Summary The incumbent serves as the Secretary to the Associate Director of Patient Care Services/Nurse Executive (ADPCS/NE) at the El Paso VA Health Care System (EPVAHCS). The incumbent is responsible for the full range of comprehensive clerical and administrative support duties consistent with an executive secretary level of performance. Responsibilities The incumbent will serve as the executive secretary to the Associate Director of Patient Care Services/Nurse Executive (ADPCS/NE) and all nursing clinics. The Secretary will provide administrative support as needed to the ADPCS/NE direct reports and their staff. The Secretary will manage all office administrative tasks such as schedule management, filing, coordinating meetings, composing letters and memorandums on behalf of the AD PCS/NE, and manages correspondence such that the office runs smoothly and all tasks are completed in a timely manner. Prepares public presentation outlines, develops standard or form letters, and replies to inquiries. The Secretary will independently screen calls and visitors to the ADPCS/NE office; referring to staff members and forwarding to the ADPCS/NE only those calls or visitors requiring personal attention. Screens calls mid visitors to the Executive Office, problem solves and refer issues to staff members as appropriate often with complex follow up. The secretary is located in the Executive Office; therefore he/she also serves as a Service Level Advocate, serving as the initial point of contact for all visitors. As such, the incumbent is responsible for ascertaining the facts to complex issues and determining the proper follow-up and disposition that is required, because there is no written guidance for these complex issues. The Secretary will handle many requests for information and assists in resolving a variety of complaints made by staff and patients and their families. The incumbent is regularly involved in contact with staff from all levels of the organization, patients, visitors, and may have occasional high level contacts with visitors and callers from such organizations as congressional offices, members of the news media, state and local officials, high ranking officials in the field and attorneys. Receives visiting dignitaries from the Veterans Integrated Service Network IS (VISN 17), VA Central Office (VACO) staff, Veteran organizations and congressional representatives. Independently provides general calendar maintenance for the ADPCS/NE. Schedules complex appointments involving multiple leadership staff which requires the coordination of many schedules, appointments, and meetings. Independently makes arrangements for time, participants and locations appropriate for the audience and intent of the meeting. Coordinates correspondence, determining proper action and routing, and often prepares responses before referring to the ADPCS/NE. Independently reviews outgoing correspondence and reports, ensuring proper format, mathematical correctness, correct grammatical content, and ascertaining that all necessary coordination of facts has been completed and is in accordance with established policy and within time parameters. Instructs and assists the various administrative support personnel in clinical and non-clinical departmental offices on procedural matters such as correct format or routing to follow in preparing correspondence. Provides general clerical mail and correspondence services such as preparing a variety of recurring reports, reviewing outgoing correspondence for proper attachments consolidating/coordinating submittals of information. Advises the ADPCS/NE of important office issues arising during his/her absence, and brings significant item in reports, files and correspondence to his or her attention. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:45pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD011070 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements 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. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/02/2026. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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 experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: foundation of administrative concepts, sufficient to perform duties independently involving eliminating conflict and duplication of work, evaluating office equipment, and recommending restructuring of clerical activities in the office and subordinate offices; ability to adapt to policies and procedures to emergency situations, ability to independently note and follow-up on commitments made at meetings and conferences by staff members, ability to summarize information from files and documents, experience multi-tasking, knowledge Microsoft Word, word processing software in order to execute several office automation functions such as storing, retrieving electronic documents, files and formatting letters, reports, and memoranda etc. Experience with Microsoft Power Point to develop presentation materials. Experience with customer service, suspense processing, reading and recording minutes, and recordkeeping. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Interpersonal Skills Manages and Organizes Information Planning and Evaluating 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 sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. 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 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. 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. Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. 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/. Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.
