The Public Affairs Specialist serves as Medical Center point of contact for the media and public information inquiries and as the liaison with other medical centers, central office, the VHA VISN, and veteran organizations in the areas of public information and community relations. The position also serves as lead on digital media and communication efforts including social media, digital signage, employee intranet, and website.

Duties

Duties include but not limited to: Serves as a spokesperson for the Medical Center and is the point of contact for local and national media. Serves as the liaison for Veterans and Veteran Service Organizations, Congressional staff, community groups, professional organizations, etc. He/she conducts the Public Affairs Program for the Medical Center with responsibility for developing and providing staff direction involving all public information, internal communications and community relations activities. He/she often represents the Medical Center Director, participating at public, civic or social events to improve perception of the Medical Center. Develops reports, along with recommendations to the Medical Center Director, including implementation and monitoring strategies. Analyzes internal communication needs and develops publications or other information materials for staff, patients, volunteers and others. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD16210A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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, 03/08/2024. 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 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-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: Participates in new conferences and briefings; determining best strategy for responses to negative media; initiates public affairs correspondence, oversees arrangements with media; publishes calendar events to the internet/intranet and social media; respond to complaints and inquiries; advises senior level management on development of media campaigns; markets organization services through flyers, posters, fairs, exhibits, displays, publicity and meetings. Participates in new conferences and briefings; determining best strategy for responses to negative media; initiates public affairs correspondence, oversees arrangements with media; publishes calendar events to the internet/intranet and social media; respond to complaints and inquiries; advises senior level management on development of media campaigns; markets organization services through flyers, posters, fairs, exhibits, displays, publicity and meetings. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analytical ReasoningCommunicationsCommunications and MediaMultimedia TechnologiesOrganizational Awareness 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: Work is generally sedentary with walking required during visits and tours of the Medical Center. Flexibility is required to accommodate events and activities occurring in other than normal duty hours. Mobility s required in terms of staging and assisting staff with equipment and other required materials. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center One Freedom Way Augusta, GA 30901 US
• Name: Deborah Niebauer
• Phone: 228-523-5000 X40010
• Email: [email protected]