SummaryThe facility Privacy/FOIA Officer has oversight for the data governance program and initiatives in the VHA Medical Center or Healthcare System and its supporting catchment area. The position makes unique facility-level determinations about disclosure, issuance of denials, redactions, access , use and dissemination of federal agency records. The position formulates policy, ensures compliance with federal and state laws and conducts thorough research of federal implementation regulations.
DutiesHelp
Major duties include but not limited to:
- Implement unique policies and procedures to manage agency information, providing assistance and services to the general public and an organization, agency or facility staff members;
- Supports developing a local level strategy for data governance, which includes leading from the executive office and creating a unique program that includes diverse processes and specific policies which are independent of other facilities;
- Monitors and covers all aspects of the collection, use, dissemination, disclosure and destruction of information within an organization, agency or facility;
- Develops and integrates policy based processes, roles and controls that influences how data is created, collected, used, stored and destroyed throughout the organization;
- Adjudicates complex privacy and FOIA decisions that affect employees, customers and commercial businesses in the absence of supervision;
- Performs in-depth legal research that pertains to both federal and state statutes to render expertise, provide solutions and facilitate corrective action;
- Safeguards information while supporting accountability and transparency initiatives;
- Analyzes all of the interrelated issues that affect the privacy/FOIA program and plans and conducts monitoring activities which measure the overall level of operational compliance by the facility;
- Teaches and trains employees on general data protection procedures and detailed service specific practices for daily operations and uses technology to provide required privacy/FOIA training and supplemental education;
- Performs assessment of privacy-related risks associated with business activities that involve processing of personal and sensitive data;
- Investigates non-compliance of privacy related issues at all levels of an organization, agency or facility and outside of these entities when information is involved;
- Strengthens and sustains the operational life cycle of the privacy/FOIA program by developing a communication strategy that fosters awareness for both internal external partners to improve compliance, provide training and engage the public;
- Ensures that organization, agency or facility correspondence for data governance is transparent, timely, accurate and complete in response to requests for information from the general-public, Congressional representatives, law enforcement, courts and commercial business;
- Creates communications process and tools that are flexible, customizable and interactive to address unique compliance challenges and educational/training needs.
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, PST
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Government Information Specialist/PD99843S and PD99538S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
RequirementsHelp
Conditions of employment- 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 dentification 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.
QualificationsTo qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade and specialized experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 02/18/2026.
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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9.
- 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 specialized experience and/or education as described below:
For GS-11:
- Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
- Analyzing and evaluating complex data
- Conducting meetings, briefings and suggests potential administrative action to leadership
- Applying a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods for the assessment and improvement of data governance program effectiveness
- Creating a communications process and tools that are flexible, customizable, and interactive to address unique compliance challenges and educational/training needs
- Compiling of detailed reports to substantiate compliance and submitting with findings and recommendations to leadership
- Teaching and training employees on general data protection procedures and detailed service specific practices for daily operations
- Ensuring that agency correspondence for data governance is transparent, timely, accurate and complete; OR
- Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M, if related. OR,
- Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond a master's degree to meet total experience requirements for the GS-11 level. To determine if you meet combination requirements, the total percentages of your qualifying experience and percentage of education required for the grade level must equal at least 100 percent. For example, an applicant has 9 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS-9 and 2 1/2 years of creditable graduate level education. The applicant meets 75 percent of the required experience and 50 percent of the required education, i.e., the applicant has 1/2 year of graduate study beyond that required for GS-9. Therefore, the applicant exceeds the total requirement and is qualified for the position. (The applicant's first 2 years of graduate study are not qualifying for GS-11.) (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED).
For 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:
- Supports in developing a local level strategy for data governance, which includes leading from the executive office and creating a unique program that includes diverse processes and specific policies which are independent of other facilities.
- Making final decisions of data disclosure, initiate independent investigations, conduct compliance activities, and implement physical, technical, and administrative safeguards.
- Developing and executing strategic management initiatives that establish areas of control of information within the facility and interfaces with all business operations across service lines/departments.
- Creating unique written policies that define the enterprise privacy principles, guidance and practices that influence the data governance model for the organization.
- Contributing to significant agency decisions, policy recommendations and executive leadership consultations based on an in-depth knowledge of government regulatory and federal and state statutory requirements, and law.
- Expert understanding of all applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines, independently analyzes all the interrelated issues that affect the privacy/FOIA program.
- Developing a communication strategy that fosters awareness for both internal and external partners to improve compliance, provide training, and engage the public.
- Planning and conducting activities which measure the overall level of operational compliance.
- Coaching supervisors on how to train staff on protected health information.
- Conducting detailed interviews to collect facts in response to complaints.
- Performing in-depth legal research pertaining to federal and state statutes to provide solutions and corrective actions.
- Adjudicating complex privacy and FOIA decisions that affect employees, patients, and commercial businesses in the absence of supervision.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: 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/.
Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. There will be episodes of moderate lifting or prolonged periods of standing and bending in searching various files. There is lifting and carrying of such items as record boxes and bulky files. The work involves considerable walking, standing and bending conducting rounds, auditing and providing training both on-site and off-site personnel. There is also occasional lifting and carrying of such items as boxes and files, weighing up to 30 lbs.
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.
EducationA 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/.
There is no educational substitution for the GS-12 grade level.Additional informationUnder 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/.
Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form.
Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.
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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
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