This position is in the Office of Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Medical Media located at the Richmond VA Medical Center within VISN 6 Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network. The incumbent serves as a Visual Information Specialist and reports to the Public Affairs Officer. S/he provides media support and develops media products used to communication, training, and consulting activities for the medical center, community-based outpatient clinics, and VISN 6 Network.

Duties

The major duties include, but are not limited to the following below: Performs work that communicates information for patient education, staff awareness and training, medical/scientific presentations and public affairs activities. Designs and displays media materials such as banners, anatomical representations, photographs, illustrations, diagrams, graphs, logos, models, slides, advertisements, slides, overlays, drawings, and charts which may be used in books, magazines, pamphlets, promotions, exhibits, live television, video recorded speeches or lectures, or be communicated through videos, webcasts, etc. Applies the principles of visual design using dedicated computer graphics systems and programs and develops original designs, concepts, or visual styles for publication, advertisements, exhibits, or display materials for the organization, that evoke specific responses from the intended audience (e.g., humor, excitement, pride). Exercises ingenuity and imagination to use multimedia equipment techniques or processes to respond to situations which meet the medical center's mission and operational and informational requirements. Translates the subject matter into visual designs. Makes the initial decisions on such design matters as size, layout kind and quality of the materials, medium, color space (spot colors, CMYK, RGB, hexadecimal), typography, lighting effects, specific visual elements or materials to be incorporated (e.g., photos, illustrations) or reproduction methods. Designs and develops technology based (interactive multi-media) presentations, hybrid print/digital projects, and video teleconferencing for media distribution. Develops concepts for scientific publication and presentation materials from rough diagrams, short conversations and often vague guidelines provided by the doctors and staff. Works with customers to evaluate their mission requirements, identify the target audience characteristics, presentation format, and goals of the subject matter to be depicted. Transforms written descriptions of subject matter into visual representations without existing pictures, models or diagrams. Selects appropriate visual images that simplify subject matter, grab attention or provide a symbolic link between content, abstract ideas or thoughts. Applies multiple principles of visual design and exercises skills and graphic abilities to portray what is seen or imagined through an art medium to solve difficult and complex visual art requests. Demonstrates advanced skill in cropping and scaling photos and illustrations, use of typography and other graphic elements, and preparation of jobs for reproduction. Knowledgeable of medical terminology and procedures is preferred. Produces multimedia products to include videotape productions, graphics layouts and physical production, and presentation graphics support. Creates post-production effects and integrates with animations and other interactive media. Animations are utilized for concept and product definition and visualization, and training packages and aids. Ensures adherence to Section 508 Compliance Requirements for all electronic/online posted publications that are accessible for people with disabilities such as blindness, low vision or limited mobility that include proper development of document structure tags and reading order. Informs supervisor and department chief on equipment maintenance and purchase requirements. Advises and/or consults on technical advantages and disadvantages of various formats, styles, media, and methods of reproduction to meet the objectives of each project. Researches source materials and conceptually dissects, disassembles, or reconstructs items for illustration, translating information into original artwork. Makes decisions on design matters as size, layout kind and quality of the materials, medium, color schemes, typography, lighting effects, specific visual elements or materials to be incorporated (e.g., photos, illustrations) or reproduction methods and presents to customer for review. Works to reduce the cost of production, installation, or maintenance of visual products and transforms spoken or written descriptions of items, processes, issues, or events into visual representation. Attends or presents at onsite meetings or offsite locations to ensure production information is gathered in a timely manner to meet project deadlines. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM (EST) Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: Not Authorized Virtual/Remote: This is NOT a virtual/remote position. Position Description/PD#: Visual Information Specialist/PD030440 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, 10/19/2023. 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. (If you have not held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks, this question does not apply to you.) For this vacancy, applicants must have held grade GS-07 or higher for at least one year to be eligible for the GS-09. The grade must have been held in the Federal service but may have been in any occupation. Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current Federal employee 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 date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one-year time-in-grade. In this instance, you should provide an additional SF-50 to clearly demonstrate 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. Basic Requirement for an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met to qualify for entry into this occupational series for at the GS-05 grade level and above, and it is something that cannot be waived. In addition to the education and/or specialized experience below, applicants must meet the IOR for this position. In addition to the minimum qualifications listed below, you must meet the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) for this position as described below: Education: Undergraduate AND Graduate Education: Major study -- commercial art, fine arts, art history, industrial design, architecture, drafting, interior design, photography, visual communication, or other fields related to the position. Some positions may also require subject-matter knowledge of medicine, science, or technical equipment. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) Advanced training in a vocational school, technical institute, or art institute above the high school level in one of the fields listed above is creditable as general experience on a month-for-month basis. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR, Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience in the actual type of work for which application is made. Unpaid experience is creditable, provided the work done was of a quality level and demonstrated the ability required for the position. This includes planning the preparation and use of photographs, illustrations, drawings, and other art work, charts, diagrams, dioramas, maps, slides, overlays, and other kinds of visual material for use in communicating information through visual means. In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) above, applicants may qualify based on 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-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: providing visual and audio production services using nationally established guidelines and/or industry standards; Planning the preparation and use of visual aspects of printed materials such as books, handouts, bulletins, etc. for use in communicating information through visual means; Producing Web pages and other visual materials using Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere); And Planning, coordinating, publicizing, and managing special events including distributing information related to such event. (Applicants experience must be documented in detail in resumes in order to receive full credit.); OR, Education: Applicants must have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR successfully completed two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR LL.B. or J.D., if related, that included courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position in an accredited college or university. [Note: One-year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.] (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). OR, Combination of Experience/Education: Applicants must possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience directly related to the work of this position, which may be substituted to meet the experience requirements of the position. (Note: Only graduate education beyond the first full year of graduate study (18 semester hours) is qualifying for the GS-09 grade level of this position when combining education and experience.) [For example, an applicant has 9 months of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level and 2 ½ years of creditable graduate level education of this position. The applicant meets 75 percent of the required experience and 50 percent of the required education (i.e., the applicant has 1/2 year of graduate study beyond that is required for the GS-09 grade level). Therefore, the applicant exceeds the total requirement and is qualified for this position.]. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Multimedia TechnologiesProduction and Processing 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 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 Central Virginia VA Health Care System 1201 Broad Rock Boulevard Richmond, VA 23249 US
• Name: Janet Smith
• Phone: 9109894289 X1285
• Email: [email protected]