The VHA public information program involves the presentation of the Medical Center mission. services and activities to the staff, volunteers, members of the media, general public, veterans, local, state and federal officials and community groups in ways that most effectively achieve the VHA's goals while contributing to understanding and support of the Medical Center's caring for veterans.

Duties

Serves as the spokesperson, facilitator and coordinator to the media, congressional staffs and veterans service organizations, the community, VA and other governmental officials. Develops campaigns and communication strategies that convey information to various publics and the staff about the Medical Center. Develops and disseminates a wide range of information and data concerning the nature and objectives of Agency programs, employing all types of media, including radio, television, newspapers, magazines, professional and scientific journals, pictures, posters, and exhibits. Coordinates news media interviews with staff, and oversees arrangements with media representatives involving organization activities; provides supporting materials as required. Ensures proper attribution of news stories between staff members holding joint appointments with the medical college Establishes and maintains working relationships with local mass and specialized media representatives and with the special interest representatives concerned with veterans affairs within the geographic area He/she generates solid relationships by keeping media informed; being responsive to their requests; obtaining resources for media on various issues and programs; and by otherwise creating goodwill. Is responsible for assignment, distribution, and review of workload for his/her designated area of responsibility. Establishes and maintains a speaker's bureau, distributing the list to media and interested organizations, coordinating speech requests and providing training and materials to speakers. Assists management in panning, developing and implementing various programs and projects to meet special needs of veterans' organizations, affiliated educational institutions, and other audiences that require public relations intervention. Maintains liaison with public affairs staffs of related health and educational organizations, service, civic and fraternal organizations on behalf of the Medical Center to maintain goodwill and information and facilitate joint projects or information gathering. Constantly evaluates public affairs programs while helping to track effectiveness of activities in the Medical Center. He/she develops beats to gather information for possible dissemination, such as news stories involving station activities or personnel (i.e., research initiatives) and is always alert for opportunities to explore potential for participation in exhibits, conventions and professional meetings Maintains effective relationships with service chiefs and their staffs to refer and evaluate inquires made by the media as well as identifying newsworthy or feature events. Establishes effective relationships with local media and veterans organizations, community groups and management officials. Meets with a variety of these groups to disseminate information, enhance relationships, and communicate Medical Center and VHA policies and information about specialized programs and initiatives. Acts as liaison with the VHACO and VACO Public Affairs Program Offices, and the VISN Public Affairs Manager in matters of public affairs. Develops and maintains an internal public affairs program designed to enhance employee knowledge of and pride in the Medical Center health care organization. This may include publication of a newsletter, participation in new employee orientation, preparation of pamphlets, booklets, photo displays, fact sheets, video programs, etc. Has daily contact with top management and attends management meetings to contribute information about the public affairs milieu and to gain a proactive position on potential public relations issues. Calls news conferences and briefings after appropriate discussion and counsel; determines the best strategy to use when responding to negative media inquiries; and continuously evaluates campaign strategies and positions and monitors their effectiveness. Advises the Medical Center director, VISN Director's staff and VHACO/VACO Public Affairs Program Offices for national issues and national media -- of changes in public affairs strategies and keeps them informed of potential complications, problems and resolutions. 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/PD101320 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved 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, 09/07/2023. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 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 functionality, maintenance, content, and design of the Intranet and Internet web site and all electronic communication resources including identifying needs for new materials and enhancing existing design and content. Excellent written and oral communication skills and solid project management. Providing services that assist in the publication and transmission of information about agency programs to internal and external customers via electronic transmission. Supporting all public affairs and communication activities for DVAHCS including, internal and external communications, special events, writing news releases, feature stories, speeches, newsletters, and messages to employees, patients, and stakeholders. Possessing a broad knowledge of the principles of public communication and VA/federal government regulations for public, web and visual media communication development and management. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationCommunications and MediaCustomer ServiceOrganizational AwarenessPlanning and EvaluatingStrategic Thinking 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 generally sedentary with walking required during visits and tours of the Medical Center. Flexibility is required to accommodate events and activities occurring in other than normal duty hours. Mobility is required in terms of staging and assisting staff with equipment and other required materials. 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.

Contacts

• Address VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System 2200 SW Gage Blvd Topeka, KS 66622 US
• Name: Charlene Johnson
• Phone: (314) 939-9137
• Email: [email protected]