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Technical Writer - Editor

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Internal Audit (IA)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Internal Audit (IA) and serves as a technical writer and editor for the Reports and Communications Section. This position is responsible for supporting the writing and editing of IA's written materials and implementation of IA's strategic communications program.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
01/11/2022 to 01/18/2022
Salary
$92,143 to - $136,791 per year

Salary will vary depending on location of the position due to different locality salary charts.

Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Location Negotiable After Selection, United States
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel occasionally for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
CBZY-11337911-22-TDC
Control number
630543400

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Duties

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Duties will include:

  • Performing technical writing and editing for IA's publications to accurately represent the audit, evaluation, and research work conducted by IA, as well as VHA position, goals, interests, actions, and strategic priorities, for a diverse group of stakeholders, including those critical of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)/VHA.
  • Providing technical writing and editing for Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS)-compliant internal audit and evaluation reports, charge memos, tasking memos, style guides, standard operating procedures, white papers, and presentations.
  • Supporting IA's communications strategy and program by developing presentations, fact sheets, frequently asked questions, talking points, case studies, video scripts, and other written materials to explain complex technical information about concepts, situations, products, services, or results to audiences with varying levels of technical knowledge.
  • Using desktop publishing software and advising management on document design, format, and publication.
  • Using various communication channels to distribute IA's messages to a national audience.
  • Developing and maintaining supplemental style guides and standard operating procedures to provide guidance for audit and evaluation report writing and other written products.
  • Updating and communicating to IA staff about writing and editorial style, format, policy, and standard operating procedures.
  • Preparing written guidance to advise writers on how to recognize and correct common errors and weaknesses in writing, by collecting examples of current problems observed, identifying any trends, and summarizing information for dissemination to all appropriate levels.
  • Examining policy, legislative, and congressional issues by critically evaluating data from multiple sources and identifying key issues that needs to be resolved.
  • Editing technical guidance and policy documents for clarity, style, and grammar, and ensuring materials conform with VA style guides.
  • Providing administrative support to the VHA Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee (ARCC) to include writing ARCC Chair or ARCC Secretariat letters, memoranda, emails, meeting minutes, and briefing materials.
Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm, Mon-Fri.
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: 100% remote location available
Position Description/PD#: Technical Writer - Editor/PD03237A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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
  • All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
  • 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
  • Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
  • Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/24/2022.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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 as described below:

Two Selective Placement Factors* have been requested by the facility to help determine which of the basically qualified applicants are likely to be better qualified for this position.

The selective placement factors for this position are:

- Experience using desktop publishing programs such as Adobe Creative Suite (e.g. InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.)
- Experience writing and editing audit, evaluation or research reports or publications.

You must provide evidence of your knowledge, skills, or abilities that meet the above Selective Placement Factor in your Resume/OF-612 in order to receive credit.

*Selective Placement Factors represent knowledge, skills, or abilities that are essential for successful job performance and cannot reasonably be acquired on the job during the period of orientation/training customary for the position. Selective Placement Factors will be used for qualification purposes. Applicants with no evidence of the Selective Placement Factor present in their Resume/OF-612 will be disqualified from consideration.

AND

GS-13 Qualifications
Specialized Experience: 1 year of Specialized Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of Technical Writer, and that is typically in or related to the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least GS-12 grade level.
Examples of Specialized experience are: Knowledge of specialized grammar, writing, and editing guidelines as they pertain to the preparation of complex technical manuals, publications, and congressional reports; knowledge of audit, evaluation and research documents and Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards; knowledge of contracting request for information, request for proposals, and performance work statements; experience assembling technical data from a variety of sources for reports, briefings, etc.; knowledge of methods to develop written material for presentation in prescribed formats in a logical, clear, and factual manner; knowledge of desktop publishing programs and onscreen editing software to develop and finalize documents; and knowledge of AP and APA Style.

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

  • Oral and Written Communications
  • Manages and Organizes Information
  • Attention to Detail
  • Analytical Thinking
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 at an office location and is normally sedentary with no special demands.

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

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

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/.

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.

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

As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee's duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required exception from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, 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.

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.

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