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 The Program Specialist reports directly to the Chief, Office of Community Care (OCC) who reports to the Deputy Chief of staff at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital. The OCC Service consists of 66.0 FTEE including nurses, advanced medical support assistants, medical support assistants and a customer service specialist. The purpose of this position is to provide administrative support to the OCC program, directing and coordinating the administrative, operational, and planning activities within the service. The Program Specialist position is responsible for the administrative management of the Service with final authority resting with the Chief. Incumbent serves as the focal point and resource person responsible for the development, implementation, evaluation, interpretation, revision, and necessary corrective action of all applicable administrative policies, functions, activities, operations, and programs for OCC. The primary functions of this position involve providing administrative support to the Chief of OCC as warranted, participating with the Chief in strategic planning; creating and maintaining statistical data for decision-making purpose; developing and monitoring cost effective programs; developing administrative/business/clinical processes, methods, and tools to systematicallyevaluate program activities and effectiveness.Duties include, but are not limited to: Coordinate's activities, performs analytical trending and evaluative work associated with OCC such as consults, authorizations, payments, scheduling, VSSC, Community Care contracts. Reviews outgoing correspondence under the supervision of the Chief for determination of accuracy of information, proper composition, proper format, and whether such correspondence conforms to current VA polices, instructions and regulations, as well as the viewpoint of the Chief. Develops both long and short-range policies and plans for the organization by coordinating the medical administration needs of the organization(s) for which accountable. Develops the need for and maintains an awareness of available resources, and makes recommendations regarding needs, distribution, or redistribution of these resources. Gathers and analyzes budget needs of the Medical Center in relation to the Service Line and performs all phases of budgeting within administrative requirements. Develops monthly and quarterly cost ceilings while maintaining running control of funds to ensure that accounts are within authorized levels. Discusses, investigates, and responds to associated employee grievances and dissatisfactions in order to resolve conflicts. Assists managers and staff in projecting staffing needs, writing position descriptions/functional statements, developing job analyses, preparing performance plans and appraisals, drafting disciplinary and adverse actions. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: 7:30am-4:00pm, Monday-Friday Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD090930 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure: 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, 04/30/2026. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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. 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 and/or education as described below: GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Participates with section supervisors in reviewing office needs, plans, and goals to develop budget data and justification for review and approval, communicate verbally and in writing with a variety of people from different backgrounds and different levels of understanding; to include clerical, technical, administrative, and professional (medical and non-medical) people at all levels in the agency, to explain, obtain, and adhere to the objective of patient care, responsible for developing and maintaining computerized information and for providing outputs and interpretation to appropriate staff. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have: GS-9: Master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.B or J.D, if related. Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond bachelors degree. GS-11: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Discusses, investigates, and responds to associated employee grievances and dissatisfactions in order to resolve conflicts, assists managers and staff in projecting staffing needs, writing position descriptions/functional statements, developing job analyses, preparing performance plans and appraisals, drafting disciplinary and adverse actions, ensures quality assurance issues pertaining to the service are documented and appropriate follow-up action occurs regarding any problem or recommendation found, participates with section supervisors in reviewing office needs, plans, and goals to develop budget data and justification for review and approval. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have: GS-11: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such degree, or LL.M., if related. Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. 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/.
