Summary This position is located in the Primary Care Directorate located at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) in North Chicago, Illinois. The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center is larger than just a single facility, but rather a system of facilities throughout Northeastern Illinois which provide medical and dental services to U.S. Military Veterans, Recruits, Active Duty and eligible beneficiaries. This position is open to facility employees only Responsibilities Major Duties: The incumbent serves as the principal operations director, coordinator, and preceptor for multiple cboc and all other clinical programs within Primary Care Service Such coordination will require intercommunication with multiple Facility Service Chiefs and other specialty medical staff members in order to implement changes and establish new clinical activities. The incumbent has administrative decision-making, first line signature authority, responsibility and accountability on issues affecting the clinical services. The incumbent collaborates with operations and program managers to ensure integrated goals and priorities for the clinical service are met. The incumbent is knowledgeable of overall VHA, VISN, BUMED and Facility goals, missions, and priorities to assure a positive impact on all programs and resources. The incumbent understands the VERA reimbursement system and supports the Clinical Director in designing programs to maximize both outcomes and reimbursement and in monitoring the financial performance of services via VERA, DSS and other ongoing analyses to ensure cost effectiveness of service provided. The incumbent is adept in data management principles and techniques to achieve solutions in the best interest of quality patient care. Incumbent maintains a constant surveillance of the service's compliance with standards of the Joint Commission and other accrediting and regulatory agencies. The incumbent will keep the service chief abreast of changes and of clinical issues requiring his/her expertise, however incumbent functions with a high degree of independence and latitude, exercising sound judgment and discretion in managing all aspects of the service. Incumbent provides direct management and supervision of Supervisory and Non-Supervisory positions. The incumbent must have a comprehensive knowledge of management and organizational techniques, skill in developing or modifying work methods, management processes, staffing patterns, procedures for administering program services, guidelines, and procedures, and automating work processes. Incumbent must have extensive knowledge of treatment modalities, philosophy, and concepts, and have skill in adapting the analytical techniques and evaluation criteria to measure and improve program effectiveness and organizational productivity. Provides the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures. Handles conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 08:00am-4:30pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Program Specialist/PD251600 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 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 or trial 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, 05/14/2026. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Communication and interpersonal relations, including the ability to appropriately and courteously relate to internal and external customers. Maintenance of confidentiality of patient/employee information, electronic and print. Knowledge of written and oral communication in order to develop detailed technical written documents in a clear, logical and concise manner and presentations for key officials for a wide variety of audiences and purposes. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Budget Administration Human Resources Management Leadership Organizational Performance Analysis Planning and Evaluating 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: Work is generally sedentary with walking required during visits and tours of the Federal Health Care Center. Flexibility is required to accommodate events and activities occurring in other than normal duty hours. Mobility s required in terms of staging and assisting staff with equipment and other required materials. 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 this grade level. 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 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. 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.
