This position is located within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) and is organizationally aligned under OCLA's Chief of Staff. The mission is to provide enterprise-wide, competency-based workforce development for VA employees and leaders.

Duties

This is a NON Bargaining unit position. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 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#: Program Specialist/PD173460 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: NOT Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): NOT Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): NOT Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Major Duties: Serves as a confidential specialist to the Chief of Staff to work on special projects that impact OCLA, the Department, and to internal and external stakeholders. Strong understanding of operational/administrative programs (e.g. Human Resources/Financial Management, FOIA, Privacy/Records Management (does not need to be VA related experience). Exercises extensive authority, with minimal supervision, for planning, developing, and coordinating programs/procedures, knowledge management systems, and initiatives, policies, and objectives related to the Department and Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs. Evaluates the effectiveness of policies and plans pertaining to all aspects of the program; identifies actual or potential problems areas, trends, deficiencies, or areas of imbalance, and takes all the necessary actions to resolve them. Serves as staff liaison and analytical expert coordinating priorities, projects, and meetings among the senior office staff and acts as frontline liaison handling communication with persons and/or groups within and outside of the organization or office. Provides substantive information relative to assigned responsibilities for response to Members of Congress, their staffs, or others having interest in the mission and functions of the VA. This information is provided through both verbal and written communication and personal meetings. Resolves difficulties relating to provision of the information.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A complete application package, i.e., Resume, Transcripts, etc., as required by job announcement.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Pre-employment physical examination/evaluation may be required.
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/18/2024. 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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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. Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal 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 within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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. AND 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-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience in operations/administration management and analytics (e.g. Human Resources, Fiscal, Emergency Management, FOIA, Six Sigma), and creating and establishing standard operating procedures (SOP) and policies for both internal and external customers; Having understanding of U.S. Congress; Experience managing and/or assisting in the congressional space at the Federal or State level. Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above. 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 OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.

Education

There is no education substitute or requirement for the GS-14 level.

Contacts

• Address AS Congressional Affairs 810 Vermont Ave Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]