Program Manager (Creative Forces and Arts and Health)

Summary The incumbent reports to the Senior Advisor for Innovation and Director of Creative Forces or their designee. This position manages Creative Forces and related arts and health initiatives by overseeing cooperative agreements, MOUs, and partner coordination. The role provides subject matter expertise, leads planning and communications, and builds stakeholder relationships to advance arts, health, and wellbeing efforts across the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Learn more about this agency Duties Planning and coordinating program solicitations, guidelines input, reviewing criteria, and application reviews for arts and health activities across disciplines. Managing MOUs with Creative Forces and other partners, tracking renewals, approvals, and coordinating with clinical sites and stakeholders. Building and maintaining relationships with key external stakeholders, tracking engagement and maintaining communications platforms and infrastructure. Leading communications planning with Public Affairs, managing messaging, outreach strategies, products, vendors, and communications budgets. Identifying and assessing related programs across federal agencies and external funders, informing partnership strategy and initiative growth. Requirements Conditions of employment Must be a U.S. Citizen or National Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation Applicants selected for this position must complete a one-year supervisory probationary period. Failure to successfully complete this period may result in removal from the supervisory position. Selective Service registration required. Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required All employees are required to participate in Direct Deposit/ Electronic Funds Transfer for salary payments. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume. Relocation expenses are not authorized. Other recruitment incentives may be authorized. In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to the four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answers to these questions are not scored or rated. Your answers to the essay questions will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration. The application contains information subject the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 U.S.C. 552a). The information issued will be used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5 U.S.C. Section 3302 and 3361. Recruitment methods and selection procedures will based solely on merit after fair and open competition, and will be made without regard to political, religious, or labor organization affiliation or non-affiliation, marital status, race, color, sex, national origin, non-disqualifying disability, sexual-orientation or age. Qualifications Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Specialized Experience requirements as noted below. Specialized Experience for this GS-12 You qualify for this GS-12 grade level if you possess one year of specialized experience in the Federal service or equivalent public or private sector experience at a level comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-11 grade level performing the following duties: Working with outreach activities for arts, creative arts therapies or other arts and health programs taking place in either clinical or community-based settings; Participating at official events, such as arts conferences, creative arts therapies conferences, art and health conferences, and site visits; Assisting with monitoring arts-related cooperative agreements grant contracts, or other funding agreements or internal institutional programmatic guidelines and associated activities; and Assisting with drafting documentation associated with creative arts therapies and/or other emerging arts and health programs. Specialized Experience for this GS-13 You qualify for this GS-13 grade level if you possess one year of specialized experience in the Federal service or equivalent public or private sector experience at a level comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-12 grade level performing the following duties: Supporting long term planning, programming and outreach activities for arts, creative arts therapies or other arts and health programs carried out in clinical or community-based settings; Representing an arts, health, or arts and health organization at official events, such as conferences and site visits; Overseeing the process of executing and monitoring arts, creative arts therapies and/or other arts-related cooperative agreements, grant contracts, or other funding agreements or internal institutional programmatic guidelines. and Drafting documentation and developing project plans and timelines associated with arts, creative arts therapies or other emerging arts and health programs. NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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; religious; 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. Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office. Qualifications Must Be Met: The qualification requirements listed above must be met by the 06/09/2026 of this announcement. Note about the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation: Your experience (paid and unpaid), education, awards, training and self-development will be evaluated as it relates to the position based upon the information provided in your resume/application and any other supporting documents. Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Program (I/CTAP) Eligible: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not I/CTAP eligible. View information about I/CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered well qualified under I/CTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this announcement. Education Education cannot be used to qualify for this position. Additional information Additional selections may be made from this vacancy. Identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation of management to promote the employee selected at some future date. If you are claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, you must submit proof by 06/09/2026 that you meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(a) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP or you will not receive priority consideration. The proof includes a copy of the agency notice, your most recent Performance Rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty station. To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority of this vacancy, you must earn a minimum score of 85 (prior to the assignment of veteran's preference) on the rating criteria for this position. VETERANS PREFERENCE: If claiming 5-point veteran preference you MUST submit copy number 4 of the DD-214. If you are claiming 10-point veteran preference you MUST submit an SF-15, Application for 10-point Veteran's Preference AND all other required documents in order to be granted the preference. If you are unable to apply online please contact [email protected]. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply online if at all possible. Applying online, through your USAJOBS account, will expedite the application process and allow you to check your application status as well as verify the documentation submitted with your application. All documents must be received by 06/09/2026. Additional information on veteran's preference is available at: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/veterans.aspx If you are selected for this Federal position, you will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failure to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on the application may be grounds for not hiring you or dismissing you after you begin work, and may be punishable by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1001). 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. (https://appsupport-usastaffing.opm.gov/hc/en-us/sections/45063131363475-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information) Expand Hide  additional information 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. Benefits A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits. Review our benefits Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.