Summary The Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist serves as Chief Public Affairs Officer and serves as the technical and administrative authority on all media, public affairs, social media, web management, audiovisual and congressional affairs issues for all service chiefs, employees, and other staff to the extent that minimal higher-level management intervention is required. Responsibilities Major Duties Include: Directs, develops, implements, and oversees the Public Affairs Program for media relations, outreach, public affairs, social media, web management, audiovisual and congressional affairs throughout the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS). Advises senior level management on development of media campaigns, communication plans and strategies. Establishes and maintains proactive contacts with media outlets; national, local, state, and federal legislative offices; Veterans Service Organizations; and healthcare affiliates. Serves as facility spokesperson both in writing and orally to questions about criticism of the Agency's activities or policies and explaining the VA point of view. Serves as Public Information Officer under the Hospital Incident Command System. Independently develops and implements communication plans to enhance the understanding of benefits, services, and practices of the STVHCS for the appropriate and efficient delivery of VA's mission. Independently implements an aggressive public relations/marketing campaign for STVHCS with the overall objective of promoting a positive image and elevating public opinion. Aggressively publicizes and promotes the care and services provided at the STVHCS by regularly submitting feature stories to VA Vanguard, VAntage Point, VHA Highlights, and other national publications or media. Serves as primary liaison with congressional members and analyzes new and proposed legislation or regulations to determine the impact on program operations and management. Reviews and edits facility-level Congressional correspondence prior to executive level signature. Serves as expert consulting for planning, reviewing, or revising policies and procedures that impact the image and public perception of the STVHCS. Collaborates with STVHCS and VISN executives, supervisors, managers, and discipline-specific functional areas, professional and clinical leaders. Serves as an expert analyst who has mastered communication principles, methods, practices and techniques; analytical methods and interpersonal relations practices. Evaluates information from a variety of sources and provides feedback to senior management on public affairs trends and stakeholder attitudes to assess program effectiveness and make improvements. Handles communication efforts when controversial, high level issues impacting the STVHCS, often during crisis, negative media, and emergency situations. Plans and executes prominent special events and ceremonies, coordinates high profile visits, and support outreach to Veterans not enrolled in the VA health care system. Responsible for creating, designing, and distributing STVHCS publications to include annual report, quarterly newsletter, and special publications to both internal/external stakeholders. Directs, coordinates, plans work to be accomplished by subordinate staff. Develops performance plans, evaluates work performance, and counsels staff as appropriate. Interviews and selects candidates for vacancies, and approves appointments, promotions or reassignments. Develops, modifies, and /or interprets performance standards to employees. Nominates employees for awards and recognition when appropriate and approves within grade increases. Knowledge of hospital operations, management principles, writing reports, quantitative analyses, presentation of data in understandable terms to both administration and clinical chiefs of service, and extensive knowledge of skills in communication and public relations techniques. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: This position may be authorized for Ad-Hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist/PD00130-O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification 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 or trial 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, 02/02/2026. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: directing, developing, implementing, and overseeing the Public Affairs Program for media relations, outreach, public affairs, social media, advises senior level management on development of media campaigns, establish and maintain proactive contacts with medial outlets, national, local, state, and federal legislative offices, serves as public information officer, primary liaison with congressional members, evaluates information from different sources, supervises, plans work, and evaluates employee performance.. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Leadership Strategic Thinking Communications and Media Communication Emergency Management 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 is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. 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/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. 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.
