The Public Affairs Specialist will serve in the Office of Public Affairs at the Robley Rex VA Medical Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The incumbent will have the unique opportunity to serve on the activations team for the new replacement hospital currently under construction, which is slated for completion in 2026.

Duties

Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Serve as the Public Affairs Specialist for the Louisville Replacement Hospital Activations Team. Responsible for preparing or directing the preparation of all news releases, media advisories, public service announcements, and feature articles about the medical facility and its programs and services. Serve as the spokesperson for the medical center for media interviews, events, or crisis situations as directed by, or in the absence of, the Supervisory Public Affairs Officer. Provide technical consultation in the preparation of public relations and marketing materials and publications. Serve as content manager of the Robley Rex intranet, internet, and social media platforms. Evaluate the effectiveness of the public affairs program and makes changes as necessary to improve the public image of VA and to improve media exposure of VA programs and activities. Assist the Supervisory Public Affairs Officer and Executive Leadership Team in planning, developing and implementing various programs and projects to meet special needs of veterans' organizations, affiliated educational institutions, and audiences that require public relations intervention. Serve as the Public Information Officer for the Hospital Incident Command System as directed. Establish effective relationships with local media and Veterans' organizations, community groups, and management officials; meet with these groups to disseminate information, enhance relationships, and communicate Robley Rex and VHA policies and information about specialized programs and initiatives. Act as a liaison with the VA Office of Public Affairs and Intergovernmental Affairs, VHA Office of Communications, and VISN 9 Communications. Address media inquiries and discuss complex, sensitive issues with the Supervisory Public Affairs Officer and/or Executive Leadership Team to develop health care system responses. Perform other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00AM-4:30PM 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/PD403020 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): 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, 08/24/2023. 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-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. In addition to meeting the time-in-grade requirement, applicants must meet the specialized experience and/or education as stated below: 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. Specialized experience is defined as: applying advanced communication and analytical practices; planning, developing, and producing a variety of materials and publications (including print, visual, Web-based, multimedia, and video materials) to achieve understanding of various points of view or concepts; advising leadership on the development of communication plans and strategies; establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with local media representatives and community groups; and coordinating and implementing special events, ceremonies, outreach campaigns, tours, and other activities to generate public awareness of organization's mission. OR, SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Applicants must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. OR, COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Combination of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationProject ManagementWeb Technology 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: Assignments regularly involve extended periods of walking, standing, bending and stooping to execute logistics for special events or to accompany media crews or other special groups. The employee is also required to regularly pick up loads of 15 pounds such as boxes of various literature materials and to push carts of supplies. 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 Robley Rex VA Medical Center 800 Zorn Avenue Louisville, KY 40206 US
• Name: Nicole Guy
• Phone: 502-287-6291
• Email: [email protected]