Public Affairs Specialist

Description:

The incumbent serves as a Public Affairs Specialist and Outreach Coordinator for the Chillicothe VAMC. In this capacity, the incumbent assists the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) in the coordination of various duties within the Customer Service Department and Public Affairs section and is responsible for the development, management and direction of the Chillicothe VAMC outreach program. Incumbent works independently on various public affairs and outreach duties, initiatives and programs.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/12/2026.

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 would typically include, but are not limited to: Utilizes public relations, community relations, advertising, and journalism for internal and external engagement; Communicating orally at various levels in order to meet respective audience needs; Working diplomatically with internal and external constituents; Applying problem solving techniques; Planning community events and Meeting critical work deadlines. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 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. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond a Master's degree. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level, GS-9, may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-11.

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

Administration and Management
Communication
Planning and Evaluating
Customer Service

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: Assignments regularly involve extended periods of walking, standing, bending, and stooping to execute logistics for special events or to accompany media crews or other special groups. Work requires lifting and moving health fair and outreach supplies and equipment sometimes weighing 75 pounds and set up and tear down of health fairs and community outreach events. An effective speaking voice and communication skills are required for public speaking activities.

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/ .