General Schedule (GS) 1001

Introducing the GS 1001 Job Series – Health Communication Specialists

Health Communication Specialists, or those in the GS 1001 job series, are CDC’s storytellers. Staff serving in this series communicate public health messaging to a variety of internal and external audiences using an assortment of digital mediums. They ensure public understanding of matters critical to the health people living in the United States and agency alignment around complex scientific topics. Health Communication Specialists also work with senior CDC leadership to prepare them for interviews, field public inquiries, produce news, and assure public-facing communications are accurate, clear, and accessible to all audiences.

GS 1001 job series staff include web and social media content developers, public affairs officers, and internal and external communication specialists. They work closely with CDC subject matter experts (SMEs) to demystify public health science and translate it into actionable health recommendations. The work of Health Communication Specialists has extensive reach, influencing how citizens receive and recall health messages, how news agencies report on public health, and how policy makers understand public health issues. If you’re a writer with a knack for news and an eye for detail, the GS 1001 job series offers endless possibilities.

Ideal candidates for the 1001 job series are people who:

• are curious, persistent, and detail-orientated,
• are excellent writers and passionate storytellers,
• are conveners and problem solvers who can leverage diverse perspectives,
• have high ethical standards and news judgement, and
• can communicate well across a variety of mediums (e.g., print, images, video, web, graphic design).

Employee Perspectives

Health Communication Specialists manage and implement a number of tasks, including communications strategy, copywriting, internal/external marketing, and community partnerships. Here are some of their stories.

Paul Fulton, Jr.

Paul Fulton, Jr., is an experienced communicator with more than 20 years of experience in strategic news media relations. After 12 years with Duffey Communications, one of Atlanta’s oldest independent public affairs firms, he joined NCHHSTP in 2016 as a Press Officer. In 2020, he joined CDC’s Office of Communication and served as a Press Officer for CDC Directors Dr. Robert Redfield and Dr. Rochelle Walensky during the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned to NCHHSTP’s News Media Team in July 2021 and currently serves as the team’s lead.

He says the most rewarding part of his job is seeing public groundswell around data the News Media Team promotes and watching decisions makers attempt to solve those problems.

“In my role as Team Lead for News Media, I work with a team of press officers,” said Fulton. “We work through bureaucracy, making decisions, and getting things done. There is not a typically day in media relations. CNN will call, the New York Times will call, Fox News will call, inquiring about something you weren’t expecting.”

Writers often have varied interests and Health Communication Specialists have the freedom to pursue those interests within CDC, he says:  “The value of being at CDC is that you can move around and try things out. I’ve been able to put my hands on a lot of things. If you’re a great writer, you will go very far in this agency.”

Nakesha Powell

Nakesha Powell serves in NCHHSTP’s Prevention Communication Branch (PCB) as the Acting Team Lead for the National Partnerships Team (NPT), which collaborates with the private and private sector to achieve public health goals. Through strategic partnerships with corporate partners—such as Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Gap, IBM, and Levi’s—as well as community-based organizations, Powell helps implement national programs such as Let’s Stop HIV Together and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

Powell began her career as a Health Communication Specialist in 2013 in the Office of the Associate Director of Communications (OADC),where she supported programing such as Public Health Grand Rounds, the annual Shepard Science Awards, and CDC’s Community Ambassador Program, where employees are equipped with resources and knowledge to engage the community at large around disease transmission and prevention.

“Community partnership is the crux of our work,” said Powell. “Businesses are one of our biggest partners. Today, people still get fired, discriminated against, and bullied for their [HIV] status so we look for businesses with employee resource groups and help them do more in the workplace around HIV stigma. A healthy workplace free of discrimination means more productivity and less litigation.”

Powell said she derives the most joy from helping disseminate public health information to under-resourced communities. “I’m glad I am able to provide them with important health information that allows them to make better decisions about their lives.”

Kari Sapsis

Kari Sapsis leads the Health Communication Team in NCHHSTP’s Division of Viral Hepatitis where she is responsible for development and management of the Division’s campaigns, management of web and social media strategy, promotion of publications, coalition building, and managing cooperative agreements. She works closely with a multidisciplinary team of communicators and clinicians to educate the public and provide health care providers with continuing medical education on identifying and treating viral hepatitis.

“I’m a curious person and love to learn,” said Sapsis. “I work with communicators, clinicians, web programmers, social media experts, and internal communication specialists. I have learned the best by surrounding myself with people who are good at what they do.”

Sapsis has more than 25 years of domestic and international health communication, training, and education experience. For a decade, she worked in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), where she helped establish National Immunization Awareness Month, led development for CDC’s first seasonal influenza vaccine and adolescent immunization campaigns, and promoted the rollout of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. She also had leadership roles in the Tips from Former Smokers^® anti-smoking campaign and the Bring Your Brave breast cancer awareness campaign.

Having a broad base of communication skills has allowed Sapsis to apply her talents on a global stage. Through CDC Global Health, she has worked on a polio vaccination project in Indonesia, HIV and tuberculosis treatment programs in Botswana, and the rollout of an HPV vaccination initiative in Rwanda.

“I love audience research,” Sapsis added. “I love getting inside people’s heads, figuring out how these health behaviors fit into their everyday life and directing behavior change.” She encourages potential applicants to expose themselves to different health topics and to be open to the unique learning opportunities CDC offers.

If the GS 1001 job series sounds like an exciting career path, consider joining our team.