***This is a remote position but the selectee must live, or relocate to, at most within 50 miles of one of the eight VA Medical Centers located within VISN 19*** The incumbent has responsibility for full spectrum content creation processes and supports execution, quality control, branding, messaging, and delivery of collateral materials.

Duties

Major duties include: Provides technical and administrative supervision to a unit of two public affairs specialists, two writer-editors, and one historian Manages staff workload, performance metrics, evaluations, and training. Interviews candidates for positions in the unit; recommends appointments, promotions, and reassignments to unit positions; identifies and provides for training needs, and finds ways to improve production or increase the quality of work within the area of authority. Coordinates all communication activities for assigned programs, projects, and initiatives for the VISN 19 Creative Task Force to include any communication activities needed for VISN 19 executive leadership, VISN program managers, facility PAOs, and other directors and service chiefs in the organization. Responsible for strategic communications research and planning, developing, and implementing communication programs, and evaluating the effectiveness of those programs for all eight health care systems and VISN 19 program managers; particularly those programs with wide or significant effect upon the VISN's geographic area, policy, processes, operations, fiscal control, and economy, and those where the scope may be broad affecting all Veterans, stakeholders, and VISN employees. Gives advice, counsel, and instruction to employees on both work and administrative matters. The incumbent hears and resolves minor complaints from employees; refers group grievances and more serious unresolved complaints to a higher-level supervisor or manager; effects minor disciplinary measures such as warnings and reprimands and recommends action in more serious cases. Keeps abreast of current affairs and recognizes the impact of events, changes, or newsworthy information to the serviced Veteran population or to employees within the organization. Develops information for release in the form of newspaper, radio, television, Internet website or other formats such as a bulletin or pamphlet. Determines goals for the strategic communications program; develops plans and coordinates with senior leadership, key staff directorates, and other individuals and associations critical to successful execution of the program. Responsible for editorial management of content, style, and quality. Responsible for editing, and monitoring submissions from facility content contributors to ensure their grammatical and structural correctness as well as compliance with mandates, policies, and procedures mandated by the Public Affairs Office and the VISN 19 Creative Task Force. Develops original content, concepts, and/or historical submissions for publications, exhibits, or presentation materials that provides services, advice, and assistance to users of VA health care programs internally and externally. Produces and supervises production of stories, blogs, historical archives, PACT Act content, and scripts for facility and VISN use. Incumbent helps facilities and coordinates outreach events, and enrollment opportunities for Veterans and members of the community. Develops reports along with recommendations to executive leadership team about implementation and monitoring strategies. Must be fully aware of the impact, direct and indirect, that recommendations will have upon all involved. Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of the programs for internal communications, external communications, and media relations with the goal of achieving greater understanding of the VA mission and programs. Develops creative strategies and approaches to inform and educate employees, visitors, citizens, elected officials, educational institutions, media, interest groups, and others to promote understanding and to minimize adverse reactions for VA policies, programs, and decisions. Designs and develops written, oral, and visual presentations to provide timely and accurate information concerning VISN 19. Develops materials, including fact sheets, speeches, briefing slides, and infographics, to reach and persuade stakeholders and Veterans. Ensures the articulation and dissemination of the views and policies of the VA/VHA to internal and external stakeholders. Plans, directs, and executes all content aspects of campaigns to convey complex information concerning the VA's programs, program related activities, responsibilities, and actions. This information helps shape public opinion on major issues. Participates on the National Disabled Veteran WSC communications team, schedules content products throughout the year and on-site during the event. Oversees the communications plan for the WSC. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is a virtual position but the selectee must live, or relocate to, at most within 50 miles of one of the eight VA Medical Centers located within VISN 19 Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist/PD14213-O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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, 10/12/2023. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes experience where you were responsible for applying advanced communication and analytical practices, methods and techniques to the solution of complex public affairs problems; 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Human Capital ManagementManages and Organizes InformationPlanning and EvaluatingProduct Evaluation 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: The work is primarily sedentary. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. Duties may require lifting and carrying computer equipment such as monitors and printers. 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.

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 VISN 19 VA Rocky Mountain Network 4100 E Mississippi Ave Glendale, CO 80246 US
• Name: Matthew Phillips
• Phone: (360) 696-4061 X39039
• Email: [email protected]