Public Affairs Specialist

Summary

The public affairs program markets South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) mission, services, and activities to the potential Veteran patients, their families, staff, volunteers, members of the media, and local, state, and federal elected officials and community groups. The Public Affairs Specialist is assigned to the Office of Public Affairs reporting to the Chief, Public Affairs.

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Duties

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Duties may include but are not limited to:

-Provides leadership and direction for the Public Affairs program at a VA Medical Center while displaying tact, common sense, diplomacy, initiative, and solid professional judgement.

-Assists with the public relations coverage for activities throughout the South Texas Veterans Health Care System to include serving as back-up to the Chief, Public Affairs for STVHCS.

-Coordinates, manages, and plans, events and visits throughout STVHCS, to include preparing agendas/invitations, ordering supplies and materials, generating all support materials, scheduling staff, and assisting on planning committees.

-Coordinates communication efforts related to integrated strategic planning studies, possible public private partnerships, community partnerships, and other long term planning issues that may affect the future direction of the Health Care System.

-Advises senior level management on development of media campaigns and communication plans and strategies.

-Serves as Editor of the STVHCS Dispatch Weekly Bulletin and Stakeholder Express Newsletter and other publications to include gathering articles, editing content, writing articles for the publication, taking photographs, gathering items of interest, and designing/formatting the newsletter.

-Writes speeches for the STVHCS Director and STVHCS management for special events, ribbon cutting ceremonies and visits.

-Responsible for tracking and analyzing social media and web metrics and analytics.

-Develops communication plans considering such as specific topics or aspects to emphasize, the most effective media to use in communication with intended audiences, the kind of information various groups want or need, etc.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00a.m. to 4:30p.m.

Telework: Ad-hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/ PDHA671-00527-0

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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 ( 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.
• 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, 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, 07/24/2026.

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-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 experience as described below:

• 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: Managing high-visibility public affairs operations for a large, complex healthcare or government organization, including independently developing and executing communication plans, media strategies, and stakeholder engagement efforts; Serving as an organizational spokesperson or Public Information Officer, providing rapid, accurate, and coordinated responses during crises, emergent events, or sensitive issues, and advising senior leadership on communication risks and messaging; Producing a wide range of communication products, news releases, feature stories, talking points, speeches, newsletters, and digital content with demonstrated ability to translate complex healthcare, research, or policy information for diverse audiences; Leading digital communication efforts, including managing official social media platforms, web content systems (e.g., Drupal, TeamSite), digital campaigns, and analytics to increase engagement and ensure timely, accurate, and compliant information delivery; Planning and coordinating high-profile events, Very Important Person (VIP) visits, congressional engagements, and public forums, including logistics, protocol, briefing materials, and cross-departmental coordination with executive leadership.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade GS-12 level.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave : Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and 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 well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.