This position is located within the Public Affairs Office at the Columbus VA and reports to the Public Affairs Officer. The incumbent serves as the Public Affairs Specialist (Congressional Liaison) for the main facility in Columbus and it's VA clinics. This position provides administrative, technical and professional support for congressional inquiries, VA/VISN/VHA suspense requests and issue brief reports.

Duties

Major Duties include but not limited to: Responsible for proactively engaging and communicating with all local Congressional Offices to build positive working relationships. Manages the facility's Congressional inquiry process to include interactions with Congressional staff members and responding to inquiries. Provides input and guidance on preparation of informational products about the health care system, its personnel, and its activities. Assigns inquiries to appropriate service line(s), ensures internal stakeholders are informed, works with service line(s) to develop appropriate response as required. Independently develops tracking and distribution mechanism to optimize process efficiency and accountability and maintains awareness for service line leaders and administrative officers. Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of communication efforts with Congressional Staff and stakeholders, develops and implements improvement processes when identified. Develops and maintains relationships with internal subject matter experts, external community stakeholders, and Veteran Service Organizations. Communicates directly with the stakeholders including Veterans or family members as appropriate, to achieve timely and satisfactory resolution. Independently coordinates, develops, monitors and tracks responses. Establishes a systematic process and implements improvements as identified to ensure an efficient reporting process. Prepares and presents the Suspense Report weekly during Morning Report ensuring the timeliness and accuracy of meeting suspense deadlines. Assists the Public Affairs Officer in the formulation of long-range plans and policies. Develops and maintains strategic calendar of events and observances. Manages all staff messages ensuring clarity, format, etc. Coordinates with staff to provide the accurate and timely messaging. Reformats and edits message to ensure consistent and grammatically correct. Undertakes other assignments such as coordination of special projects at the direction of the Medical Center Director. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday; 7:30 am to 4:00pm 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#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD920450 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: N/A Permanent Change of Station (PCS): N/A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/18/2023. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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 may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Effective Oral Communication Skills; Creative Problem Solving; Accountability; Resilience, Agility and Sense of Urgency; Effective Written Communication Skills. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond above information. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: The ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a wide variety of individuals to effectively gain support for programs; Knowledge of communication principles, methods, practices and techniques and personal relations practices; Knowledge of principles and techniques of written, oral and personal communications Knowledge of grammar, writing and editing practices. Skill in communicating information tailored to audiences and realistic conditions to improve public understanding. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; OR, 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and graduate education, as described above, which meets the total qualification requirement for the GS-11 grade level. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent. The education portion must include graduate courses in a related field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. 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: Work is usually performed sitting at a desk, in news conferences, briefings, meetings, etc.; or riding in an automobile or public transportation. There may be occasional brief visits to industrial or construction sites, national parks or forests, military equipment test sites, etc; however, no special physical demands are involved in performing the work. 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

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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 Chalmers P Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic 420 North James Road Columbus, OH 43219 US
• Name: Jamail Mays
• Phone: (415) 712-5809
• Email: [email protected]