Public Affairs Specialist

This position is located at the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center, Walla Walla, WA (VAWW). This position is aligned with the Office of the Director, which is responsible for VAWW's overall operations. The primary purpose of this position is to support the mission, goals, and functions of the VAWW and the Office of the Director.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 06/02/2026.

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 within 30 days of 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.

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: GS-12

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: Knowledge of current issues-national, regional and local- affecting or having the potential to affect the DVA and VAWW; Skill in developing written materials and making oral presentations; Skill in assessing public reaction and identifying the extent of understanding achieved to evaluate effectiveness of information programs; Knowledge and skills sufficient to work with social media and VAWW websites.

NOTE:

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. 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/ .