This position is located at the Erie VA Medical Center reporting to the Medical Center Director and is an expert advisor to the Medical Center's management and staff on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). The position specializes in the DE&I program policies, theories, principles, procedures, and practices as well as the nature and causes of institutional barriers to diversity. And to be proactive in the identification and prevention of these barriers.

Duties

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager/PD025250 Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Major Duties include but are not limited to: Program Communication: Actively communicates with all DE&I affiliated partners, and other relevant personnel regarding the function and operation of the program. Participates in national training conferences that have OPM or VHA involvement. Participates in meetings with community organizations, in order to improve diversity within the geographical area of the medical center they serve. Build consensus and coalitions to mobilize leaders and individuals towards DE&I goals and will think systematically, from both a detailed and a strategic perspective. Serves as a link between VHA executive staff and key officials within VA, VHA, VA MCs and VISNs, and a wide variety of external groups and organizations, including the media. Acts on behalf of the MC through daily contacts and by representing the MC at internal and external meetings on a broad range of issues where DE&I program goals may have direct and substantial policy implications. Creates and implements communication strategies and will serve as a content manager for the trainings, web resources, social media, and print materials to support DE&I initiatives. Collaborate with Public Affairs and Medical Media to develop and execute a DE&I communication strategy to reach all employees within the organization and create a platform for employees of all levels to report, share, and discuss DE&I gaps or violations they might experience. Prepare presentations and other materials for medical center leaders and other key stakeholders. Collaboration/Consultation: Collaborates with internal and external resources to develop and facilitate affinity groups as a forum for individuals to network, share knowledge, challenges, and ideas. Develops practical tools to equip managers and staff in creating an inclusive environment. Maintains communications with various organizations: concerning diversity related outreach programs, ensuring all efforts are synchronized to achieve the most efficient and effective results. Provides input to internal administrative operations and procedures for key events concerning diversity issues. Tracks, analyzes, and catalogs all partnerships, recommending opportunities for collaboration among stakeholders. Regularly meet with other DE&I managers in VISN 4 and the VISN 4 DE&I Champion to share and identify trends, to share best practices and resource plan when appropriate, and collaborate together on problem solving. Collaborates with external healthcare organizations and other federal agencies. Program Management: Articulates and communicates the assignment, program, problem to be solved, actionable events, milestones, and/or program issues under review, and deadlines and time frames for completion. Develops and promotes activities that grow a diverse workforce and cultivate an inclusive work environment, where employees are fully engaged and empowered to deliver the outstanding services to our Nation's Veterans, their families, and beneficiaries. Develops innovative strategies and recommendations for initiating and establishing DE&I goals, timetables, and procedures for expediting DE&I projects. Implements new DE&I initiatives to strengthen, facilitate, and integrate the programs goals and objectives into the overall MC's strategies and priorities. Develops action plans for DE&I program development and sustainment. Develops DE&I program's long-range program plans, goals, objectives, and milestones; identifies and develops ways to resolve programs or cope with issues which directly affect the accomplishment of principal program goals and objectives. Program Analysis/Reporting: Creates and implements metrics, monitoring, and reporting systems to effectively benchmark organizational progress in diversity and inclusion, Maintains accurate and current mechanisms to monitor the status of implementation objectives, agreed upon actions and identification of potential deficiencies. Prepares reports and maintains records of work accomplishments and administrative information, as required, and coordinates the preparation, presentation, and communication of work-related information. Provides in-depth analysis, best practice models, and creative quality program techniques. Serves as the MC's All Employee Survey Coordinator for the elements associated with the DE&I program. Customized surveys to assess the MC's DE&I performance, identify gaps in DE&I initiatives. Conducts research and data analysis to inform MC leadership, HR, and the VISN DE&I Champion of their findings and propose solutions. Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. 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, 10/23/2023. 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: Experience with program and project analysis and management; Advising medical center's management and staff on diversity, equity, and inclusion; Creating and implementing communication strategies; Developing guidelines, criteria, and standards for organization's diversity initiatives and policies; Preparing narrative reports containing progress towards objective, observations, and options for change and recommendations for actions; Developing and promoting activities that grow a diverse workforce and cultivate an inclusive work environment. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analysis and Problem SolvingCommunicationProject ManagementStrategic 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: The work is sedentary and does not require any special physical effort. Some work may require walking and standing in conjunction with travel and attendance at meetings and conferences away from the work site. The position might have to carry light items such as papers, books, and portable computer requirement or driving a motor vehicle relative to attendance at meetings. The work often requires long hours to meet project deadlines and to devise corrective action and solutions to unexpected technical and/or management crises resulting in sometimes highly stressful work situations. 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 Erie VA Medical Center 135 East 38th Street Erie, PA 16504 US
• Name: Ahsha Konate
• Phone: 412-822-1454
• Email: [email protected]