Government Information Specialist (FOIA)

FG-12 The incumbent will research, obtain and gather information to prepare Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act responses in coordination with national FOIA office, Legal staff and Flight Standards field offices. Major Duties and Responsibilities: Technical Analysis and Review Responds to FOIA and Privacy Act requests within mandated statutory timeframes individually or with direction from higher-level employees or management. Utilizes a variety of legal and technical sources in formulating responses. Provides information and guidance to assigned offices as needed. Determines appropriate record-holding offices that may have records related to FOIA requests and communicates objectives to the appropriate office personnel. Obtains records, technical responses, and explanations from record-holding offices and Subject Matter Experts. Calculates appropriate projected response date to requests. Determines the applicability of the FOIA and Privacy Act to the request and determines if records may be released and is responsible for redacting information from records according to laws and policies. Prepares responses to requests explaining the reason for the release of records and/or denials and coordinates with peers or other FAA FOIA offices as necessary for consistency for multiple office FOIA assignments with assistance from team members and management as needed. Correspondence Coordination Obtains information from multiple offices which have records and input to support responses to requests. Information may be obtained from the Office of Chief Counsel, Flight Standards offices, and the FAA Freedom of Information Act program office. Follows agency correspondence policies to prepare response letters and route for signatures. Externally, contacts include public officials, media, citizens, and attorneys regarding submitted requests and response times. Analysis and Reporting Analyzes the scope of incoming FOIA requests and, individually or with assistance from higher-level employees, determines specific offices that may have records pertaining to the requests. Determines required resources in terms of people and time that would have to be allocated to respond appropriately. Analyzes responsive records and applies FOIA guidelines to complete tasks. Incumbent informs branch and division management officials concerning trends and/or potential problem areas. FG-13 The incumbent serves as a Government Information Specialist (FOIA) within the Correspondence Services Branch, AFB-130. The Branch function is to supports the management of the Fight Standards' correspondence program ensuring consistency in both content and timing with organizational intent and analyzing internal and external flow from a Service-wide view. Technical Analysis and Review Independently responds to all Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act requests within mandated statutory timeframes. Utilizes a variety of legal and technical sources in formulating responses. Provides information and guidance to all personnel in assigned offices. Correspondence Coordination Obtains information from multiple offices which have records and input to support responses to requests. Information may be obtained from Office of the Assistant Chief Counsel, Safety Assurance offices of Flight Standards, Flight Standards Service, Office of Public Affairs and FAA Freedom of Information Act program office. Analysis and Reporting Analyzes the scope of the requests and determines specific offices that may have records pertaining to the requests. Determines the number of resources in terms of people and time that would have to be allocated to respond appropriately. Conducts analysis on FOIA and Privacy Act programs for assigned divisions to ensure programs are properly managed. Incumbent informs branch and division management officials concerning trends and/or potential problem areas. Prepares analysis reports to support findings.