Summary Staff assistants acts as liaison and handles communication with many individuals, organizations and groups to assure coordination of services and ongoing communication with key internal and external stakeholders. Interface is also provided with consumers, academic affiliations, Veterans service organizations, Headquarters staff offices, Congressional members, Veterans Affairs committee staff and others influencing the VISN. Responsibilities Administrative Support Serves as Lead Staff Assistant to multiply VISN employees and to VISN Executive Leadership Team (ELT) providing a wide range of administrative support. Serve as Lead to other front office staff members and the ELT. Based on knowledge of the Leadership member's views, preferences, and policies, provides accurate and timely advice on procedures, reports, requirements, and other matters necessary to implement the office policies, directives, and instructions. Facilitates the performance of the Leadership member's work by relaying information and requests to officials within and outside the organization. Receives, screens and manages office calls, email, visitors, and correspondence. Maintains the Leadership members' calendars and supports the ELT. When necessary to decline invitations to meetings, etc., arranges for representation by a subordinate official if required. Makes sure the ELT members (or representatives) have back-up information regarding appointments and briefs them on information she/he should know regarding the appointment and/or meeting. Schedules appointments on own initiative based on personal knowledge of Leadership member's workload and current issues of importance. Reviews incoming correspondence, determines necessary action, routes and tracks items, and follows up on requests that can be handled personally. Correspondence Control, Action Items, Suspense Monitoring The incumbent manages all incoming executive correspondence to determine the nature of the problem and/or request for data and assign the appropriate office that has the staff responsibility regarding the concerns addressed by the correspondence. The incumbent will evaluate correspondence, action items and suspense items to ensure that they are timely, complete, and appropriate for the VISN Director's concurrence or approval. The incumbent will monitor correspondence, action items and suspense items trends for responsible facilities, and monitor the effectiveness of correspondence and suspense procedure, Payroll and Travel Performs a variety of clerical and technical work that results in the bi-weekly or monthly determination of pay for civilian employees, incumbents examine human resources actions, pay changes, and employee requests to ensure accuracy of data submitted to payroll which serve as a basis for pay and leave computation and affect the disbursement of pay. Office Management and Communication Incumbent serves as Lead Office Manager for the Network Director's office and ensure practices and procedures used by other office staff are consistent. As Network continues to grow, coordination and communication with department heads from site to VISN and to VHA level must be adhered to provide seamless onboarding of employees. Incumbent manages communication Develops and implements orientation and for incoming employees new to VISN office. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm OR 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Available for Ad-Hoc Virtual: This is NOT a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (Lead Staff Assistant)/PD003970 and PD004680 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required 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, 03/06/2026. 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-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-08. 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: GS-08 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: receives, screens and manages office calls, email, visitors, and correspondence; maintains calendars and supports executive members; coordinates arrangements for meetings and conferences at the Executive level; managing all incoming executive correspondence to determine the nature of the problem and/or request for data and assign the appropriate office that has the staff responsibility regarding the concerns addressed by the correspondence. GS-09 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-08 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: receives, screens and manages office calls, email, visitors, and correspondence; maintains calendars and supports executive members; coordinates arrangements for meetings and conferences at the Executive level; develops work processes and systems for tracking and controlling a wide variety of correspondence requiring action or follow-up; develops, implements, and maintains various automated databases, spreadsheets, and graphics in support of office activities and operations; managing all incoming executive correspondence to determine the nature of the problem and/or request for data and assign the appropriate office that has the staff responsibility regarding the concerns addressed by the correspondence; performing preliminary research and in determining procedures needed for collection, analysis and evaluation of a variety of administrative data used by the office. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Clerical Quality Management Budget Administration Administration and Management Communication 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/. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary however some duties may require standing, walking, bending and carrying light weight objects. The incumbent will typically work in a well-lighted office environment. Use of phone, computer equipment and software typical to a business environment will be required. 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 located within the local commuting area 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/.
