Public Affairs Specialist

• Responsible for proactively engaging and communicating with all local Congressional Offices to build positive working relationships.
• Assigns inquiries to appropriate service line(s) ensures internal stakeholders are informed works with service line(s) to develop appropriate response as required.
• Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of communication efforts with Congressional Staff and stakeholders develops and implements improvement processes when identified.
• Manages develops and deploys GovDelivery content ensuring effective and accurate communication with Veterans.
• Ensures content is of high quality complete and in the proper format and provided to the appropriate office within the requested timeframe.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory qualification and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30AM to 4:00PM
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available.
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework Ad-hoc.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD92047-0 and PD92045-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

• 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 drivers 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 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.

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 07/15/2026.

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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at 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 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:

GS-9:-*

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to:
  • Works closely with VA leadership and subject matter experts to collect facts policy procedures and evaluates for accuracy and timeliness of submissions.
  • Develops and implements improvement processes when identified.
  • Prepares briefing packages and slide presentations for guests.
  • Develops tracking and distribution mechanism to optimize process efficiency and accountability.

OR

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have masters or equivalent graduate degree

  or

  2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree

  or

  LL.B. or J.D. if related. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

OR

• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED).

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:
  • Communicates directly with the stakeholders including Veterans or family members as appropriate to achieve timely and satisfactorily resolution of inquiries and accomplish service recovery.
  • Coordinates develops monitors and tracks responses to suspense reports.
  • Manages and maintains additional internal reporting processes as requested by the Executive Leadership Team.
  • Archives Congressional correspondence in an accessible format and safeguards patient privacy throughout the process.
  • Provides oversight of ensuring applicable meeting minutes are updated on the facility SharePoint sites.

OR

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a 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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-11. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)

For more information on these qualification standards please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at

Required Experience:

IC