Summary
WHAT IS THE WAGE & INVESTMENT DIVISION? The Wage & Investment Division (W&I) serves about 122 million taxpayers who file upwards of 94 million returns each year. W&I provides high-quality taxpayer assistance, and enable taxpayers to transact and communicate electronically to file their returns and make payments.
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Responsibilities
WHAT DOES A VISUAL INFORMATION SPECIALIST (VIS) DO? The IRS Visual Information Specialist (VIS) is part of a diversified team of professional Graphic Designers tasked with the assembly of graphical images, typography, and text content in an effective way that is strategic, accessible and aesthetically satisfying. They are available to all IRS employees, to help design and develop their communications materials for a positive impact on IRS business objectives. They are trained to solve difficult business communication problems with strategic design solutions and to simplify complex information to achieve measurable results.
As a Visual Information Specialist you will:
- Serve IRS internal product originators with expert design services, as the authority on IRS design principles. Apply IRS design standards to electronic and print information. Provide the strategic design guidance and product quality oversight necessary to provide high-quality, cost-effective, efficient and timely electronic and print information dissemination services.
- Focus on the design and production of graphic elements and graphical documents that appropriately augment, emphasize, and clarify information for the topics and audiences for print and digital use, while working in close partnership with other IRS employees to define requirements, develop concepts and implement action plans to produce such visual media.
- Perform design services in English and in other languages that accurately and aesthetically communicate the intended message, by using graphic design industry publishing and image editing software, specifically Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop), and others such as Adobe LiveCycle Designer, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Enfocus Pitstop Professional and PDF CanOpener to produce published products and exhibits.
- Support the implementation of IRS Design Standards on all new and revised published products, serves as the expert and champion to increase awareness of IRS product design methodologies, services and core in-house Design Office strategies.
- Manage multiple jobs simultaneously, sets design project priorities, establishes deadlines, ensures timely completion of all work assignments and consults with other graphic design professionals to complete assignments, orders external/vendor design services and responds constructively to customer’s design/published product feedback.
- Provide authoritative advice in coordinating the design and development of electronic and print publishing products and serve as the agency expert in graphic design standards, publishing production methods, user-centered design, web standards, accessibility issues, prepare web-safe graphic solutions for social network and other digital/web initiatives and other evolving communication mediums.
- Use word processing software to write and develop design proposals and case studies geared to the characteristics and interests of particular audiences that increase understanding of the meanings and significance of design solution proposals.
- Create and modify forms using document composition software tools (such as: Adobe Lifecycle Designer ES) when working in the Forms Composition Department as a VIS, and also use various technologies such as Composition Process Management (CMS) and/or multimedia editors such as, FinalCut and Photoshop, to publish content to the web.
WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OTHER IRS CAREERS? If you want to find out more about IRS careers, visit us on the web at www.jobs.irs.gov
Travel Required
Occasional travel – 1 to 5 nights per month.
Supervisory status
No
Promotion Potential
12
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Refer to Other Information.
- Click “Print Preview” to review the entire announcement before applying.
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
- IRS Employees with Career or Career Conditional Appointments.
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Qualifications
You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS:
You must have: A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in a related field of study such as visual communications commercial art, fine arts, art history, industrial design, architecture, drafting, interior design, or photography. Or
Advanced training in a vocational school, technical institute, or art institute above the high school level in one of the fields listed above is creditable as general experience on a month-for-month basis. OR
Experience that demonstrated the skills and creativity needed to use the tools or equipment associated with the Visual Communication. Unpaid experience that is pertinent should be credited based upon its relevance to the work of the Visual Information Specialist. To be qualifying, the work must have involved visual communication of information or the application of the principles of graphic design.
