Clarification from the agency

Current, permanent Department of Veterans Affairs employees and CTAP eligible only; ensure you review the "Required Documents" section and submit the required SF-50 Notification of Personnel Action to prove the claimed eligibility. This position is also open to US Citizens under Direct Hire Authority (DHA) with announcement CBSR-12906598- 26-CB. Please ensure you are applying to the correct announcement based on your eligibility to receive proper consideration.

The major duties of the Supervisory Health System Specialist - Public Relations, include, but are not limited to:

• Addresses high level issues related to quality-of-care customer complaints from individual patients, Veterans' groups, congressional offices.
• Maintains oversight of both internal and external Public Affairs efforts for the facility's marketing campaigns and communication strategies.
• Provides expert level knowledge of health care service administration, continuous quality improvement; data analysis; healthcare principles, theories and practices; budgeting, planning, administration, and labor/union relationships, or other key administrative support functions; sufficient to analyze and evaluate broad and difficult problems, apply extensive qualitative and/or quantitative methods for program improvement, make recommendations for complicated solutions; and the related ability to apply health care management principles to complex problem-solving situations.
• Serves as comprehensive liaison with Veteran Service Organizations, Congressional leadership, VISN, and Central Office.
• Responsible for the supervisory control and oversight of Public Relations activities throughout the facility including CBOCs, VALOR Center, and all other off-site locations overseen by JDDVAMC.
• Advising staff on all issues relating to community awareness and public information regarding JDDVAMC, especially sensitive media issues, writes or supervises the writing of all speeches for the Medical Center Director and other key management officials for special events, community programs, patient activities, and service organization conventions, designs briefings and training for all JDDVAMC employees before each media interview and is directly responsible for dealing with all medial representatives throughout the health care system or designating a person to work with media and providing them with guidance and supervision, coordinates congressional meetings and visits.
• Overseeing the preparation of or directing the preparation of of all news releases, media advisories, public service announcements, and feature articles about the JDDVAMC and its programs and services.
• Managing varying projects and programs assigned by the Medical Center Director to sustain public relations for JDDVAMC.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: This position may be authorized for ADHOC telework as determined by the agency policy and with approval from supervisor.
Virtual: This is not a virtual or remote position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Health System Specialist - Public Relations/PD920960
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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
• 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 dentification 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 or trial 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, 03/18/2026.

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-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. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirements: The 0671 Health System Specialist occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), that all candidates must meet in order to meet the basic qualifications of the position.

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. Transcripts are required. or

Specialized Experience(for positions above GS-5): Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:

• Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
• Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and
• Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

Special Provision for In service Placement: Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included:

• Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements;
• Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and

In addition to the basic qualifications listed above, you must also meet the grade level requirement of the position. You may qualify based on your 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 Federal Service, that is related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as experience which equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform successfully the duties of the Supervisory Health System Specialist - Public Relations, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: serving as the point of contact for local and national media for a large agency, hospital, medical center or organization; acting as a liaison for Veterans service organizations, congressional staff, community groups and professional organizations; conducting the public affairs program for a large medical center, hospital, agency or organization with responsibility for developing and providing staff advisement involving public information, internal communications, Veteran Service Organization liaison and community relations activities; evaluating information from a variety of sources and provides feedback to senior management on public affairs trends and stakeholder attitudes to assess program effectiveness and make improvements; and planning and executing special events, coordinating high profile visits, and coordinating and supporting outreach events to targeted groups, such as veterans not enrolled in the VA healthcare system.

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

• Customer Service
• Sales and Marketing
• Planning and Evaluating
• Written Communication
• Administration and Management

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 mostly sedentary with some walking and standing. There is no strenuous lifting involved. Work is generally in an office setting, although there are times when the incumbent will be responsible for attending outreach and media events and providing tours of the facilities.

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/.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

You must ensure all duties are detailed in your resume and it clearly shows how you meet the specialized experience required of the position. We cannot make any assumption on duties performed or level of experience based on a job title. All duties must be described under each job entry with the beginning and ending dates of employment (month and year and hours worked per week). If we are unable to determine your qualifications based on the application materials submitted we are unable to refer you for consideration.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Areas of Consideration - Applicants will be considered based on the following areas of consideration.

• First Area of Consideration (facility employees) - Current, permanent facility employees organizationally aligned under station 553 and associated outpatient clinics and locations falling under the parent station of 553.
• Second Area of Consideration (other VA employees) - Current, permanent Department of Veterans Affairs Employees (VA employees who are located at other VA medical centers and offices other than station 553).

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume (please note resumes are limited to two pages; refer to "How to Apply" section below for more information)
• Any supporting documentation to verify the eligibility that you have claimed (see full accepted documents list); failure to submit documentation required to verify eligibility claimed will result in being rated ineligible.

Note to current federal employees applying: You must submit a copy of a recent SF-50 (dated 01/11/2026 or later; FWS/WG employees must provide one dated 03/23/2025 or later) to provide proof of eligibility.

• ATTENTION: You may need to submit more than one SF-50 if we cannot verify you meet time-in-grade (TIG) by your most recent SF-50. For example, if your most recent SF-50 is a General Adjustment or change in data element, we need your most recent SF-50 dated 01/11/2026 and another SF-50 to verify TIG. Examples of SF-50s for TIG verification include your last within-grade increase or promotion to highest grade held. Promotion shows when you started the grade level and a within-grade increase verifies you were at that grade level for at least one year. Failure to provide your most recent SF-50 dated 01/11/2026 or later to prove area of consideration eligibility and other SF-50s to verify you meet the TIG requirement will result in you being disqualified. We cannot verify time-in-grade based only on the grade and step you are currently on.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Cover Letter
• Other (1)
• Other (2)
• Other (3)
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Next steps