Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to current permanent Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System Employees and CTAP eligibles.

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• Implements unique policies and procedures to manage agency information, providing assistance and services to the general public and an organization, agency or facility staff members.
• Supports developing a local level strategy for data governance, which includes leading from the executive office and creating a unique program that includes diverse processes and specific policies which are independent of other facilities.
• Monitors and covers all aspects of the collection, use, dissemination, disclosure and destruction of information within an organization, agency or facility.
• Develops and integrates policy-based processes, roles and controls that influences how data is created, collected, used, stored and destroyed throughout the organization.
• Adjudicates complex privacy and FOlA decisions that affect employees, customers and commercial businesses in the absence of supervision.
• Performs in-depth legal research that pertains to both federal and state statutes to render expertise, provide solutions and facilitate corrective action.
• Safeguards information while supporting accountability and transparency initiatives.
• Analyzes all of the interrelated issues that affect the privacy/FOIA program and plans and conducts monitoring activities which measure the overall level of operational compliance by the facility.
• Teaches and trains employees on general data protection procedures and detailed service specific practices for daily operations and uses technology to provide required privacy/FOIA training and supplemental education.
• Performs assessment of privacy-related risks associated with business activities that involve processing of personal and sensitive data.
• Investigates non-compliance of privacy related issues at all levels of an organization, agency or facility and outside of these entities when information is involved.
• Strengthens and sustains the operational life cycle of the privacy/FOIA program by developing a communication strategy that fosters awareness for both internal and external partners to improve compliance, provide training and engage the public.
• Ensures that organization, agency or facility correspondence for data governance is transparent, timely, accurate and complete in response to requests for info1mation from the general-public, Congressional representatives, law enforcement, courts and commercial business.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Ad-hoc Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Government Information Special/PD99538S and PD99843S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
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 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 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, 10/27/2026.

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. 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.
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.

For a GS-11: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the Federal Service that has given you the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is experience applying knowledge and understanding of Privacy Act (PA), Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) legislation and regulations for information disclosure, security, privacy, and protection; under little supervision provides advisement to management and staff to ensure compliance; under little supervision develops facility-specific guidance; under little supervision investigates data breaches and recommending appropriate action; and responding to requests for release of information.

OR

• Education: Successful completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related, from an accredited college or university. Such education must be directly related to the work of the Government Information Specialist - Privacy/Freedom of Information Act Officer position and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

OR

• Combination: Equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the second year) and specialized experience, as described above, which may be used to meet total experience requirements for this grade level. The education portion must include graduate courses directly related to the work of the Government Information Specialist - Privacy/Freedom of Information Act Officer position and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work and must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

For a GS-12: 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:
  • Experience as a Privacy/FOIA officer working independently with no supervision.
  • Formulating policy, ensures compliance with federal and state laws and conducting thorough research of implementing regulations and policies and procedures to manage agency/organization information;
  • Providing assistance and services to the general public, staff members and communicated information to the Executive leadership, facility staff and outside stakeholders.

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

• Attention to Detail
• Communications
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Security

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: The work is primarily sedentary. There will be episodes of moderate lifting or prolonged periods of standing and bending in searching various files. There is lifting and carrying of such items as record boxes and bulky files. The work involves considerable walking, standing and bending conducting rounds, auditing and providing training to both on-site and off-site personnel. There is also occasional lifting and carrying of such items as boxes and files, weighing up to 30 lbs.

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.

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.