Public Affairs Specialist

The San Diego VA is recruiting a Public Affairs Specialist to work for the Office of the Assistant Director. The purpose of this position is to plan and conduct a public affairs program at the medical facility.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/22/2026.

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-9. 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-9, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Evaluating and advising management officials on specific courses of action to follow in making public announcements, initiating and preparing responses to inquiries, establishing cooperative working relationships with the local media, developing public affairs action plans, and developing and utilizing a variety of methods and techniques in achieving communication goals.

NOTE:

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 .

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 doctorate degree, or three (3) full years of progressively higher-level education leading to such a degree, or an LL.M., if related. Such education must demonstrate 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 have a combination of specialized experience, directly related to the work of the position as described above, and only education beyond 2 years of graduate level education can be used to qualify. An applicant's first 2 years of graduate study are not qualifying for a

GS-11. 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/ .