Public Affairs Specialist

Summary

This position is located within the Public Affairs Office at the Columbus VA and reports to the Public Affairs Officer. The incumbent serves as the Public Affairs Specialist (Congressional Liaison) for the main facility in Columbus and it's VA clinics. This position provides administrative, technical and professional support for congressional inquiries, VA/VISN/VHA suspense requests.

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Duties

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Responsible for proactively engaging and communicating with all local Congressional Offices to build positive working relationships.
Assigns inquiries to appropriate service line(s), ensures internal stakeholders are informed, works with service line(s) to develop appropriate response as required.
Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of communication efforts with Congressional Staff and stakeholders, develops and implements improvement processes when identified.
Manages, develops and deploys GovDelivery content ensuring effective and accurate communication with Veterans.
Ensures content is of high quality, complete and in the proper format and provided to the appropriate office within the requested timeframe.
Promotion Potential:

The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule:

Monday-Friday 7:30AM to 4:00PM

Compressed/Flexible:

Not Available.

Telework:

This position may be authorized for telework, Ad-hoc.

Virtual:

This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/ PD92047-0 and PD92045-0

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives:

Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI):

Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS):

Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
Subject to background/security investigation
Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

your performance and conduct;
the needs and interests of the agency;
whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/15/2026.

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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9.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:

GS-9:-*

Specialized Experience:

You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

Works closely with VA leadership and subject matter experts to collect facts, policy, procedures, and evaluates for accuracy and timeliness of submissions.
Develops and implements improvement processes when identified.
Prepares briefing packages and slide presentations for guests.
Develops tracking and distribution mechanism to optimize process efficiency and accountability.

OR,

Education:

Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree

or

2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree

or

LL.B. or J.D., if related. ( TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED )
OR,

Combination:

Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. ( TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED ).
GS-11:-*

Specialized Experience:

You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

Communicates directly with the stakeholders including Veterans or family members as appropriate, to achieve timely and satisfactorily resolution of inquiries and accomplish service recovery.
Coordinates, develops, monitors and tracks responses to suspense reports.
Manages and maintains additional internal reporting processes as requested by the Executive Leadership Team.
Archives Congressional correspondence in an accessible format and safeguards patient privacy throughout the process.
Provides oversight of ensuring applicable meeting minutes are updated on the facility SharePoint sites.

OR,

Education:

Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

or

3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree

or

LL.M., if related. ( TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED )
Combination:

Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-11. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. ( TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED )

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/.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests:

If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan

(ICTAP) and

Career Transition Assistance Plan

(CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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/.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.