This position is located with the Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Chief of Staff (CoS) IT Strategic Communication (ITSC). The Public Affairs Specialist manages, plans and applies knowledge and expertise to produce a variety of external communication as well as plans, guides, captures, and documents media engagements and executive preparation sessions; monitors and reviews media sentiment and analysis; assembles media pitch plans; plans social media engagement and editorial calendars.

Duties

The duties of the position include: Participates in communications projects or initiatives with an eye to ensuring that strategic organizational goals and objectives are met. Communicates and correlates goals and objectives with the organization's strategic business plan. Contributes to the preparation of communications products such as mass emails; intranet and/ or internet content; executive talking points; briefing or presentation materials; Mid-Year and Year-in-Review publications; internal correspondence; Congressional, media, or other external correspondence; and Congressional testimony. Ensures the accuracy of communications products by coordinating and fact-checking with relevant divisions and/or their field offices. Works on projects that typically involve sensitive or controversial matters or complex issues that cut across different areas of the organization. Assists with the development of alternative approaches for communication strategies so as to clarify misunderstood or controversial policies or programs. Assists in evaluating the implementation of significant program or policy changes from a communications (e.g. image/perception) perspective. Contributes to presentations for senior management; assists division heads or managers in developing and presenting overviews of their operations. Helps to implement effective management processes that enable better planning and control of assigned functions. Performs other duties assigned Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Available at the service's discretion Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD18983A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved 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, 11/06/2023. 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. Examples of specialized experience include: Prepares or review/edits technical and analytical reports; Plans, captures, and documents public events and activities; Gathers information and produces informational materials concerning departmental policies, programs, and activities for dissemination to the news media, and obtains feedback on the effectiveness of these materials; Develops creative, visual approaches for external communication strategies that help clarify misunderstood or controversial policies or programs to the press, to the public; and Organizes and coordinate news media interviews with staff. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Creative Thinking Strategic Thinking Communication Analysis and Problem 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, although some slight physical effort may be required. 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 DAS Information and Technology - 103 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]