The Office of and Suicide Prevention (OSP) in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is responsible for providing strategic guidance directed toward improving the quality of mental health care for over one and a half million Veterans nation wide. OSP serves as the primary consultant to the Secretary and the Under Secretary for Health (USH) on issues related to preventing suicide, improving Veterans' mental health, and addressing Veteran public health issues.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: The incumbent serves as a Communications Specialist (CS) with primary responsibility for internal OSP communications. The CS builds communication strategies to ensure effective and efficient communication across all service lines within OSP. The incumbent utilizes various platforms of communication on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis, to include all-employee messages, internal newsletters, talking points, and blogs to inform internal audiences about organizational policies, programs, activities and updates. The incumbent is responsible for the strategic plan for internal communications and develops and maintains a regular production calendar of internal communications as part of this plan. The incumbent strives to increase the reach and effectiveness of communication efforts throughout OSP via email, town hall events, photos, videos, interactive questions, FAQs, discussion and other material. Works with subject matter experts across OSP to develop strategies to inform and educate OSP staff using all available internal communications platforms including SharePoint and Microsoft Teams, and Team Meetings. The incumbent will assess current communication strategy, identify key metrics to track for success, set realistic goals and timelines, identify and map out internal staff audience, seek feedback and approval on this process, identify current and proposed communications tools, and evaluate progress based on established metrics, identifying areas for improvement. Drafts media responses quickly as requested, working with OSP subject matter experts, on behalf of OSP to be cleared by Suicide Prevention Program Directors for use by Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Communications office and VA's Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA). As the subject matter expert on internal communication, identifies the need for additional policies and standard operating procedures. Drafts these documents by consulting with OSP subject matter experts and ensures policies and standard operating procedures remain updated in accordance with current OSP, VA and higher headquarters policies. Participates in the formulation and implementation of a vision for the OSP internal communications plan that is in line with best practices in communications for large, 24/7 organizations and anticipates future requirements for design, layout and content. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 0800-1630 Compressed/Flexible: May be available Telework: 3 or more days per pay period Position Description/PD#: Communications Specialist/PD076900

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/15/2024. 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-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. SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR (SCREEN-OUT) - A Selective Placement Factor (SPF) has been identified for this position. Selective Placement Factors (SPF) are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for the position. Applicants who do not meet the SPF are ineligible for further consideration. The SPF for this position is: Skill in producing digital media materials conveying complex information to a large population of employees in diverse service lines You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 1) Uses good communication and journalism practices to review material for accuracy, privacy, operational security, and conformance with policies. 2) Building communications strategies to ensure effective and efficient communications across all business service lines and staff levels of a large organization. 3) Utilizes various platforms of communication to inform internal organization audiences about organizational policies, program, activities, and updates. 4) Assess current communication strategy, identify current and proposed communications tools, and address areas in need of improvement. 5) Provides weekly monitoring and updates all internal communications sites. 6) Drafts media responses on behalf of the organization, requiring Directors clearance for use across the entire agency. 7) Creates graphics and other multimedia files as necessary for integration in internal communications. Note: Evidence of specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of duties performed in positions held on your resume. You must provide work experience information such as hours per week, salary, and starting/ending dates of employment (month and year format) to establish you have one (1) full year of Specialized Experience at or comparable to the required grade level. OR GS-11: Substitution of Education for Experience (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): You must possess a PhD. or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. OR GS-11: Combination of Education and Experience (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): You must possess combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the Communications Specialist position, which may be used to meet the experience requirements for GS-11 position. Preferred Experience: Knowledge of written and oral communication principles, methods and techniques. Knowledge of Internet, website content management systems (Team Site and/or Drupal), social media, Microsoft Office/Teams/SharePoint and other digital platforms. Skill in applying knowledge above, providing assistance to develop and maintain a large internal communication program. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Organizational Awareness Communications Multimedia Technologies 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 sedentary; typically work is accomplished in an office type setting. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending and carrying of light items. 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

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