Congressional Relations Officer

Description:

This Congressional Relations Officer (CRO) position is located in the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The incumbent serves as a CRO in one or more of the following areas: health, benefits, budget/appropriations, construction program, memorial affairs/cemetaries, acquisitions, and human resources, information technology and administration.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/30/2024.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11.For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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.

Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade.

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.

AND

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. Specialized experience is defined as experience: Analyzing and interpreting politically sensitive information; Promoting an agency or Department's policies, initiatives, and programs; Utilizing verbal and writing skills to organize and disseminate information.
GS-13 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-12) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience: Analyzing and interpreting legislative and congressional activities to support Department related policies, programs, and initiatives; Monitoring congressional activities and reporting/disseminating program and/or policy informing matters; Interfacing with senior leaders and preparing them for large scale meetings; Recommending communication strategies on legislation, policies, or directives that impact an agency. GS-14 Specialized Experience: You must 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. Specialized experience is defined as experience: Interfacing with and advising national leaders/policymakers on matters relating to an agency's mission and strategic plan; Managing preparations for and follow-ups to congressional hearings and/or briefings; Leading efforts on congressional inquiries that may impact one or multiple departments across an agency; Advising on the management of congressional issues.
You will be rated on the following Competencies or this position: Political Savvy Communication Stakeholder Management Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties.

To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above.

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.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.