Summary The incumbent serves as a Program Support Assistant Guest Relations for Patient Advocacy with primary duties and responsibilities supporting the Veteran Experience Officer. The position is in Patient Advocate Section under the Veteran Experience Officer. The incumbent is physically located at or near a main entrance of the campus and/or supporting the Information Desk. This position has the direct support for Guest Relations Information, Escort Services and wheelchair management. Responsibilities Duties include but are not limited to: Provides Veterans, their families, and visitors with staff who can quickly respond to inquiries, identify problems, and aid to improve the experience of those visiting the campus. Responds to customer immediate needs including navigation, direction, and information assistance. Serves as the initial, as well as the final point of contact for guests entering and leaving the facility; is a key influence toward patient/public perception. Receives, greets and direct callers over the telephone and in person with precise clear instructions. Provides information about the organization, its functions, and activities. Provides assistance requested to ease the experience of the customer. Directs Veterans, visitors and callers to appropriate staff member and/or department based on specific request or by determining the nature of the need and initiates service recovery when needed. Takes accurate messages and ensures their delivery to support a responsive culture to the customer. Provides personal wayfinding assistance and often takes Veterans and visitors to locations when they have difficulties with instructions provided. Provides excellent customer service via the telephone and face-to-face simultaneously; ensures customers are greeted with respect and dignity. Addresses customers by answering questions concerning the location of outpatient clinics, inpatient area pharmacy, radiology and lab services and other areas of the medical center. Meets the demands of a busy facility providing simply understandable instructions and or directions. Responsible for communicating effectively with individuals from varied backgrounds as well as those with mental and/or physical health problems. Operates computer and photocopy machine to make copies of forms, letters, etc. from the original, assembles and staples copied materials, and distributes completed photocopy work. Responsible for all administrative functions of the program; will be actively involved in identifying problem areas and in the development of methods to improve the functions of the program. May work with Volunteers who support guest relations. Responsible for delivering ongoing customer service training to VA staff via face-to-face or computer-based mediums. Back-up for other Patient Advocate activities; will have frequent verbal interaction with customers to include determining and documenting their level of satisfaction with their experience Work Schedule: Rotating Shifts to include weekends Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Patient Relations Assistant/PD02986A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized 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: Required to stand and walk for prolonged periods of time along with sitting at a computer for extended periods of time to perform work. May be required to push a wheelchair, bend or kneel to obtain information or assist patients. Required to carry light objects such as files, clipboards, medical records, etc. A pre-placement evaluation is 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, 05/04/2026. 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-05 position, you may be advanced without time restrictions to positions up to GS-05, if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the lowest grade the employee held within the preceding 52 weeks under his/her latest non-temporary competitive appointment. 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: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: answering phones and log calls; provides directions and assistance to patients and guests; provides friendly, excellent customer service; greeting patients and offering assistance for appointments; locates appointments in computer system; reports safety concerns. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed four (4) years above high school. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first 60 semester hours is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. 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/. PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: The best qualified applicant will have previous Customer Service experience in a federal agency. The highly qualified applicant will have previous Patient Relations Assistant experience in a federal agency and fully meet the specialized experience skills as stated above. Will have documented experience related to customer service, quality improvement process, and problem solving.* 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 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/.
