You look forward to serving as a technical lead for all sections, pages, and microsites developed by the USPTO to convey K-20 educational content to the public. You are excited to perform a variety of advisory and technical services, to include website and content development, redesign, and maintenance, as well as evaluation of the success of multiple dedicated websites. You are thrilled to provide website metrics to the Education Branch and monitors effective benchmarks for measuring the impact of program efforts. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Managements (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. OPM Qualifications Standards are available at General Arts and Information Series 1001. Specialized Experience is experience that has equipped applicants with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the federal service. For this position, the next lower grade level is a GS-12. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience researching, developing, and executing new ways to maximize the use of digital tools (intranet, website, web analytics tools, and other emerging online platforms) to create content for youth and educator audiences (preK-20). Experience developing and implementing online/web standards, processes and/or policies governing the usage of digital tools for an organization. Experience coding and/or creating templates in Drupal or HTML 5. Experience creating graphics, logos, visual identification systems, visual representations of statistical and research data, or other related means of visually communicating at age-appropriate levels for youth and educator audiences (preK-20). 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. Education Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position. Additional Information If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information. This is a Non Bargaining Unit position. This is a Public Trust position and has a risk level designation of “moderate”. Background Investigation – If selected for this position, you may be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306), which includes a fingerprint and credit check, to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. The USPTO participates in E-Verify. For more information on E-Verify, please visit the Department of Homeland Security Website. All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice. Relocation Expenses are not authorized and will not be paid. CTAP and ICTAP candidates will be eligible for selection priority if it is determined that they have exceeded the minimum qualifications for the position by attaining at least a “well qualified” rating of 85 out of 100. Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is on the Office of Personnel Managements Career Transition Resources website at: OPM CTAP/ICTAP. CTAP/ICTAP documentation requirements are listed in the Required Documents section of this announcement. More than one selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 90 days from the date the certificate was issued. All application materials become the property of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO Job Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should request accommodation(s) from the USPTO at http://www.uspto.gov/accommodation. The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. If you believe that you have been discriminated against and would like to file an EEO complaint, you must do so within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act. Claims of employment discrimination must be submitted to the attention of the USPTOs Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity via email (oeeod@uspto.gov) or phone (571-272-8292).