Public Affairs Specialist

The Public Affairs Specialist serves as the VISN Community Outreach Programs and the Deputy Public Affairs Officer, providing coverage and support to the VISN Public Affairs Officer. The purpose of this position is to operate and provide oversight for Communication Relations and communications as well as assisting in management of the public affairs and communication program within the network.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/23/2024.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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.

SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: This position includes a skill, knowledge, ability, or other worker characteristic basic to -and essential for- satisfactory performance of the job. Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. Evidence of the Selective Placement Factor must be reflected in your resume.

A Selective Placement Factors is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job, and it is something that can't be waived.

The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: Experience developing written materials/correspondences to convey information concerning complex programs and functions to the public.

In additional to the Selective Placement Factors, you must qualify based on your Specialized Experience as described below:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience applying mastery of communication principles, methods, practices, and techniques to develop and apply new approaches to difficult and complex public affairs problems of the healthcare system; experience analyzing public reaction to programs and policies and developing recommendations to modify those programs and policies based on those recommendations; experience utilizing graphic design, photography, videography, advertising, and budgeting and procurement for communicational products; using advanced knowledge of theories, principles, practices, and techniques of VHA, VISN, and healthcare system policies and program activities to resolve complex public affairs issues; and experience preparing, editing, and rewriting original papers, articles, or reports in the engineering, scientific, technical, and professional fields intended for web publication and wide dissemination.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Leadership
• Multimedia Technologies
• Organizational Awareness
• Technical Competence
• Creativity & Innovation

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 clearly indicate 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 generally sedentary and does not require unusual physical effort. There is some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as books, papers, and files.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: Most work is performed in an office setting; however, coordination of special events will require work in community settings and travel within the VISN will be necessary. Travel within VHA may also be necessary.

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/.

Responsibilities:

This announcement will remain open until January 23, 2024. All applications received up to 11:59p.m. EST on the date in which 50 applications is reached will receive first consideration. Additional applications will be reviewed in one day increments as requested by management.

Major Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Providing consultation and training for public affairs staff assigned to Network component sites.
• Serving as a mentor to lesser experienced PAO and Congressional outreach staff, coordinating stakeholder relations efforts among VA medical centers.
• Providing advice, guidance, and information to all component site public affairs officers and top management officials of the Network.
• Serving as webmaster and responsible for all content on the VISN7 intranet and extranet sites.
• Monitoring, auditing, and editing submissions from facility web content providers.
• Serving as a web content and compliance resource for other Health Care Webmasters with the VISN.
• Leading meetings, disseminating information from VHA and VISN communication and web groups, and providing in-house training.
• Coordinating with VA WebOps for hosting and maintenance of internet site.
• Presenting information accurately to the media, community, and others, and making the necessary judgments for a balanced presentation of information.
• Serving as spokesperson for Network Director in working with Congressional partners, VA facility officials, non-VA organizations, VSOs, and consumer groups to promote and solicit support for health care delivery.
• Maintaining effective working relationships with news media members and specialized groups interested in the organization's programs and field offices.
• Extensive knowledge of public affairs principles, mass communications, news writing, news editing, composition, grammar, and spelling/punctuation.
• Mastering of crisis communication, marketing, and media intervention techniques.
• Designing, planning, executing, and evaluating programs to inform and educate the general and special public about the organization's programs, activities, and services.
• Applying mastery in developing and applying new approaches to an agency's most challenging and complex public affairs problems by developing and evaluating information programs enhancing understanding among target audiences.
• Planning, initiating, and implementing comprehensive communication campaigns to enhance understanding of the Network and agency programs among the general public and specialized groups and organizations.
• Preparing, editing, and rewriting original articles and reports in the health and technical fields.
• Developing and disseminating management reports providing stakeholder relations and oversight for the Network office and all component sites, overseeing the development and maintenance of innovative communications processes, and fine-tuning key strategies, goals, messages, communication tools, and target audiences.
• Developing creative written materials and oral presentations will increase the public's understanding of VHA programs and policies. Ability to apply this skill in developing new methods and approaches to planning, integration, and evaluating the overall public affairs program.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: Available at the discretion of Management
Telework: This is a 100% Telework position; selectee will be required to reside within a 50-mile radius of a VISN 7 location, Atlanta, GA, Augusta, GA, Dublin, GA, Charleston, SC, Columbia, SC, Birmingham, AL, Montgomery, AL, and/or Tuscaloosa, AL.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD484-01775-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required