Summary The Healthcare Operations Center (HOC) is an office reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and serves as the centralized operational hub for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) leadership. The position leads the planning and execution of VHA's comprehensive communications strategy, ensuring clear, consistent, and effective messaging across all VA stakeholders. Responsibilities Major duties include but are not limited to: Serves as the Director of Communications and is responsible for managing the communications staff in HOC to develop, implement, and evaluate a communications strategy. Responsible for gathering and analyzing various forms of data that will impact the strategic plan for communication. Oversees, directs, and manages communication activities. Serves as the primary advisor and primary point of contact for all COO communication matters. Plans and defines objectives, impact metrics, and oversees the development of supporting product for implementation of communications messages across VHA. Provides oversight of the national communications program for COO and provides direction regarding writing, editing, publication, communication, and media-relations. Reviews resource allocation, risk management, asset enterprise management, planning, programming, budgeting, execution, program integration, and quality assurance of subordinate programs. Plans, coordinates, and/or implements strategies for reporting and promoting marketing and outreach goals and accomplishments. Executes the full range of human capital management supervisory responsibilities. Plans work to be accomplished by subordinates and sets priorities. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 08:00-04:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: This position may be authorized for ADHOC telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Communications Specialist/PD821080 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized 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, 02/17/2026. 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 mastery in the principles of communications, editing, and production, specifically within the @context of national-scale health marketing campaigns. This includes advanced skills in evaluating industry trends, audience segmentation, message development, and data analysis. Extensive experience with various methods, systems, and tools pertinent to design and content development, as well as both external and internal communications platforms. Proven ability to provide strategic communication counsel to senior executive leadership, including the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Program Executive Directors, and Medical Center Directors, on issues related to national communication strategies. Established knowledge and capability in advising and maintaining trusted relationships with senior executive leadership, Veteran-patients, employees, members of Congress, other Federal agencies, and community partners, ensuring effective communication and collaboration. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Administration and Management Project Management Communications and Media Decision Making Strategic Thinking 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: Work is sedentary in nature, usually performed sitting at desk, at conferences, meetings, etc., although some slight physical effort may be required. 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. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information 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.
