Summary Public Affairs Specialist (DCCO) located at the Department of Veterans Affairs Mid-South Health Care Network VISN 9 headquarters in Nashville, TN and is under supervision of the VISN 9 Chief Communications Officer. PAO provides oversight for the public affairs and communications program. The incumbent has responsibility for primary planning, designing, and executing a program to inform and educate the general and specific public about the organization's programs, activities, and services. Responsibilities Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Responsible for internal and external communications, serves as a core member of the Network leadership team. Applies solid public relations, media, and health administration skills to ensure effective and efficient resource utilization to provide Veterans with high-quality care consistent with community and national standards and industry best practices. Facilitates communication with external and internal stakeholders and monitors the critical elements of Network public relations performance. As various programs are developed, introduced, and administered by the Network, the incumbent plans, initiates, and implements comprehensive campaigns to enhance the understanding of the Network and agency programs among the general public and specialized groups and organizations. Develops written materials to convey information concerning complex programs and functions to the public with diverse levels of understanding of the organization's programs and activities. Serves as consultant to web program manager regarding the content for the VISN 9 intranet and internet web pages. Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with news media members and specialized groups interested in the organization's programs and field offices. Develops and disseminates management reports, provides public relations and consumer affairs system oversight for the Network office and all Network component sites, oversees development and maintenance of a communications process, and fine-tunes key strategies, goals, key messages, communication tools, and target audiences, as necessary. Serves as a spokesperson for the Network Director in working with Congressional representatives, VA facility officials, non-VA organizations, including affiliated medical schools, university and allied health schools, national, state, and local organizations, Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), and consumer groups, to promote and solicit support in planning for health care delivery. Participates in public speaking engagements, develops public service announcements and responses to media queries, and coordinates public events for the Network director. Provide oversight and support to network web program manager regarding web content on complex and dynamic government websites. Provides guidance to web program manager based on national messaging, guidance, and regulations. Prepares, edits, and rewrites original papers, articles, or reports in the engineering, scientific, technical, and professional fields for distribution, as needed. The incumbent uses a seasoned knowledge of the organizational objectives, technical and specialized terminology, and the established format, style, publishing concepts, practices, standards, and technologies for the media used to produce high-quality documents. In addition to these highly developed professional skills and knowledge, the technical writer must display good interpersonal skills in collaboration with the authors to prepare the original drafts for a variety of documents. Advises authors on the tailoring of the writing to reach the intended audience best. Reviews and recommends the inclusion of an enhancement of charts, photographs, or tables. Performs research to verify the accuracy, pertinence, and value of all references concerning the publication. Works with the web program manager to orient new web authors, content contributors, contractors, and vendors to VA web policies. Ensures both Internet and intranet websites are following all VA web policies. Supports and guides implementation of innovative web information dissemination solutions alongside the web program manager for a variety of publications, including policies, bulletins, memorandums, directives, and manuals. Incorporates other media resources to provide information via the intranet, including streaming video. Create custom graphics and visual designs to enhance the Internet and intranet web content using Adobe Photoshop and other graphics and electronic publication tools. Graphics will be compliant with existing VA standards and templates. Coordinates and ensures information is current and viable. Responsible for providing significant input towards a long-term electronic media strategy. Work Schedule: Administrative day tour, Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: Adhoc Compressed/Flexible: Yes - At Supervisory discretion. Telework: Available. 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/Deputy Chief Communications Officer (DCCO)/PD100860 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job 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, 12/22/2024. 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. In addition to meeting the time-in-grade requirement, applicants must meet the following specialized experience: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one year of experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-11) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a public affairs specialist. Qualifying specialized experience includes experience where you were responsible for applying advanced communication and analytical practices, methods and techniques to the solution of complex public affairs problems; planning, developing, and producing a variety of materials and publications (including print, visual, Web-based, multimedia, and video materials) to achieve understanding of various points of view or concepts; advising leadership on the development of communication plans and strategies; establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with local media representatives and community groups; and coordinating and implementing special events, ceremonies, outreach campaigns, tours, and other activities to generate public awareness of organization's mission. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Communications and Media Multimedia Technologies Organizational Performance Analysis 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 Medical Centers. 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. Work is performed in an administrative office setting, which is adequately lighted, heated, ventilated and climate controlled. However, work does occasionally require incumbent to be outdoors, as for special events or as escort for media crews. Coordination and participation in meetings and other community relations activities requires presence in a variety of inhouse and off-station areas and facilities. The incumbent' has access to office automation and computer equipment. 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. Additional Information 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. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.