Summary The incumbent serves as the Administrative Officer (AO) for the Associate Chief of Staff, (ACOS) Specialty Care. This is a management position that has the clinical operations authority in conjunction with the ACOS Specialty Care, Chief of Business Offices, and the Chief Nurse for Specialty Care for the day-to-day operations of Specialty Care. Responsibilities Major Duties: Program Management: Responsible for ensuring the development and implementation of appropriate medical center policies and standard operating procedures under the purview of the Specialty Care (SC) Service. Ensures the service is following new and revised national directives, memos, and handbooks. Reviews administrative and technical procedures to attain maximum efficiency and effectiveness of operations. Establishes procedures to meet accreditation standards and consistently monitors to ensure services provided meet nationally accepted standards. Analyzes, evaluates, and advises on the effectiveness of work methods and procedures, organizations, space and manpower utilization, management controls, information and documentation systems and similar functions of management. Responsible for assuring that the goals of the Services are met related to access and timeliness of services, productivity, pact team metrics, performance metrics for mortality, length of stay, readmission, etc., and that the program demonstrates fiscal accountability. Completes independent assessments of the value of the program that include analysis of the costs, quality measures and customer satisfaction indices. Constructs new and unique measurement tools; accumulates and validates data drawn from multiple sources. Serves as a senior staff resource to top management in activities related to the service. Analyzes the activities of the service within the larger VA/VISN environment as well as the rapidly changing health care environment of the local community and the nation. Continuously updates information that is gleaned from current literature, as well as networking with the Administrative Officers of other Services to determine trends, issues, and innovative solutions to the unique challenges managed care presents for the enrolled veteran population. Oversight responsibility for the administration of health care delivery systems and administrative operations related to the service at the main medical center and CBOCs. Manages the daily operations of the service, that do not require clinical decision making, with the goal of integrating and coordinating all areas of the service from outpatient clinics to inpatient care, urgent care and procedural visits and encounters. Acts as the representative of the service in the absence of the Associate Chiefs of Staff with groups and committees within the medical center, at the affiliate, with VISN leadership and national offices. Responsible for the development, implementation, and compliance of quality improvement activities of the Services. This includes the development of a quality improvement plan for the Services. Monitors medical center, section specific, requirements for compliance (e. g. The Joint Commission (TJC), Office of Inspector General, VACO, quality assurance, etc.). Monitors, reports, and leads or participates on special teams to improve facility and VISN performance standards. Responsible for specific performance standards identified by the Medical Center Director (SES) and the Chief of Staff on an annual basis. Responsible for developing an implementing a plan of action that will enable the hospital to meet or exceed the assigned performance standards, and for monitoring compliance with these standards. Delegates responsibility for these performance standards to subordinates as appropriate but retains overall accountability for the assigned standards; achieving at a minimum the fully successful rating for the assigned performance standards is a critical rating element for this position. Leads or serves as a team member on special projects or studies to examine and address a wide variety of concerns related to quality and efficiency within the service. Participates in and has overall responsibility for ensuring systematic internal and external reviews of the program. Tracks all recommendations made during internal and external audits and ensures completion of action plans for the Services and makes suggestions on ways to improve overall management regarding findings. Conducts fact-findings or specials studies which arise during normal operations and present conclusions and recommendations regarding such. Prepares and reviews reports involving trend analyses and ensures follow up in these areas for the facility's programs. Prepares and analyzes data and makes recommendations for improvement and addresses any discrepancies. Performs staff support work in short and long range planning efforts and complies with directives and national guidelines in preparing annual and cyclic planning documents. Addresses patient concerns and complaints via the Patient Advocate reporting system, Veteran Signals surveys, White House Hotline complaints and Congressional inquiries Work Schedule: 8:00am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday Position Description/PD#: 09820-0 Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/13/2026. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. Note: 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. To qualify for this position at the GS-11 level, you must meet one of the following: Specialized Experience: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of an Administrative Officer, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position, specialized experience consists of: Creating reports, coordinating and scheduling meetings, and submitting requests/work orders using a personal computer and office automation programs (such as word processing, spreadsheets, etc.); Being the liaison with other services, management officials, functional work groups, and veterans on administrative matters. Communicates information to management for effective evaluation of program operations and milestones. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.M., if related. Education must be in or related to the position and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first two (2) year of graduate education leading towards a doctorate degree. (i.e., 2.5 years of progressive graduate education leading towards a doctorate degree would meet 50% of the qualifications requirement for this vacancy). NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application if using education. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Communications Organizational Awareness Planning and Evaluating 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 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or 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. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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/. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.
