Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist

Description:

The Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist is located in the Communications Office of the Electronic Health Records Modernization Integration Office (EHRM-IO) which is located within the Office of the Deputy Secretary of VA (DEPSECVA). EHRM-IO is responsible for ensuring that VA successfully prepares for, deploys, and transitions to a new electronic health record (EHR) system.

This position will be physically located in the EHRM-IO Washington, DC office and require up to 25% official travel.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/10/2026.

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.

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: Demonstrated experience in directing internal and external communication programs, developing outreach strategies, coordinating stakeholder engagements, and utilizing various forms of media (verbal, written, digital, social media) to communicate effectively with diverse audiences. In addition to these skills, candidates must have at least one year of experience with the VA Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office (EHRM-IO) and/or the EHRM (Electronic Health Record Modernization) Program. This experience is essential as it enables candidates to align communication strategies with the goals of the EHRM initiative, ensuring that all messaging is not only coherent but also reinforces the program's objectives and values. This specialized experience is crucial to ensure that the incumbent can effectively lead and manage the EHRM-IO communications program.

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 requires moderate level of physical activity including, walking, climbing stairs and conducting on site evaluations. The position requires periodic overnight travel.

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/ .