Summary OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans? Responsibilities This position is located in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) Section at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA. The position supports both Employee Occupational Health (EOH) and Environmental Medicine (EM) programs within the facility. The primary purpose of this position is to provide comprehensive administrative and program support that ensures efficient Employee Occupational Health clinical operations and effective implementation of environmental health related activities. The incumbent coordinates employee medical surveillance programs and environmental medicine consults, manages scheduling and date functions. Customer Service, Outreach, and Clinic Front-End Support Performed: Oversees front-end traffic and visit flow for EOH clinical services, including pre-placement examinations, surveillance encounters, workplace injury visits, and Military Environmental Exposure Assessments, coordinating with other services as necessary. Serves as a central point of contact for OEM functions, responding to inquiries in person, by telephone, and electronically, and advising supervisors, employees, and Veterans on straightforward policies and procedures related to occupation and environmental health programs. Interviews Veterans to determine eligibility for environmental health registry exams, explains purposed and processes, and coordinates or facilitates timely scheduling of environmental health registry and PACT Act Toxic Exposure Screening within mandated timeframes, including providing information regarding Compensation and Pension, environmental registries, and the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC). Recordkeeping, Registry, and Data Support: Organizes and maintains sensitive medical and program information, including employee health records and environmental health registry documentation, in paper and electronic formats (e.g., VistA/CPRD, eSHORE, LEAF, consult tracking tools, and spreadsheets) in accordance with records management, Privacy Act, and HIPAA requirements. Reviews registry-related documentation (such as questionnaires and worksheets) for completeness and ensures that required exposure questionnaires and diagnostic exams are completed and filed in the Veteran's electronic health record, establishing records when needed. Clinic and Program Oversight Support: Maintains working relationship with other EOH offices and Environmental Health coordinators within the VISN regarding pre-placement evaluations and registry programs, registers demographic information into VistA, eSHORE, and other systems, and triages phone calls, emails, and faxes to appropriate clinical or administrative staff. Coordinates interagency and interfacility transfer of information and documentation when appropriate, ensuring compliance with HIPAA and Privacy Act requirements, and provides status updates on reports, appointments, and other actions within scope. Scheduling and Calendar Management: Coordinates with Human Resources, clinical services, and Environmental Health program staff to execute onboarding-related employee health requirements, including management of cancellations, urgent requests, and occupation-specific initial and recurring examinations. Maintains electronic calendars for EOH and EH providers and activities, prepares meeting invitations, arranges rooms and virtual platforms, and ensures attendees have required materials and information in advance. Administrative Support, Equipment, and Purchase Card: Performs timekeeping duties as assigned (primary or backup), prepares and maintains time records in VATAS or equivalent systems, and ensures deadlines for timecard submission and approval are met Serves as ADPAC or equivalent local IT/automation point of contact for the service line as delegated, coordinating with IT for account access, equipment issues, and software deployment related to EOH/EH operations. Other Duties as Assigned: Performs related administrative and program support duties as required to meet operational needs of EOH and Environmental Health programs, including assistance with meetings, training logistics, etc. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Compressed/Flexible: Not available Telework: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD065020 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 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 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. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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. Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Applicants who have the 1 year of appropriate specialized experience, as indicated in the table, are not required by this standard to have general experience, education above the high school level, or any additional specialized experience to meet the minimum qualification requirements. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience GS-06: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: experience where you were responsible for providing administrative support; collecting, compiling and tracking data and information; processing documents and reports; establishing, updating and maintaining office files and records; performing automation duties using such software applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, electronic mail, desktop publishing, calendar, database and/or graphics; and providing information and customer service. 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. 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 the GS-06 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/.
