The mission of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Communications is to lead VHA's enterprise-wide communications strategy with clear and consistent messaging and appropriate delivery methods to inform Veterans, employees, and the American public about the policies, programs, actions, key priorities, and initiatives of the Administration.

Duties

The Incumbent performs the following major duties and responsibilities: Responsible for developing, writing and editing communication products for the Under Secretary for Health to represent the VHA strategy. Responsible for conducting media relations activities for VHA, managing interactions, relationships and engagements with media outlets. Collaborates with subject matter experts to obtain the most accurate information for use in preparing subject matter experts for media interviews, responding to media queries, and developing talking points, news releases, and other communications material. The incumbent must distill complex information to develop clear, high-quality written content that will increase awareness or understanding of various publics with varying degrees of comprehension of VHA programs. Promotes news coverage for VHA leadership and conducts VHA's national news media relations in collaboration with the VA Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA). Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00a.m. - 4:30p.m. Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Communications Specialist/PD52900-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/24/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You will qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Comprehensive knowledge of procedures and regulations that govern communications and public affairs within VA and possess the ability to apply these regulations in order to develop information for VHA's strategic communications efforts. Along with knowledge of and experience in the development of strategic communications, public affairs and media relations principles, practices, and rules of engagement. . You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Teamwork: Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals. Communication & Media: Knowledge of the production, communication and dissemination of information and ideas to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media. Attention to detail: Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attention to detail Oral Communication: Express ideas and facts to individuals or groups effectively; makes clear and convincing oral presentations, listens to others, facilitates an open exchange of ideas. Written Communications: Expresses facts and ideas in writing in a succinct and organized manner. 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, however, walking, standing, bending and lifting are customary physical demands of this position. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.


Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address VHA Servicing Human Resources Office - 1 2402 Wildwood Ave Suite 301 Sherwood, AR 72120 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]