This is an Emergency Management Specialist position in the Plans Branch of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Office of the Assistant Under Secretary for Health (AUSH) in Martinsburg, WV.

Duties

The VHA Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is a national program office with staff strategically placed across the Nation. OEM is a high-profile organization that has daily interaction with the highest levels of leadership in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VHA, and the VA's national-level partners. These partners include the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as other Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies in the public and private sector. OEM is responsible for facilitating VHA's emergency management response and recovery efforts, ensuring uninterrupted services to all Veterans. OEM serves America's Veterans by ensuring mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery activities focusing on the continuity of Veterans' services in the event of emergencies and disasters. OEM strives to improve the Nation's preparedness in response to war, terrorism, national emergencies, and natural disasters by developing plans and implementing actions to ensure continued service to Veterans, and support national, state, and local emergency management, public health, safety and homeland security efforts. At the GS-12 level, the Emergency Management Specialist will serve in a developmental role intended to provide the incumbent with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the full range of duties at the GS-13 full performance level. At the GS-13 full performance level, the Emergency Management Specialist will serve as a subject matter expert for emergency preparedness and contingency operations. Duties to include: Coordinates and organizes various aspects of healthcare operations and emergency preparedness. Develops and implements comprehensive emergency response plans outlining procedures, protocols, and resources required to handle various medical emergencies in response to war, terrorism, national emergencies, and natural disasters. Develops plans and strategies to enhance the operational readiness of the VHA enterprise to include assessing training needs, identifying capability gaps, and formulating readiness objectives. Serves as a member of the Emergency Management Coordination Cell (EMCC) and utilizes the Incident Action Planning process for response, recovery, and mitigation programs. Performs technical writing functions requiring substantial knowledge of the various areas of emergency management and of the specialized terminology required within a healthcare delivery system. Writes and edits technical materials to include reports of research findings, regulations in technical areas, technical manuals, and specifications. Assures that materials presented are consistent with agency policy and with other information presented by the agency, meet the style requirements of the agency and the publication, and are written at an appropriate level for the intended audience. Provides direction and performs substantive work to build emergency management and support capabilities, as well as to maintain and ensure the readiness of such capabilities based on an analysis of risk and need. Conducts risk assessments to evaluate the likelihood and potential consequences of hazards, using various tools and techniques to quantify and prioritize risks. Conducts vulnerability analysis to identify weaknesses and susceptibilities within healthcare systems, including infrastructure and operational aspects; uses the findings from the risk assessment and vulnerability analysis to develop effective mitigation strategies. Conducts compliance and regulatory analysis to ensure the risk assessment processes align with relevant regulations and standards while keeping up to date with emergency preparedness guidelines. Functions as a liaison between healthcare facilities, public health agencies, emergency response agencies and other relevant organizations. Facilitates communication and collaboration among these entities to ensure a synchronized response, resource sharing, and information exchange. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:00AM - 3:30PM EST Telework: Ad hoc basis only. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Position Description/PD#: Emergency Management Specialist/PD58819A and PD58820A 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, 01/31/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet the Time-In-Grade requirement by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 grade position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 grade. For a GS-13 grade position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 grade. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that demonstrates your Time-In-Grade eligibility must be submitted with your application. If your most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year of Time-In-Grade, as required by this job announcement. In that instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that demonstrates the one year Time-In-Grade requirement has been met. 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. GS-12 QUALIFICATION: You must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade GS-11 that is directly related to the work of this position. Examples of specialized experience for this position include: Assisting with the development and/or implementation of emergency response plans and technical materials. Assisting with conducting impact analysis to measure and/or mitigate the consequences of emergencies on healthcare services. Assisting with conducting compliance and regulatory analysis to ensure risk assessments align with relevant regulations and standards. Assisting with communication between healthcare facilities, public health agencies, emergency response agencies, or other relevant organizations. GS-13 QUALIFICATION: You must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade GS-12 that is directly related to the work of this position. Examples of specialized experience for this position include: Developing and implementing comprehensive emergency response plans outlining procedures, protocols, and resources required to handle various threats and hazards. Developing technical materials, including reports of research findings, regulations in technical areas, technical manuals, and specifications. Conducting impact analysis to measure and mitigate the consequences of emergencies on healthcare services. Conducting compliance and regulatory analysis to ensure risk assessments align with relevant regulations and standards. Serving as a liaison between healthcare facilities, public health agencies, emergency response agencies, and other relevant organizations. You will be rated on the following Competencies: Planning and Evaluating Project Management Stakeholder Engagement Analysis and Problem Solving Emergency Management Partnering Customer Service 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. 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 during non-emergency situations. However, during field exercises and operational support missions, it may require strenuous physical activity including carrying equipment (up to 40lbs), walking long distances over difficult terrain, running, climbing, working long hours in primitive or arduous conditions, long periods of standing, bending, and stooping. Deployments may include various housing and living conditions to include non-climate controlled, limited privacy sleeping facilities (for example, cots, tents, "hot-bunking", gymnasiums or similar), limited shower and laundry facilities and limited feeding options (such as shelf-stable meals, meals-ready-to-eat (MREs), and field kitchens). The incumbent may also be required to work long hours under highly stressful and demanding conditions, which are the norm during major emergency operations. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the OPM website at this link.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address VSHO - Operations 2402 Wildwood Ave Suite 301 Sherwood, AR 72120 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]