The Public Affairs Specialist reports to the Public Affairs Director. This position is located at VA Puget Sound Health Care System's (VAPSHCS) Seattle campus and may require occasional travel to its eight other facilities in Western Washington.

Duties

Supports committees, work-teams, service lines and programs in the identification, planning, development, implementation and evaluation of campaigns, initiatives, programs, and product development to support such efforts. Establishing and maintaining proactive media relationships, managing high profile issues, shaping opinion and perception about those issues, and building with key reporters, local, state, and congressional offices, key organizational leaders, and subject matter experts on topics of greatest interest showcase including Veteran Affairs research achievements, improvements and enhancements to care delivery. Cultivates new opportunities to partner with subject matters within and outside of Veteran Affairs Puget Sound to showcase and highlight achievements of Veteran Affairs Puget Sound. Coordinates external speaking opportunities and forums where Veteran Affairs subject matter experts will be called upon. Manages and disseminates administrative policies and guidelines for public affairs including local and national public affairs policies and standards, compliance with the Regional Office of Public Affairs, Veteran Affairs Central Office of Public Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Web Communications, and the Veteran Affairs Central Office Chief of Communications. Plans and executes programs and activities, taking advantage of their use in communication products. Analyzes medical center information needs, goals and resources tailoring specific communication strategies using all media to reach target audiences, both internal and external. Directly responsible for news and media relations, congressional and government relations, social, electronic, and digital media Serves as a spokesperson for the medical center and the point of contact for local and national media; serves as liaison for veteran's service organizations, congressional staff, community groups, professional organizations, etc.; develops and provides staff direction involving all public information, internal communications, and community­ relations activities. Develops and executes successful internal and external promotional marketing communications plans, congressional and community affairs. Developing information and communications for use on multiple platforms within and outside of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound, including electronic, print, photojournalism, graphic design content to support the development of print and electronic newsletters, creation of feature news stories, media pitches and promotional PSAs, as well as creating stock web based images, video and graphics to enhance the written and visual messaging for use on the internet, intranet, electronic message boards, in brochures, pamphlets, and media briefing packets. Utilizes photo coverage for news releases, radio and television scripts, personal appearances, brochures, pamphlets to showcase and enhance the organizations profile. Represents the Medical Center and its leadership by participating in and/or coordinating public, civic or social events to improve perception of Veterans Affairs. Independently plans and implements work plans, campaigns and projects as well as proactively anticipating the organization's public affairs and communications strategies and requirements. Adapts quickly to competing work demands, multiple challenges and priorities, while anticipating unexpected challenges is crucial. Innovation, and flexibility to a rapidly changing work environment combined with adaptability to learn new technical skills. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: AD-HOC approved. 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/PD412740 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days the closing date of this announcement, 06/25/2024. 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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 the next lower grade level GS-09 or pay band in the federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following: gathering and evaluating information to address issues arising from external Stakeholders such as congressional offices, or other federal government agencies in compliance of patient's privacy laws and guidelines. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: Prioritizing strategies that advance strategic goals of patient experience, quality or efficiency, employee engagement, community partnership and environment of care; supporting stakeholder education through the delivery of content (e.g., printed, digital, internet, social media) that's valuable, credible and relevant; develop accurate and timely responses to congressional, White House Hotline inquiries (formal and informal) through internal stakeholder engagement, tracking and staffing requests for information and patient complaints from a variety of sources; capturing and logging multiple incoming congressional inquiries and requests for information, both formal and informal, whether directly from a congressional office or from the regional office; managing the quarterly congressional onsite briefings in collaboration with the Public Affairs Director. OR, SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (Transcripts Required): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR I have successfully completed 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR I have successfully completed a LL.M., if related. OR, COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (Transcripts Required): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must possess a combination of specialized experience and progressively higher-level graduate education that is equal to at least 100 percent for this grade level. Only graduate education more than the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11. (To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond two years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementCommunications and MediaOrganizational StewardshipStakeholder Management 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: Most work is performed in an office setting and the work is sedentary. Occasionally the position will require standing for long periods of time, bending (photography), walking, lifting and restocking supplies weighing 25 pounds or less. Work Environment: The work is generally performed at the Seattle campus, though travel to off-campus sites will be required. The setting is an administrative office setting which is adequately lighted and climate controlled. The work requires typical safety precautions in working with office equipment and avoiding accidents. The work requires some weekend, holiday or other related travel to support public and community meetings, CBOC meetings or opening, special events and training. Travel between VAPSHCS's nine sites is not uncommon. 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

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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 VA Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Danielle Callinder
• Phone: 253-582-8440 X75465
• Email: [email protected]