Clarification from the agency

This position is open to current Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Public & Intergovernmental Affairs employees on permanent appointments only.

Major Duties

• Ensures proper and efficient management and execution by OP A field staff of responsibilities of management of personnel and resources, assignment of various duties and projects and the development of area-wide liaison and dissemination systems.
• Ensures that the VA Public Affairs program is fully implemented at the field station level by providing detailed guidance for accomplishing all facets of the program.
• Responsible for planning, designing, executing, and evaluating written materials which convey complex information to the public having diverse levels of understanding of the Agency's programs and functions.
• Reports include routine assessment of public relations status and public information activity in each field office.
• Analyzes the information needs and determines the most effective field-based approaches to employ in reaching V A's publics, modifying strategies or plans as necessary to more effectively communicate programs and functions.
• Establishes and maintains contacts with representatives of the news media, veterans service organizations, State and Federal agencies and public affairs personnel to obtain input on issues, disseminate information, coordinate work efforts, and solve mutual problems.
• Plans, directs, and executes national campaigns to convey complex information concerning sensitive VA programs, research on program-related areas, responsibilities, and activities.
• Must supervise and motivate personnel in the field without the benefit of frequent face-to-face contact with their supervisor or interaction with their peers.
• As technical authority to the principles, methods, practices and techniques of communication, ensures that the field staff keeps abreast of new developments in communications technology and professional practice.

Conditions of employment

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
• 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.

• 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/23/2026.

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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade.

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-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Manage the news media queries; Receive and assign media queries; Ensure VA responses have been properly vetted and obtain final clearance from leadership; Ensure VA is accurately portrayed in published and broadcast news; Engage with news reporters to ensure the accuracy of reports; Defend VA interest against unfair and inaccurate news media reporting; Experience working with the VA Press Secretary on national level media coverage.

• Communication
• Communications
• Communications and Media
• Conflict Management
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Leadership
• Manages Resources
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating
• Project 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: The work is primarily sedentary. No physical demands are required to perform the work. Occasional instances of moderate walking and standing may be required.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

The 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 found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications:

• Responsible for planning, designing, executing, and evaluating written materials which convey complex information to the public having diverse levels of understanding of the Agency's programs and functions.
• Establishes and maintains contacts with representatives of the news media, veterans service organizations, State and Federal agencies and public affairs personnel to obtain input on issues, disseminate information, coordinate work efforts, and solve mutual problems.
• Plans, directs, and executes national campaigns to convey complex information concerning sensitive VA programs, research on program-related areas, responsibilities, and activities.

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/.

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Washington, DC; Milwaukee, WI; Vero Beach, FL; New York, NY; North Las Vegas, NV; Chicago, IL; Arlington, TX; and Decatur, GA. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from the following locations:

810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20420
115 S. 84th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53214
372 17th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960
245 West Houston Street, New York, NY 10014
6900 N Pecos Rd, North Las Vegas, NV 89086
2122 W. Taylor Street, Suite 320 Chicago, IL 60612
2301 E. Lamar Blvd, Suite 410, Arlington, TX 76006
1700 Clairmont Road, Decatur, GA 30033

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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.


Supervisory Situational Judgement Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment, decision-making, and leadership competencies associated with effective supervision in a Federal work environment. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete.


Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be contacted 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.

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.

Area of Consideration: Eligible applicants will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

• All current, permanent VA Employees in the Office of Public & Intergovernmental Affairs.

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

• Resume

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

• Current Federal Employees must provide their most recent SF-50 which must be dated within one year of the closing date of this announcement.
  • ATTENTION: You may need to submit more than one SF-50 if we cannot verify that you meet time-in-grade by your most recent SF-50. For example, if your most recent SF-50 is a General Adjustment, we need your most recent SF-50 dated 1-11-2026 and another SF-50 to verify time-in-grade. Examples of SF-50s for time-in-grade verification include your last within-grade increase or promotion to highest grade held. A promotion SF-50 shows when you started the grade level and a within-grade increase verifies that you were at that grade level for at least one year. Failure to provide your most recent SF-50 dated within one year of the closing date and other SF-50s to verify time-in-grade will result in you being disqualified. We cannot verify time-in-grade based on the grade and step you are currently on alone.
• Former federal employee applying under reinstatement eligibility must supply their latest SF-50 as well as any additional SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade as stated in the above bullet.
• Award SF-50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50s to include in addition to your most recent 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.

• Resume
• Agency Reduction in Force notice;
• Most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location
• Most recent performance appraisal (must be fully successful or above)

Next steps

Additional locations