This position is located in the communications department of a Veterans affairs Medical Center. The Public Affairs Specialist serves as the Medical Center liaison, facilitator and coordinator to local/national media, congressional staffs and Veterans service organizations, the community, VA and other governmental officials in the absence of the Communications Director.

Duties

Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: Develop and disseminate 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. Establish and maintain working relationships with local mass and specialized media representatives and with the special interest representatives concerned with Veterans affairs within the geographic area. Generate 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. Coordinate news media interviews with staff, and oversees arrangements with media representatives involving organization activities: provides supporting materials as required. Maintain 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, information gathering, and publicity. Initiate Public Affairs correspondence, prepares information packages, plans/conducts tours and other related tasks for special visitors and dignitaries. Prepare, organize and/or coordinate internal Medical Center ceremonies and writes speeches for the Medical Center Director. Interacts with Top Management by attending management meetings to gain a clear understanding and develop a proactive position on potential public relations issues. Develop and assist in maintaining an internal Public Affairs program designed to enhance employee knowledge of and pride in the Medical Center Edit publications such as newsletters, pamphlets, booklets, photo displays, fact sheets, videos, bulletin boards, etc., which enhance internal and external perception of our healthcare System. Produce feature stories for internal and external use to promote facility accomplishments, employee achievements, etc. Develop and complete short videos highlighting facility accomplishments, employee and Veteran achievements for use on social media. Assist the Public Affairs Officer and Management in planning, 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. Other duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Subject to change based on the needs of the Agency Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD03663A 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, 09/15/2023. 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-09. 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: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-09) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: communicating on multi-media platforms to include researching, developing, and writing news releases, features stories, social media and web content, and public service announcements for a variety of health care programs and subjects; researching factual information, gathering and verifying facts to write or edit materials (e.g., reports, articles, pamphlets, scripts, and speeches), and analyzing and reporting digital performance across social media platforms; and presenting information to individuals, large and small groups in person and on digital platforms. Demonstrated ability to write compelling feature stories and social media posts using AP style. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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., equivalent doctoral degree, three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, Or LL.M in the related field of the position to be filled. The education portion must include courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Education must have been obtained in an accredited college, or university. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond completed graduate level education (in excess of the first two years or 36 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements.) and specialized experience as described above to meet total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position." NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcript with your application. Education cannot be credited without documentation You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analytical ReasoningCommunicationsCommunications and MediaWriting 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 moderately sedentary with walking required during visits, tours, and various Public Affairs events at the Medical Center as well as off-station areas and facilities. Flexibility is required to accommodate events and activities occurring in other than normal duty hours. Mobility is required in terms of staging, setting up hospital displays 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

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 Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center 2002 Holcombe Boulevard Houston, TX 77030 US
• Name: Shakama Cofield
• Email: [email protected]