Summary The Primary Purpose of the Position is: Performs duties directly contributing to the administrative management. Duties require the ability to apply the specialized principles and practices of health care management in directing or supporting a health care delivery system. Responsibilities Duties are but not limited to: Staff Support Incumbent is the liaison between the Assistant Director for Outpatient Services and the Assistant Director and the Services Departments that fall under the Assistant Director for Outpatient Services and the Assistant Director authority to include: Customer Service Program, Patient Centered Care Program, Fisher House, Patient Administrative Service, Bonham Domiciliary Service, CBOC Managers for Bonham, Fort Worth, Tyler and Contract CBOCs, Audiology and Speech Pathology, Canteen, Emergency Management Program, Environmental Management, Facility Planner, Medical Administration, Nutrition and Food, Police, Recreation Therapy, Safety, Social Work and Voluntary Service. In this capacity, the incumbent is a professional who comprehends the objectives and functionality of clinical, administrative and financial components of the Healthcare System. Serves on committees as appointed by the Assistant Director for Outpatient Services and the Assistant Director varying capacitates including chairman, participant, and/or representative of the Assistant Director for Outpatient Services and the Assistant Director. As part of this function, the incumbent presents his or her own concepts and recommendations, imparts philosophies and policies as representative of the Assistant Director for Outpatient Services or the Assistant Director's own, and provides feedback to the Assistant Director for Outpatient Services or the Assistant Director as to the status of committee actions and recommendations. Budgeting/Financial Management Work Develops the need for and maintains an awareness of available resources, and makes recommendations to Medical Center management regarding needs, distribution or redistribution of these resources. The incumbent has full authority for a small number of fund control points. The incumbent is also responsible for the effective and efficient management of fund control points. Due Process Discusses, investigates and responds to employee grievances and dissatisfactions in order to resolve conflicts. Incumbent represents management at labor management meetings, provides information, resolves conflicts, and/or problems that may arise and assures management officials are familiar with the negotiated agreement. Serves as deciding official for individual actions within the organization. Incumbent hears and resolves staff concerns and complaints. As appropriate, refers group grievances and unresolved serious complaints to top management. Public Relations Participates in various constituent meetings to promote and understanding of the health care delivery systems' mission and to create an atmosphere conducive to quality patient care. Incumbent is responsible to represent the organization to a number of external bodies and agencies providing routine briefings to various interested groups. Establishes and maintains good relations with various civic and professional groups, service organizations, accrediting agencies, volunteer worker groups, news media, and the community at large, as well as individual contacts with patient's visitors, and individuals in the community. Incumbent ensures effective integration of efforts/activities. Administrative Management Provides for the overall administrative management for the organization. This may include interpreting administrative policies, developing or implementing local policies, defining administrative requirements, and/or providing advice to top management on related issues. Develops and advises on administrative requirements for a large, complex organization. Serves as the principal advisor to the agency on all administrative management matters associated with programs and operations under the Assistant Director for Outpatient Services and the Assistant Director. Actively participates in developing and implementing administrative management policies. Advises on and recommends courses of action pertaining to administrative issues. The effective execution of this role is dependent on the incumbent's knowledge, self direction, motivation, interpersonal relationships, organization abilities, decision-making skills and the ability to function with minimal supervision. The HSS articulates comprehensive knowledge of current issues and trends in clinical and administrative practice, computer technology and health care, both locally and nationally. Supports or leads special projects as assigned ranging from fact finding, system redesign to process improvement/automation/implementation. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 7:30am- 4pm or 8am- 4:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc only Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD09087O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary/trial period 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) Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/22/2025. 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-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. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR). An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series. The Individual Occupational Requirement for the Health System Specialist position is: Education: Undergraduate or Graduate Education with a major study in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR Experience: You must have progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following; Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. OR Special Provision for In-service Placement: Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included: Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements; Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: 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: interpreting administrative policies, developing or implementing local policies, defining administrative requirements, and/or providing advice to top management on related issues. Supports or leads special projects as assigned ranging from fact finding, system redesign to process improvement/automation/implementation. Incumbent represents management at labor management meetings, provides information, resolves conflicts, and/or problems that may arise and assures management officials are familiar with the negotiated agreement. The ability to to apply the specialized principles and practices of health care management in directing a health care delivery system. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Critical Thinking Analysis and Problem Solving 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. Note: 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. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. 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 There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. 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.
