Public Affairs Specialist

Full Job Description

Serves as the Public Affairs (PA) Specialist at the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

The PA Specialist reports to the VISN PA Officer and, is the official responsible for promoting and coaching outreach in the VA Medical Centers (VAMC), sharing best practices, planning, and conducting comprehensive outreach programs, developing outreach plans, generating events, etc.

in partnership with internal and external stakeholders. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/09/2026.

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-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 at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience includes: Skills and knowledge with Content Management Systems used to make updates and changes to websites.

Knowledge of making edits, changes, creating and deleting new pages on Microsoft SharePoint for intranet use.

Experience planning and scheduling social media posts and the best practices managing for managing successful social media accounts on multiple platforms.

Knowledge of written and oral communication principles, techniques and methods; analytical methods; and interpersonal relations practices.

Such positions convey detailed program information both orally and in writing, using a variety of formats; gather and report public reaction to information programs; draw appropriate conclusions and offer meaningful recommendations in improving aspects of information materials.

Knowledge and skill sufficient for planning, writing and editing news, feature and quasi-technical articles for installations social media and internal documents.

Knowledge and skill to speak with groups in explaining organization's programs, objectives and policies and obtaining the group's reaction for analyzation.

Knowledge and experience of the practices and techniques in planning and developing news stories and feature articles in laying out a publication.

Skill in developing information program tailored to audiences and realistic conditions to improve public understanding.

Skill in evaluating the news value or communication potential of visual material including photographs and illustrations.

Skill in interviewing a variety of people and gathering information from many different sources. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must successfully completed 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 leading to such a degree in a major field of study related to the work of the position which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of this position.

(NOTE: TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH THE APPLICATION MATERIALS. CONFERRAL OF DEGREE(S) EARNED SHOULD BE PRESENT ON TRANSCRIPT(S).

UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT(S) IS OK.) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications and Media Manages and Organizes Information Planning and Evaluating 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 usually performed sitting at a desk, in news conferences, briefings, meetings, etc.; or riding in an automobile or public transportation.

There may be occasional brief visits to industrial or construction sites, national parks or forests, military equipment test sites, etc; however, no special physical demands are involved in performing the work.

Work Environment: Most work is accomplished in an office-type setting involving minimal discomfort or risk. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.

However, work does occasionally require incumbent to be outdoors, as for special events or as escort for media crews.

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/.

Major Duties:

Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of social media engagement strategies, policies and plans integrated within existing communication campaigns supporting our mission.

Makes changes to internal and external website which includes changes to the calendars for staff and public, web pages for services, intranet pages for services and website blogs.

Coordinates news media interviews with staff and oversees arrangements with media representatives involving organization activities; provides supporting materials as required.

Ensures the proper protection of privacy for veterans during interviews and filming.

Establishes and maintains working relationships with media by keeping media informed; being responsive to their requests, obtaining resources for media and otherwise creating goodwill.

Develops and maintains internal public affairs program designed to enhance employee knowledge and pride in organization.

Incumbent research stories that both educate and inspire goodwill towards the VA by speaking with staff and attending meetings.

Incumbent works with program managers and other staff to assist in the dissemination of their information.

Incumbent will review information and other communication tools provided to determine what improvements can be made, determine opportunities to better communication, as well as how and where information should be provided such as video, social media, website, or a combination of several communication methods.

Incumbent works with Public Affairs staff to produce content not supplied by national program offices.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00am - 3:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD02622O