Government Information Specialist

Description:

The facility Privacy/FOIA Officer has oversight for the data governance program and initiatives in the VHA Medical Center or Healthcare System and its supporting catchment area. The position makes unique facility-level determinations about disclosure, issuance of denials, redactions, access , use and dissemination of federal agency records. The position formulates policy, ensures compliance with federal and state laws and conducts thorough research of federal implementation regulations.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade and specialized experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 02/18/2026.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

• For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9.
• For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11.

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 specialized experience and/or education as described below:

For GS-11 :

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
  • Analyzing and evaluating complex data
  • Conducting meetings, briefings and suggests potential administrative action to leadership
  • Applying a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods for the assessment and improvement of data governance program effectiveness
  • Creating a communications process and tools that are flexible, customizable, and interactive to address unique compliance challenges and educational/training needs
  • Compiling of detailed reports to substantiate compliance and submitting with findings and recommendations to leadership
  • Teaching and training employees on general data protection procedures and detailed service specific practices for daily operations
  • Ensuring that agency correspondence for data governance is transparent, timely, accurate and complete; 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 to meet total experience requirements for the GS-11 level. To determine if you meet combination requirements, the total percentages of your qualifying experience and percentage of education required for the grade level must equal at least 100 percent. For example, an applicant has 9 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS-9 and 2 1/2 years of creditable graduate level education. The applicant meets 75 percent of the required experience and 50 percent of the required education, i.e., the applicant has 1/2 year of graduate study beyond that required for GS-9. Therefore, the applicant exceeds the total requirement and is qualified for the position. (The applicant's first 2 years of graduate study are not qualifying for GS-11.) (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) .

For GS-12 :

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
  • Supports in developing a local level strategy for data governance, which includes leading from the executive office and creating a unique program that includes diverse processes and specific policies which are independent of other facilities.
  • Making final decisions of data disclosure, initiate independent investigations, conduct compliance activities, and implement physical, technical, and administrative safeguards.
  • Developing and executing strategic management initiatives that establish areas of control of information within the facility and interfaces with all business operations across service lines/departments.
  • Creating unique written policies that define the enterprise privacy principles, guidance and practices that influence the data governance model for the organization.
  • Contributing to significant agency decisions, policy recommendations and executive leadership consultations based on an in-depth knowledge of government regulatory and federal and state statutory requirements, and law.
  • Expert understanding of all applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines, independently analyzes all the interrelated issues that affect the privacy/FOIA program.
  • Developing a communication strategy that fosters awareness for both internal and external partners to improve compliance, provide training, and engage the public.
  • Planning and conducting activities which measure the overall level of operational compliance.
  • Coaching supervisors on how to train staff on protected health information.
  • Conducting detailed interviews to collect facts in response to complaints.
  • Performing in-depth legal research pertaining to federal and state statutes to provide solutions and corrective actions.
  • Adjudicating complex privacy and FOIA decisions that affect employees, patients, and commercial businesses in the absence of supervision.

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

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. There will be episodes of moderate lifting or prolonged periods of standing and bending in searching various files. There is lifting and carrying of such items as record boxes and bulky files. The work involves considerable walking, standing and bending conducting rounds, auditing and providing training both on-site and off-site personnel. There is also occasional lifting and carrying of such items as boxes and files, weighing up to 30 lbs.

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.