Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent employees of the Oklahoma City VA Health Care System and/or Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) eligibles.

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The Congressional Liaison Representative is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective relationships with Congressional offices, VSO, and other community stakeholder groups with affiliation to the Oklahoma City VA Health Care System. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Responds to inquiries and administrative problems brought forward by Veterans, members of the staff, VACO, State and local governments, other Federal Agencies, and Congressional staff.
• Collaborates with various national, regional, state, and community partners in the development of joint procedures, systems, business analyses and initiatives.
• Conducts research, analyzes statistics, formulates policy, prepares written documentation, and presents seminars and audiovisual presentations.
• Works directly with representatives and members of the United States Congress and Senate to convey news and information concerning Oklahoma City VA Health Care System, working towards satisfactory resolution concerning Veteran care within the health care system and affiliated networks.
• Develops background information and provides alternatives and recommendations from which executive management can make well-informed decisions; identifies existing or potential problem areas and recommends corrective action or preventative measures.
• Participates in both long- and short-range planning by coordinating administrative needs of various strategic initiatives, developing recommendations and plans of action by adapting principles, practices, and procedures to meet the specialized needs of the assigned program and/or group.
• Conducts informal presentations outlining the history, status, and objectives of functional responsibilities.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Congressional Liaison Representative/PD140800
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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, 03/09/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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.

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-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Comprehensive knowledge of the role of government branches, legislative processes, and constituent services, at the Federal, State, and local government levels to include roles of legislative committees and processes associated with those committees; substantive knowledge of laws, regulations, policies, and standards as it relates to Veteran healthcare eligibility and other issues relevant to the delivery of Government services; familiarity with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration, VBA, NCA and OKCVAHCS, their organization, major issues, program goals and objectives, work processes, and administrative and clinical operations; skill to establish on-going, long-term constructive relationships with members of the broadcast and print media as well as their assignment managers; ability to pitch story ideas, facilitate interviews and provide on camera interviews when necessary; skill in liaison with all city, county, state and US elected officials as well as key stakeholders in the community; keeps elected officials and other stakeholders informed and educated on VHA policy, procedures, and Veterans issues; implementation of emerging technologies and techniques for communication through social media and other emerging concepts; skill in making oral presentations and training others to conduct meetings designed to obtain public input on program issues and develop a consensus position from among divergent viewpoints; knowledge of designing and implementing a marketing plan for the OKCVAHCS and the ability to conceive and coordinate imaginative slide shows, videotapes, intranet/internet Health Care System home page and other audiovisual products; skill in establishing and maintaining working relationships with a variety of public some of whom have opposing points of view from the organization and where the specialist must defend the developed policy or point of view in the face of heavy criticism in unstructured settings; knowledge of local, regional, national, and VA-wide programs, policies, and activities to present this information accurately to the media, the community, and others and to quickly make judgments necessary for a balanced presentation of information; comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the provisions of the Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other applicable laws and regulations and demonstrate good judgment in accessing printed/electronic files containing sensitive information that must be protected; thorough knowledge of healthcare administration, for the performance of agreement management, cost benefit analysis and other analytical and evaluative functions and ability to carry out a wide variety of analytical assignments, recommend and coordinate agreement elements; comprehensive knowledge of healthcare management principles and techniques to recognize the need for improvements and make recommendations regarding a variety of resource management problems; extensive experience in health care delivery programs and health care program delivery program analysis to evaluate requirements and achieve objectives; substantive knowledge of laws, regulations, polices, and standards as it relates to Veterans Health Administration and implementation skills necessary to independently and effectively conduct analyses that monitors and evaluates business and cost analysis; highly knowledgeable of the organization, major issues, program goals and objectives, work processes, and administrative/clinical operations of the OKCVAHCS; skill in preparing project papers and staff reports and in organizing and delivering briefings to managers to encourage understanding and acceptance of findings and recommendations; demonstrated skill in the use of a variety of desktop publishing and other software programs to provide necessary reports and briefings; ability to communicate verbally and in writing with a variety of people from different backgrounds and different levels of understanding, to include clerical, technical, administrative, and professional (medical and non-medical) staff at all levels in the agency; serves as a critical liaison to key stakeholder groups and as such can directly influence relationships and ensure coordinated, mutually beneficial program planning; highly knowledgeable of Medicare payment policies, including diagnosis-related payment groups, cost sharing, area prevailing rates, fiscal intermediary policies, and billing requirements.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Partnering
• Problem Solving
• Writing

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 generally carried out in an office setting with occasional travel as needed to attend public events. Occasionally, the incumbent may be required to travel to VAMC outpatient clinics, VISN 19 Network Office, and other VISN 19 and VHA facilities. The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required, such as walking through the entire facility or carrying folders or manuals up to 5 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/.

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.

Resume Reminder: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications. Your resume must include the following information each job listed:

• Job title
• Duties (be as detailed as possible);
• Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2023 to April 2025)
• Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
• Series and Grade, if applicable, for all Federal positions you have held

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

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

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.

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.