The incumbent serves as the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) for the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center (VAMC) located in Memphis, Tennessee. **RELOCATION INCENTIVE or RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE MAY BE OFFERED TO HIGHLY QUALIFIED CANDIDATES. ***PERMANENT CHANGE of STATION (PCS) AUTHORIZED TO THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED CANDIDATE.**

Duties

The PAO is the official responsible for internal and external communications and serves as a core member of the medical center leadership team. The PAO applies solid public relations, media, and interpersonal skills to provide representation of the VAMC internally and externally. The Public Affairs Officer is responsible for leadership of the public affairs and communications programs within the medical center. The core duties of this position include but are not limited to:

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/07/2023. 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. Examples of appropriate SF-50s include: Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old. In addition to meeting the Time-in-Grade requirement, applicants must also meet the specialized experience below. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Please see the Required Documents section below for resume requirements. Your experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week to receive proper evaluation. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-13 Grade Level: GS-13 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 is defined as: Serving as a spokesperson conducting media interviews, coordinating events, crisis communications, and responding to Congressional Inquiries. Identifying communication needs and developing informational materials to inform internal and external stakeholders of policies, programs, services, and activities. Disseminating information using broadcast, publications, press releases, feature stories, social media, and other related media products. Coordinating major events and activities that include a large number of people and were associated with a large amount of publicity. Possessing skill in written and oral communication, analysis, and interpersonal relations. Providing authoritative guidance and advise top management officials or stakeholders on the possible public and media reactions to proposed public affairs policy statement or agency actions. Independently carrying out broad, public affairs activities. *** A one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period may be required.*** You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationsCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Decision MakingProblem Solving 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 with occasional rounds in the medical center or visits to offices of those in the community who are stakeholders of the VAMC at Memphis. 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 Memphis VA Medical Center 1030 Jefferson Avenue Memphis, TN 38104 US
• Name: Judith Castro
• Phone: 4078406953
• Email: [email protected]