Standards Development Organization Liaison / Knowledge Management

Job Summary

This role is VA’s point of contact with the outside organizations that write and ballot health data standards. That means sitting in HL7, SNOMED, LOINC and similar workgroups, carrying VA’s position into those discussions, and bringing back what changed and what it actually means for VHA systems and workflows. The other half of the job is knowledge management. Standards work generates a lot of material, implementation guides, mappings, decision records, meeting notes, and most programs lose track of it. This person keeps that content organized, current, and easy for the team to find so the program is not rebuilding the same answer every few months.

Primary Responsibilities

Standards Development Organization Engagement

• Represents VHA in standards development organizations and related bodies, including HL7, SNOMED International, Regenstrief/LOINC, NCPDP, X12, DICOM, IHE, and ISO/TC 215, along with federal standards forums and cross-agency workgroups.
• Tracks ballot cycles, comment periods, workgroup calendars, and implementation guide development across multiple organizations at once.
• Prepares and submits VA comments, ballot reconciliations, and change requests.
• Coordinates VA participation so the right clinical and technical people show up to the right meetings with a consistent position, and follows through on commitments VA makes in those forums.
• Maintains working relationships with SDO staff, cochairs, and counterparts at other federal agencies.
• Gives the program early warning when a standard is moving in a direction that will create downstream work.

Standards Analysis and Program Advisory

• Analyzes draft and published standards, implementation guides, and terminology releases for operational impact on VHA systems and workflows.
• Translates what a standard actually requires into plain terms for informatics analysts, clinical SMEs, architects, and program leadership.
• Advises on adoption timing, conformance expectations, gaps between a published standard and how VHA currently does the work, and the practical cost of closing that gap.
• Supports requirements development and interoperability design decisions where standards conformance is in play.
• Flags conflicts between competing standards, or between a standard and existing VA policy, and works the issue toward a decision rather than handing it off.

Knowledge Management

• Owns the program’s knowledge management approach for standards and interoperability content.
• Builds and maintains the repository structure, taxonomy, naming conventions, and version control that keep artifacts findable and current.
• Curates implementation guides, value sets, terminology mappings, decision records, position papers, meeting summaries, and lessons learned.
• Establishes review cycles so content gets retired or refreshed instead of quietly going stale.
• Develops SOPs, job aids, reference materials, and onboarding content that let new team members get productive without a long ramp.
• Supports communities of practice and recurring knowledge sharing sessions across the program.

Coordination and Delivery

• Manages the schedule, dependencies, and deliverables tied to standards participation and knowledge management work.
• Produces status reporting, briefing materials, and executive summaries for VA leadership.
• Facilitates working sessions and workgroup meetings, captures decisions and action items, and drives them to closure.
• Coordinates with other OIP work streams and with adjacent VA programs so standards positions and reference content stay aligned across the enterprise.
• Supports government leads with documentation, meeting logistics, and follow-through on external commitments.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Ten years of experience. The ten years must be in project management for standards development.
• Demonstrated participation in one or more health data standards development organizations, including ballot, comment, or workgroup involvement.
• Working knowledge of health data standards and terminologies, including HL7 V2, CDA, and FHIR, plus SNOMED CT, LOINC, RxNorm, and ICD.
• Experience building and maintaining structured knowledge repositories, documentation libraries, or content governance processes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to brief technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to obtain and maintain the required VA background investigation.

Desired Qualifications

• Prior VA or federal health care experience, particularly with VistA, CPRS, or the Federal EHR.
• HL7 FHIR certification, SNOMED CT certification, or equivalent standards credentials.
• Experience with terminology tooling and value set authoring, including NLM VSAC.
• PMP or equivalent project management certification.
• Experience supporting federal interoperability policy work, including TEFCA, USCDI, or ONC certification criteria.

About Aptive

About Aptive. Aptive partners with federal agencies to achieve their missions through improved performance, streamlined operations and enhanced service delivery. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, we support more than a dozen agencies including Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security and the National Science Foundation. We specialize in applying technology, creativity and human-centered services to optimize mission delivery and improve experiences for millions of people who count on government services every day. Founded: 2012. Employees: 300+ nationwide.

EEO Statement

Aptive is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, parental status, veteran status, age, disability, or any other protected class. Veterans, members of the Reserve and National Guard, and transitioning active-duty service members are highly encouraged to apply. About Aptive: Aptive partners with federal agencies to achieve their missions through improved performance, streamlined operations and enhanced service delivery. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, we support more than a dozen agencies including Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security and the National Science Foundation. We specialize in applying technology, creativity and human-centered services to optimize mission delivery and improve experiences for millions of people who count on government services every day. Founded: 2012. Employees: 300+ nationwide.

Originally posted on Himalayas