Government Information Specialist

Veterans Health Administration

Palo Alto (CA)

On-site

USD 112,000 - 145,000

Full time

12 days ago

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Job summary

The Veterans Health Administration, located at the Palo Alto VA Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA, is seeking a Privacy/FOIA Officer to lead data governance initiatives within the facility.

This full-time position requires on-site presence within commutable distance of Palo Alto and entails policy development, supervision of FOIA requests, privacy risk assessments, training, and ensuring compliance with federal laws.

Job description

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

This position is located in the Palo Alto VA Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA. The 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.

Key Responsibilities

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Major duties include but are not limited to: Implements 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 and 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 a communications process and tools that are flexible, customizable and interactive to address unique compliance challenges and educational/training needs.

Perform other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full-Time; Monday through Friday; 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Recruitment incentive may be authorized for highly qualified candidates. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved.

Requirements & 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/.

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $111896 – $145468/yr.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-10-21.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Public' hiring path.