Emergency Management Specialist

Summary

This position is located within Health System Area 5.2 and 5.5, as part of the Comprehensive Emergency Management Program Workforce Modernization Plan for emergency preparedness and response which establishes responsibilities for emergency management activities within VHA to all levels of the Department and with other Departments and Agencies, establishes consistency of functions, and streamlines hiring process. See note below in duties section regarding location of position

Duties

Location Clarification: This job is open to candidates who reside and/or intend to reside with a 50-mile radius of a facility located within Health System Area (HSA) 5.2 and 5.5 catchment area: American Samoa, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, and Northern Marina Islands. Major duties and responsibilities for the position include but are not limited to: Applies specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities particular to a healthcare system environment including methods to support emergency planning and operations. Provides operational support and expertise to management through evaluative, analytical, coordination, planning, administrative, developmental, interpretive, and judgmental methodologies. Coordinates HSA emergency management activities that require a high level of judgment and ability including assuming responsibility for planning, implementing and coordinating emergency response and recovery actions for VA Medical Centers (VAMCs), Community Living Centers (CLCs), Domiciliary Units, Outpatient Clinics (OPCs), Healthcare Centers (HCC), and Community Based Outpatient Clinics(CBOCs). Produces pertinent and informative management reports, demonstrating effective practices in problem resolution. Ensures emergency operations and support activities are monitored to expedite return to readiness whenever there is a loss of operational capabilities from any of the Network facilities or catchment areas. Provides technical assistance, guidance, and coordination on emergency medical preparedness programs for all HSA medical facilities and catchment areas. Employs considerable knowledge of healthcare facility operations and emergency operations supporting federal, state, and local entities within the geographical boundaries of the HSA . Fulfills program responsibilities and coordinates network programs with senior management officials at VA Headquarters, Health System Area medical facilities, other federal departments/agencies, state government, and local communities where VA facilities are located. Manages and coordinates all aspects of the HSA Emergency Management Coordination Center (EMCC) and organizes network emergency management support activities as necessary including developing a HSA Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) which meets contingency requirements. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Ad-hoc only. Position Description/PD#: Emergency Management Specialist/PD00021VS Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized: PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized. Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/02/2026. 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 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education ss described below: 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Working in a healthcare/medical environment preparing for, carrying out, and coordinating emergency management functions; Collaborating with various agencies (government and non-government) to aid victims suffering from injury or damage resulting from disaster caused by natural or man-made hazards; Utilizing and following emergency management related regulations, directives, and requirements to facilitate appropriate response to and recovery from emergencies and disasters; Determining medical facility capabilities to meet patient demands and site-specific needs during emergency situations; Providing and applying recommendations to assist staff in developing plans and programs to manage emergency situations; and Determining alternative care sites for patients at medical facilities with unique medical problems or those impacted by emergency/disaster incidents. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. 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. Preferred Experience: At least one year of specialized experience in: Leading emergency preparedness and continuity programs. Coordinating multi-facility or multi-organizational emergency operations including but not limited to incident management activities, emergency operations centers, incident command structures, resource coordination efforts, or continuity-related operations during emergencies or disruptions. Conducting risk, vulnerability, capability, readiness, and operational assessments and using findings to recommend corrective actions and program improvements. Developing, maintaining, and assessing emergency operations plans, continuity plans, procedures, and readiness programs to support organizational resilience and mission continuity. Planning, conducting, evaluating or supporting emergency management exercises, training program, after-action reviews, and corrective action programs designed to improve organizational readiness. Advising senior leadership on emergency management, healthcare continuity, operational readiness, resource requirements, risk management issues Coordinating with Federal, State, Local and Private-sector partners during preparedness, response, and recovery during emergency management activities. Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary although some physical effort may be required to meet fieldwork requirements, such as lifting 50 pounds, moving, pushing, etc. During emergency events, the employee would be expected to work significant extended hours under very austere conditions. The work is generally performed in an office setting but emergency incidents, training, and exercise events may require prolonged duty days and/or work to be conducted under austere field conditions. The position may require frequent travel. All positions subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations may require irregular work hours, work locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements may occur with little advanced notice and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions. 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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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/. How You Will Be Evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Your 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. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. 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. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. 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. Other Information

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. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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/.