In addition to the above, you must meet the requirements described below:
GS-12 LEVEL: You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: applying expert knowledge of graphic design and print/electronic publishing processes proficiently using current versions of graphical software applications (in both Macintosh and Windows environments) such as Adobe Creative Suite (specifically InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator) using master pages and style sheets and other software resources to apply design standards elements, including logotype, way-finding system, fonts, and color onto the designs of electronic and print products. Experience with using standard graphic design industry tools (such as color swatch books, photo libraries, image scanners and photocopiers) to develop products. Experience writing business style correspondence, such as writing narrative to explain and defend design proposals/formal presentations, business reports, operation reviews, vendor correspondence, statements of work, developing design briefs and responding to business correspondence inquires. Other Specialized Experience includes experience overseeing and defining project design, technical and production specifications, developing original concepts by extracting information from a design brief to provide original design solutions, design configurations and product development – while taking into account demographics, target audience needs, quality, equality, security, and ethics. Examples of qualifying work experience include: experience in leading strategic design processes, including planning, coordinating, leading creative brainstorming meetings and preparing/presenting formal design presentations to upper management and/or executives. Designing, developing and managing the execution of a wide collection of design products/projects simultaneously (in English and other languages), such as meetings/events/conference materials, social media elements, tradeshow exhibits, forms, brochures, posters, websites, single and multiple page print and digital publications, promotional displays, packaging, and signage systems for a diversified nationwide audience.
– The experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or Volunteer Service . One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework is considered on a prorated basis.
– To ensure full credit for your work experience, please include dates of employment by month/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.
In addition to the above requirements, you must meet the following, if applicable:
You must have been at the GS-11 level for 52 weeks (time-in-grade requirement).
Education
Additional information
1 (One) Position is located in Wage & Investment, Design at any of the following:
- 1111 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC (DC0022)
- 5000 Ellin Road, Lanham-Seabrook, MD (MD0278)
- 4800 Buford Highway, Chamblee, GA (GA1016)
- 4050 Alpha Road, Farmers Branch, TX (TX0302)
- 2525 Revenue, Bloomington, TX (IL2525)
- 7125 Industrial Rd, Florence, KY (KY3016)
- 400 N Eighth St, Richmond, VA (VA0088)
- 1160 W 1200 S, Ogden, UT (UT0036)
- 985 Michigan Ave, Detroit, MI (MI0800)
POSITION DESCRIPTION: 95918
A PM/C SharePoint site is available for IRS Employees at: https://organization.ds.irsnet.gov/sites/HCOETS/PMC/SPDLibrary/SitePages/Home.aspx
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
- We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.
- This is a bargaining unit position.
- Alternative work schedule, staggered work hours or telework may be available.
- Must meet IRS telework eligibility requirements.
- Tour of Duty: Monday to Friday 8:00 am- 4:30 pm.
- Temporary. Not to exceed one year. May be extended up to 3 years. May be made permanent without further competition.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a “not qualified” determination.
Rating: Your application will be evaluated on the CJEs of the position to be filled per the National Agreement Article 13. Your application will also be rated and ranked among others, based on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, training, performance appraisals and awards relevant to the duties of this position. IRS employees may obtain most recent awards listing at https://persinfo.web.irs.gov/ Your rating may be lowered, if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.
Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring polices). We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.
If you are a displaced or surplus Treasury employee eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) , you must receive a score of 80 or better to be rated as well qualified to receive special selection priority.
To preview questions please click here .
Background checks and security clearance
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test required
No
Required Documents
A complete application includes 1. A resume, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you will not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).
All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. ( Cover letters are optional). To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view Resume Tips
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) DOCUMENTATION
If you are a displaced or surplus Treasury employee, click CTAP for eligibility and a detailed list of required documents. IRS CTAP eligibles can apply for jobs within and outside the commuting area.
IRS Reassignment Preference Program (RPP)
You must meet the requirements in your RPP notice. Submit a copy of your RPP Notice along with a copy of your most recent annual performance appraisal. Your performance appraisal must have a fully successful or higher overall rating.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL/AWARDS
Submit a copy of your most recent completed performance appraisal.
IRS employees: if a revalidated appraisal is used for merit promotion, the supervisor must prepare a narrative for each critical job element that does not have a narrative describing the performance in the appraisal period covered by the rating. Note: If you are a manager or management official, your most recent annual performance appraisal must be used for the overall rating identified.
EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION
If you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. If the position has specific education requirements and you are currently (or have previously been) in the Federal job series to be filled, there is no need to submit a transcript or equivalent at this time. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.
A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page .
If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
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.