Public Affairs Specialist

Summary

The Public Affairs Specialist/Congressional Liaison reports to the Public Affairs Chief. The Public Affairs program shapes strategic marketing and communication to increase awareness of VA Puget Sound Health Care Service's and programs among key stakeholders. This position is located at VA Puget Sound Health Care System's (VAPSHCS) Seattle campus and may require occasional travel to its eight other facilities in Western Washington.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement - 06/01/2026. 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-09. 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 and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include - but are not limited to: : gather and evaluate information to address issues arising from external stakeholders such as congressional offices - or other federal government agencies in compliance of patient privacy laws and guidelines; prioritize strategies that advance strategic goals of patient experience - quality or efficiency - employee engagement - community partnership and environment of care; support stakeholder education through the delivery of content (e.g. - printed - digital - internet - social media) that's valuable - credible and relevant; media relations (pitching - message/Q&A development - staffing); develop accurate and timely responses to congressional and other stakeholder inquiries and taskings and other formal and informal inquires through internal stakeholder engagement - tracking and research; manage briefings and town halls. OR - Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR I have successfully completed 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR I have successfully completed a LL.M. - if related. OR - Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond master's or equivalent graduate degree 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree LL.B. or J.D. - if related. 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/.

Duties

• Duties include but are not limited to: Assigns congressional inquiries to appropriate service line(s)
• Ensures appropriate internal stakeholders are informed - works with service lines to develop appropriate responses as necessary - keeps congressional offices informed of progress and vital patient information as necessary
• Archives congressional correspondence in a readily accessible format and safeguards patient privacy throughout the entire inquiry process
• Supporting stakeholder education through the delivery of content (e.g. - printed - digital - internet - social media) that's valuable - credible and relevant
• Maximizing relationships with stakeholders to advance communication goals
• Collects/reports metrics demonstrating performance in response to inquiries
• Develops tracking and distribution mechanisms to optimize the inquiry resolution process for efficiency and accountability
• Tracks and staffing requests for information and patient complaints from a variety of sources
• Manages the quarterly congressional on-site briefings in collaboration with the Public Affairs Director
• Serves as a key Public Affairs Specialist and as an expert in digital and electronic communications - print communications - marketing and public relations strategies - products and initiatives to support Public Affairs functions that support the annual Marketing and Communication Plan
• Develops information and communications for use on multiple platforms within and outside of VA Puget Sound
• Ensures that inquiries are answered in a timely manner
• Develops procedures and catalogs best practices related to this role
• Assigns action items to appropriate service line(s) and ensures appropriate Health Systems Specialist and suspense backup personnel are informed for tracking purposes
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Approved Ad-Hoc Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD412740 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized