The Public Affairs Officer for the Huntington VA Medical Center leads and directs the medical center's public affairs and community relations programs, advises executive leadership, and serves as the medical center spokesperson, the point of contact for local and national media, and the liaison for veterans service organizations, congressional offices, civic groups, professional organizations, offices of local and state elected officials and education affiliates.

Duties

Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Must have the skill and ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a wide variety of individuals and groups to effectively gain support for VA/VHA and medical center programs. Must have expert knowledge of communication principles, methods, practices and techniques; analytical methods; and interpersonal relations practices. Skilled in applying such expertise in applying and modifying accepted approaches to complex public affairs problems through the development and evaluation of communications programs to broaden and/or enhance understanding among publics resistant or indifferent to medical center programs. Determines methods to be used and approaches to be taken to carry out projects and assignments including resolving most problems that arise. Guidelines are broadly stated and in the form of VA, VHA and medical center memorandums and/or policies, must use judgment in applying these broad guidelines to varying situations, and in developing new approaches to resolve specific public affairs concerns or issues. The guidelines are limited in scope and substance and deal mostly in routine procedural matters; therefore, the incumbent must use seasoned judgment, professional knowledge and experience to deal with specific situations, and may require employing various resources. Provides effective planning and execution of public affairs activities and programs involving the development of frequently complex information to general and specialized publics with the objective of informing and educating and in some instances changing attitudes concerning the medical center's mission and activities. Advises senior management through the provision of knowledge and skill in applying principles and methods of written and oral communication used in a variety of media in order to conduct an effective, goal oriented public affairs program involving external and internal information dissemination, public speaking, special events and community relations activities. Serves as spokesperson for the medical center, is the point of contact for local and national media, and serves the liaison for veterans service organizations, congressional offices, civic groups, professional organizations, offices of local and state elected officials and education affiliates. Analyze, develop, and present alternative approaches in developing communication strategies for misconstrued agency policies or programs; or to facilitate clarification of agency activities or policies to specialized groups, the general population, community and veteran organizations, news media, or individuals. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not available Telework: Not authorized other than for ad hoc. Duty station is on the main campus Remote: Not authorized Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist - PCS Authorized/PD203330 FLSA: Exempt BU Status: Non-Bargaining Unit Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Permanent Change of Duty Station (PCS): Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not authorized Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years' vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA. Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement). For More Information on Benefits: https://www.vacareers.va.gov/Benefits/EmploymentBenefits Competitive Federal benefits: Job security- Stability Career advancement and priority in hiring as a Federal employee Federal Retirement Survivor Benefits Military buy back toward retirement Leave Benefits: AL (13-26 days), SL (13 days), Paid Federal Holidays (11 days) , Paid Parental Leave 12 wks. FEHB lowest cost FEGLI low cost Flexible Spending accounts Pre-taxed Federal Long Term Care Insurance TSP matching 5% and Pre-tax contributions Child Care subsidy And more

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/29/2023. 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 GS-12 To qualify for the GS-12 level, you must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level or higher in Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. This experience must include: 1. Plans and executes special events and official ceremonies, including dedications and ribbon cuttings and DV visits with VA officials, congressional representatives, and other elected officials. 2. Developing and implementing such strategies, messages, and other communications tools for highly visible facility programs and during high profile situations which may be sensitive or controversial. 3. Experience with problem resolution, service recover, and development of recommendations to senior leaders to resolve specific issues related to public affairs office; 4. Manages communications with media and other stakeholders in a direct and concise manner when controversial and/or high-level issues impact the Medical Center, which often occur during crisis and emergency situations. 5. Facility content manager for Internet and Intranet web sites; ensures compliance with regulations, visual identity quality standards and overall objectives for VA and the facility; and 6. Establishes and maintains relationships with the public and serves in an advisory capacity to facility leadership, recommending innovative methods for avoiding or resolving problems and reducing conflict with stakeholders and the public at large. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:CommunicationCreative ThinkingOral Communication 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 s 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 Huntington VA Medical Center 1540 Spring Valley Drive Huntington, WV 25704 US
• Name: James Williams III
• Phone: 410-605-7000
• Email: [email protected]