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Public Affairs Specialist

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System

Summary

This position is located in the Veterans Health Administration's Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System in New Orleans. The incumbent is organizationally aligned under the supervisory public affairs specialist in the Community & Public Relations Office within the Office of the Director.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted yesterday · Apply in 3 days
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 5, 2026
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$74,678 - $97,087 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
CBST-12969134-26-KC
Control number
871067500

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to current permanent Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System Employees including satellites and CTAP eligibles.

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Duties

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  • Supports both the Medical Center Office and functions as the primary liaison to multiple staff offices and serves as the conduit for information flow and publications.
  • Monitors daily news and information sites regarding matters that effect Medical Center.
  • Analyzes the subject matter of incoming information for appropriate distribution to offices internal or external to the office.
  • Receives and monitors completed actions or responses.
  • Writes articles and stories for completeness and accuracy against known policies and procedures.
  • Ensures Public Affairs Officer action or inquiry is closed out with the inquirer or office.
  • Works closely with senior management and others in implementing and evaluating policies, plans and internal operation systems.
  • Coordinates with the appropriate individuals or offices to develop proposals and supporting materials for presentation at conferences, meetings, hearings and other external activities and meetings.
  • Completes all steps required within an event management process, including facilitating selection of the event time, developing a formal agenda, managing any required contracts and all logistical items, disseminating information to attendees, and ensuring smooth execution of the event.
  • Coordinates events hosted by officials, including town hall meetings with internal staff.
  • Advises senior level management on development of media campaigns and communication plans and strategies.
  • Organizes media training as needed for agency and project partners who serve as spokespersons for communicating work.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm, subject to change based on the needs of the facility.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Public Affairs Specialist/PD072850
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • Physical Requirements: Assignments regularly involve extended periods of walking, standing, bending, and stooping to execute logistics for special events or to accompany media crews or other special groups. Incumbent is also required to regularly pick-up loads of 15 pounds such as boxes of newspapers and other literature and to push carts of supplies.The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
  • 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 identification 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, 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, 06/05/2026.

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-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:

  • Developing public affairs strategies to support organizational information, media relations, and community relations goals.
  • Writing and editing information materials to communicate organizational programs effectively to targeted audiences.
  • Planning and organizing outreach events that increase public understanding of organizational roles and mission.
  • Writing, photography, graphics and editing information materials to communicate organizational programs effectively to targeted audiences.
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 equivalent graduate degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. of J.D., if related that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation.
. OR,
  • Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must possess the equivalent combination of successfully completed education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position. Only graduate education in excess of the two years (36 semester hours) may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-09 level. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

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.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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

TheCareer Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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 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/.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

This vacancy is open to current permanent Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System Employees including satellites and CTAP eligibles.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

Communication
Customer Service
Administration and Management
Manages and Organizes Information


Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

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.

Veterans Health Administration

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans?

The Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System provides quality, patient-centered health care to Veterans throughout 23 parishes in southeast Louisiana. We meet the needs of Veterans through seven community-based outpatient clinics located in Slidell, Hammond, St. John Parish, Houma, Franklin, Bogalusa and Baton Rouge, as well as a new Veterans Medical Center in New Orleans. For more information, connect with us on Facebook and Twitter, keyword New Orleans. Please visit our lifestyle/quality of life site https://destinationgno.com/ to learn why New Orleans is home to so many.

Agency contact information

Kathy Carroll
Phone
813-503-7921
Email
Kathy.Carroll@va.gov
Address
New Orleans VA Medical Center
2400 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA 70119
US

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https://www.va.gov/jobs/

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