Summary This position is located in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service of the VA Medical Center in Albany, New York. The Recreation Assistant supports recreation therapists by planning, organizing, advising on, and administering recreation activities and programs to restore, remediate, and/or rehabilitate functional capabilities for Veterans with injuries, chronic illnesses, and disabling conditions, under the therapist or supervisor's direction. 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 and responsibilities will include: Prepares areas for recreation activities and programs; Assists in preparations for community outings away from the facility, which are used to meet therapeutic goals; Arranges for equipment or supplies, checking them out to participants, ensuring they are returned, and checking the condition of supplies on their return; Takes inventory of authorized recreation supplies and equipment; Provides training for proper use of equipment and facilities and ensures compliance of rules of use for the facility; Assists with a wide variety of therapeutic recreation treatment, modalities, and procedures that are care planned and recommended by therapist, or by the Recreation Therapy Supervisor as part of the total plan of care of patients; Follows treatment plan to carry out recommended treatment; Evaluates the activity to determine if the treatment is causing an adverse effect and recommends changes or modifications of treatment procedures to the therapist or supervisor to determine appropriate modifications; Works with participants on an individual basis, in small groups, or large groups depending on treatment goals; Uses a variety of modalities such as art, music, hobbies, social recreation, creative communication, games, adapted sports, physical fitness, yoga, tai chi, special events, etc.; Documents progress towards the goals in the medical record of the participants; Performs related duties as required. Work Schedule: Wednesday - Sun 8:00am - 4:30pm; Candidates must be willing to work weekends; the other days are negotiable, regular work hours and extended hours if determined by the needs of the service. Furthermore, candidates must be willing to be placed, detailed, or temporarily assigned to other related services and/or locations, if necessary. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Telework: Not Authorized 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 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 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS GS-06: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in Federal service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: group leader, counselor, or similar work in public and private recreation programs for adults or children such as summer camps, local playgrounds, YWCA and YMCA clubs, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, urban community centers, or resort recreational activities; teacher's aid in elementary school recreation or physical education program; aid or assistant assignments in recreation while on active military service; aid or assistant in the organization and administration of recreation activities, such as preparing activities calendars, maintaining attendance records, and providing information concerning schedules and activities; summer aid in a State or national park, with duties related to the recreational activities of visitors to campsites, trails, picnic areas, nature and raft centers, boating and fishing areas, etc.; aid or assistant in the issuance of authorized property, and in the maintenance/accountability of inventory control for such property in a recreation facility; or aid or assistant in a hotel or resort recreation service, with duties such as setting up areas for games, tournaments, and other organized group recreational activities. This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. ~OR~ Half a year of graduate education (usually 9 semester hours) that is directly related to the work of this position. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. Transcripts required. ~OR~ An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. Experience must be detailed, and transcripts required. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Clinical Data Collection/Documentation Communication Patient Care Technical Competence IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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. Physical Demands and Work Environment: Work involves regular and recurring physical exertion when walking, standing, sitting, bending, lifting or moving equipment, pushing wheelchairs, positioning/transferring severely disabled patients, and assisting patients in ambulation. The work requires driving vehicles, tying down wheelchairs, propelling wheelchairs, loading/unloading equipment and supplies, etc. 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 IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. 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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov). Additional Information Note: Per "Executive Order 14251: Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs", this position is no longer eligible for bargaining unit participation. 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.
