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Communications Specialist

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
VA Central California Health Care System
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The Communications Specialist serves as the My HealtheVet Coordinator for the VA Central California Health Care System.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
09/12/2019 to 10/02/2019
Salary
$62,236 to - $80,912 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Fresno, CA
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CBAU-10601076-19-JES
Control number
545503000

Duties

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Duties include, but are not limited to:

  • Leads the facility's efforts to integrate My HealtheVet (MHV) and Secure Messaging (SM) programs among health care providers and patients
  • Serves as the Secure Messaging liason and administrator to VISN and National MHV teams
  • Responsible for establishing and managing communication plans that identify target audiences, appropriate messages, activities and resources needed for effective communication and effective communication plans for change management
  • Responsible for supporting and guiding facility officials and stakeholders about MHV and Secure Messaging
  • Oversees MHV's online presence and web content and leads innovations to keep facilities' MHV/SM on the cutting edge
  • Ensures accountability via written communicates with Veterans, Congress and our dedicated volunteers, the public and employees.
  • Establishes and manages the training plans and design, and performance need assessments within the project relative to the functional training needs and project effectiveness.
  • Works with the Employee Education System (EES) to coordinate personnel and resources to evaluate the educational needs to Veterans and employees in the development of MHV educational and training programs and classes

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Not Applicable
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Communications Specialist/PD2116-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • You may be required to serve a probationary period
  • Subject to background/security investigation
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/02/2019.

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-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: Skills in organizing and communicating ideas and thoughts effectively through written correspondence and oral presentation, Knowledge of VA and VHA organization, structure and the chain of command, Skills in editing web pages and creating links and using social networking technology, knowledge and ability to analyze a variety of research reports, studies, fact sheets and other documents and able to translate from analytical to commonly understood language, and Possess the knowledge and understanding of the full range of principles, concepts, and techniques of marketing, advertising and salesmanship and the ability to transform these into a working, viable program.
  • Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR LL.B. or J.D. in a related field that meets the requirements for GS-09. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED).
  • Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond one year of graduate education. The education portion must have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Copies of transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Analytical Reasoning
  • Capacity Management
  • Communication
  • Information Management
  • Organizational Performance Analysis


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 primarily sedentary, but may require periods of standing during presentations, briefings, speeches, health fair activities, 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

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or 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.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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 http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

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.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

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

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview.Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

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