Program Specialist (Employee Engagement Officer)

Summary

The Employee Experience Officer serves in the Experience Office at the Atlanta VA Health Care System (AVAHCS), a complex healthcare system comprising three medical centers and nineteen Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). The health care system delivers comprehensive care to Veterans across a large geographic service area and employs a diverse workforce across clinical and administrative services.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to:Serves as the health care system subject matter expert for employee experience and workforce engagement strategy, advising senior leadership on initiatives that impact employee engagement, workforce satisfaction, and employee well-being. Leads the development and implementation of enterprise workforce engagement strategies that support organizational priorities and strengthen organizational culture across the health care system. Designs and implements system-wide employee experience initiatives to improve workforce engagement, reduce burnout, enhance workforce resilience, and promote employee well-being. Provides strategic consultation to executive leadership regarding organizational culture transformation, workforce engagement strategy, and employee experience design. Integrates employee experience principles into workforce development initiatives, leadership engagement programs, and organizational performance improvement strategies. Conducts environmental scans and benchmarking studies to identify best practices in employee engagement, workforce well-being, and organizational culture. Leads cross-organizational initiatives requiring collaboration among clinical services, administrative programs, and executive leadership. Chairs the Employee Engagement Committee Facilitates workforce listening sessions, engagement forums, leadership workshops, and other activities designed to gather employee feedback and improve organizational culture. Represents the health care system in meetings, collaborative forums, and working groups addressing workforce engagement and employee experience initiatives. Develops project plans, establishes priorities, tracks milestones, and ensures timely execution of initiatives. Develops briefing materials, reports, and presentations for executive leadership regarding workforce engagement strategies and program outcomes. Serves as liaison between executive leadership and internal stakeholders to ensure alignment of workforce engagement initiatives across service lines and facilities. Manages, facilitates, and provides data with recommendations to leaders from the Atlanta Speaks platform for employee feedback to leadership. Leads analysis of workforce engagement data, including the All-Employee Survey (AES), ESignals feedback tools, workforce analytics dashboards, and other organizational assessment tools. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 7:30am-4:00pm. Work Schedule is subject to change based on agency need. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist (Employee Engagement Officer)/PD115440 and PD11509 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): 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, 10/19/2026. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Prepares and/or assists in the initiation or revision of administrative policies in the professional services; Provides ongoing training and assistance to new and incumbent personnel regarding office policies and procedures; Develops and coordinates internal review systems to assure that administrative activities are in compliance with agency and accrediting and regulatory requirements. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must possess a master's or equivalent graduate degree, at least 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or L.L.B or J.D., if related. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education as described above. 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-09. 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-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Manage and coordinate all administrative aspects of a Service/Department. Gather data analyzes budget needs for a service. Plan and maintain a system of internal controls which assures that the fiscal management is maintained in accordance with accepted accounting practices, participate in the manpower utilization program assuring recruitment and retention within the approved ceilings. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience at the GS-09 grade level and education beyond (2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. 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

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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/. 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 Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning 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. Other Information

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 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/.