Summary This position serves as an Emergency Management Specialist within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and within the Office of the Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Operations, located in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Responsibilities This job announcement will remain open for 10 business days and close on 10/10/2024. The initial application review cut-off for this job announcement is 50 applications. The first 50 applications received will be considered first. Applications received after the initial cut-off number (50 applications) may not receive consideration unless otherwise requested by management. Provide program management in support of VHA's fourth mission of emergency management. Develop memorandums and other products to support program management activities. Function as the program manager in readiness assurance and performance improvement activities as it relates to emergency management programs. Interact in a professional and competent manner on a daily basis with various stakeholders across the VA and VHA organizations. Develop and implement emergency management products to ensure requirements are fully integrated and coordinated, in coordination with directives, standards, and regulations. Meet and address customer needs and has the flexibility to respond to new initiatives and evolving emergency preparedness and response expectations Lead the development of program management goals and objectives that integrate those activities into the overarching organizational goals and objectives. Develop, research, interpret, analyze, implement and apply a variety of guidelines that impact planning and other emergency management principles and practices. Establish, revise, and review program policies, procedures, directives, and objectives to ensure they are in alignment with overarching emergency management goals and objectives. Conduct sensitive and complex investigations and perform analytical, liaison and advisory work to develop and evaluate policies. Conduct program analysis, evaluations, and reviews to ensure plans are current and meet both internal and external requirements. Determine the information required for use in the management and direction of OEM programs, including emergency planning and mitigation activities. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 7:00 am - 3:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: May be available at management discretion. Telework: Available (applicant is required on site 50% of work schedule per pay period). Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Emergency Management Specialist/PD324650 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. Requirements 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 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 Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/10/2024. 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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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 education as described below: Specialized Experience Requirement: Have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. In order to meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet 7 of 9 of the following examples of specialized experience. Manage programs and projects and possessing the ability to coordinate complex project or program activities Develop new methods, approaches, or procedures, to plan for and coordinate Federal emergency management programs Apply emergency management principles, healthcare emergency management principles and concepts, and best practices Analyze and evaluate complex operational reports, after-action reviews, plans, and procedures Use analytical and evaluative methods including a wide range of qualitative and quantitative techniques to develop, review and evaluate the improvement of program effectiveness Professional speaking and writing to communicate effectively and resolve conflicting points of view with staff and senior officials from Departmental and Administration offices, bureaus, and other agencies Produce clearly written operational reports, plans, procedures, correspondence, and other written documents, and provide recommendations as needed Rules, regulations and procedures governing security and handling of classified or sensitive information Skill in project management and demonstrated skill in organizing and coordinating the efforts of others, motivating and leading teams, managing projects, completing studies You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Interpersonal Skills Planning and Evaluation Project Management Organizational Performance Analysis Emergency Management Writing 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 sedentary during non-emergency situations. However, during field exercises and operational support missions, it may require strenuous physical activity, including carrying equipment (up to 40lbs), walking long distances over difficult terrain, running, climbing, working long hours in primitive or arduous conditions, long periods of standing, bending, and stooping. Deployments may include various housing and living conditions to include non-climate controlled, limited privacy sleeping facilities (for example, cots, tents, "hot-bunking", gymnasiums or similar), limited shower and laundry facilities and limited feeding options (such as shelf-stable meals, meals-ready-to-eat (MREs), and field kitchens). The employee may also be required to work long hours under highly stressful and demanding conditions, which are the norm during major emergency operations. 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 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 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. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. 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.