What are the responsibilities and job description for the Information Operations Plans Specialist position at Joint Activities?

Summary

About the Position : Serves as the Chief of the Information Operations (IO) Plans Branch for the Information Operations Division (IOD), Operations Directorate, USSOUTHCOM. Responsible for managing, producing, and coordinating IO plans, operations, and activities in assigned geographical area of responsibility (AOR). Conducts integrated strategic planning and strategy, IO force structure, and resource management with the Joint Staff, OSD, and regional and functional Combatant Commands.

This job is open to

Federal employees - Competitive service

Current or former competitive service federal employees.

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.

Veterans

Individuals with disabilities

Military spouses

Land and base management

Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency.

Clarification from the agency

See "Who May Apply" in the "Qualifications" section for more information on who is eligible to apply for this position.

Duties

Primary advisor to the IO Division Chief (J39) on all matters concerning IO doctrine, employment, assessment, and resourcing.

Identifies broad Information Operations objectives and support requirements in coordination with the Deputy Director for Information Operations, and the USSOUTHCOM Office of Strategic Communications.

Determines and coalesces a wide range of experts and planners, across DOD, the Interagency, and industry, to develop plans and means to resolve strategic information challenges.

Develops policies and guidance covering the planning, execution, and assessment of IO-related capabilities to include MISO, OPSEC, MILDEC, DODRP, and EW.

Conducts integrated strategic planning and strategy, IO force structure, and resource management with the Joint Staff, OSD, and regional and functional Combatant Commands.

Leads, manages, and directs the IO Plans and Operations Branch for the IO Division Chief.

Leads the USSOUTHCOM-wide Information Operations Working Group (IOWG), responsible to CDRUSSOUTHCOM to produce staff-wide IO CONOPs and strategic communication options.

Maintains comprehensive working knowledge of all ongoing and proposed IO activities and evolving mission requirements.

Assists with directing and staffing of IO-related mission requirements, requests for support, requests for forces, etc.

Develops the operational design and overall IO support plan to support command planning.

Develops specialized IO plans and programs to provide strategic, operational support to various trans-regional areas.

Plans for the involvement of national activities, coordinating with them to resolve different viewpoints regarding key matters and ensure continuity of joint planning efforts.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.

Position requires a Security Clearance at the TOP SECRET / Special Sensitive Level as the incumbent will be required to access, process, use, and safeguard classified National Defense information.

This position is covered by the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Program. The incumbent must pass urinalysis testing, as required prior to appointment and periodically thereafter.

This position has a Temporary Duty (TDY) or business travel requirement of 20% of the time.

Qualifications

Who May Apply : Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans

Current Department of Army Civilian Employees

Current Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army)

Domestic Defense Industrial Base / Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act

Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473

Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Interchange Agreement Eligible

People with Disabilities, Schedule A

Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible

Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible

Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement

Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible

Reinstatement

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998

In order to qualify, you must meet the experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Specialized Experience : One year of specialized experience which includes experience in the development, planning and execution of all aspects of Information Operations (IO), from the strategic to the tactical level, to include policy, approval processes, sensitive capabilities and the applicable tactics, techniques and procedures, sufficiency to plan, identify, develop, and coordinate information operations support plans and requirements for the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) enterprise. Experience with strategic and operational plans, operations, policies and procedures in accordance with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Department of State (DOS) and Department of Homeland Security mission requirements. Experience developing, analyzing, and evaluating strategic and operational campaigns, plans, allied nation support activities, exercises, and special operations to doctrinal standards in support of USSOUTHCOM and regional embassies.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas :

Information Management

Organizational Awareness

Planning and Evaluating

Technical Competence

Time in Grade Requirement : Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-13).

Education

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience aloneno substitution of education for experience is permitted.

Additional information

Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.

You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.

One year trial / probationary period may be required.

Direct deposit of pay is required.

Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.

If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.

This is a(n) MISC ADMIN & PROGRAM SERIES, (60) Career Field position.

Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.

Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.

When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https : / / www.dfas.mil / civilianemployees / civrelo / Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction / for more information..

Permanent Change of Station (PCS) allowances may be authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations and an agency determination that a PCS move is in the Government Interest.

Advanced In-hire may be authorized subject to organization / management discretion.

Relocation, Recruitment, or Retention Incentive may be authorized subject to organization / management discretion.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your resume and / or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and / or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

You may claim Military Spouse preference.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must : (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.

Benefits

Review our benefits

Required Documents

As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc). Please review the following links to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply : Applicant Checklist for Internal / Merit Promotion Announcements.

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume :

Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.

If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.

For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month / year to month / year or month / year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.

For additional information see : What to include in your resume.

2. Other supporting documents :

Cover Letter, optional

Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable

Proof of Eligibility to Apply : Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.

Time-in-grade documentation : If you are applying for a higher grade and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one year time-in-grade requirement so you will need to provide an SF-50 which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-grade Grade / Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).

NOTE : Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements :

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. Therefore, provide only the attendance and / or degrees from

schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11 : 59 PM (EST) on02 / 25 / 2025 to receive consideration.

To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application (https : / / apply.usastaffing.gov / ViewQuestionnaire / 12689738).

Follow the prompts to select your resume and / or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.

You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. You must re-select your resume and / or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan.

Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https : / / my.usajobs.gov / Account / Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit : https : / / www.usajobs.gov / Help / how-to / application / status /

Agency contact information

Army Applicant Help Desk

Website

https : / / portal.chra.army.mil / hr_public?id=app_inq

Address

SE-W096AA USSOUTHCOM

DO NOT MAIL

Miami, FL 33172

Next steps

If you provided an email address, you will receive an email message acknowledging receipt of your application. Your application package will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. If you are determined to be ineligible or not qualified, your application will receive no further consideration.

Fair and Transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

Criminal history inquiries

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy

Financial suitability

New employee probationary period

Privacy Act

Reasonable accommodation policy

Selective Service

Signature and false statements

Social security number request

Required Documents