This position is in the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA). OCLA acts as the congressional and legislative affairs office for all VA Administrations & staff offices, coordinates closely with the program offices of the Administrations, staff offices, the Office of General Counsel, the Government Accountability Office, and Federally Mandated Committees, assuring that Departmental congressional activities, priorities, and communications align with those of the Administration.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A complete application package, i.e., Resume, Transcripts, etc., as required by job announcement.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Pre-employment physical examination/evaluation may be required.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/29/2023. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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. AND You may qualify based on your education/experience/combination as described below. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basingall or part ofyour qualifications on education. GS-9 Education/Experience/Combination: Education: 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. (Transcripts required) OR Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade, GS-7, in the normal line of progression for the Program Analyst, GS-0343-9. Examples of specialized experience may include: Respond to requests for information regarding policy and program issues Research issues to be discussed/providing background documentation Communicate, orally and in writing, with a wide variety of individuals. Prepare summary and analysis of briefings and meetings. Track data and information provided to management, staff and customers. OR Combination of Education and Specialized Experience: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-9 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 18 semester hours of graduate level education that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for a GS-9 position. For example, an applicant who has 27 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience equivalent to GS-7 (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the GS-9 position. (Transcripts required) GS-11 Education/Experience/Combination: Education: 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. (Transcripts required) OR 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 Program Analyst, GS-0343-11. Examples of specialized experience include: Prepare and provide briefings and presentations on programs and issues of interest. Write and review a full range of correspondence/information to be provided to a variety of audiences. Provide technical assistance to program staff on how to respond to programmatic inquiries. Compile workload metrics Interpret reporting requirements contained in bills and enacted legislation. Prepare complex reports for senior department and OCLA management. Assist management in interpretation and utilization of reports and congressional information provided. OR Combination of Education and Specialized Experience: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 36 semester hours of graduate level education that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for a GS-11 position. For example, an applicant who has 45 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience equivalent to GS-9 (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the GS-11 position. (Transcripts required) Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above. 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. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.

Education

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

PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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.

Contacts

• Address DAS Congressional Affairs 810 Vermont Ave Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]