Summary The Program Support Assistant (PSA) will be assigned to support Nursing Leadership and Administrative Staff within Nursing Service (Acute Care, Specialty Care, and Primary Care) to include specific programming. The PSA will report directly to the Administrative Officer (AO), Nursing Service, and will provide administrative support to the leadership of specific departments/sections. The PSA will receive assignments from the AO/appropriate designees to ensure medical center mission is actualized. Responsibilities Major duties include, but not limited to: Work with team members and members of the Nursing Leadership team to achieve specific tasks, produce work products and services and meet program and production goals; Assists the team through knowledge and application of group facilitation, coordination, coaching, problem solving, interpersonal communication, integration of work processes and products, obtaining resources and liaison with multi-disciplinary staff across the health care system; Involved in contacts with patients, visitors, and callers including, but not limited to: Congressional offices, Service Chiefs and Supervisors, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Central offices. As the PSA, the incumbent provides specialized administrative and technical support to Nursing Service Leadership and the Nursing Administrative Team, when applicable or assigned the Associate Director, Patient Care Services (ADPCS), and Nursing Staff; Receives and screens all incoming email and telephone correspondence for the assigned services, Veterans and/or family members, contractors, and the public involving technical, complex, and confidential matters; Accurate recording of messages and prompt disposition of inquiries is essential, as well as accurate recordkeeping of incumbent's actions taken regarding inquiries and correspondence; Obtains, sorts, reviews, and distributes incoming mail, publications, regulations, and directives to the appropriate staff with appropriate notation as to who is to prepare response, how reply is addressed, for whose signature, etc; Prepares, maintains, and submits electronic timecards for designated staff; reminds approving official of deadline to approve timecards; Advises the management staff on the purchasing and supply management to the staff, and purchases supplies for field staff, purchases allowable equipment and approved subscription services for program operations; and Ensures receipt of the goods ordered and provides Approving Official applicable receipt records to enable certification of payment; maintains appropriate receipt records (packing list, receipt, cash register or sales slip) and safeguarding the purchase care. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm or 8:00am-4:30pm (Subject to change based on the needs of the Agency) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant (OA)/PD03244A 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: Work is primarily sedentary in nature and requires occasional walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as books, papers, medical records, etc. Occasional commuting between the Medical Center divisions and the local affiliated institution 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, 05/15/2026. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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: Specialized Experience: 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 using Adobe Creative Cloud applications (such as Acrobat, Photoshop, or Illustrator) to create, edit, or prepare documents or visual materials; Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including the ability to create spreadsheets, use formulas, sort and filter data, generate charts, and produce basic data summaries; Use of Microsoft Outlook for daily email communication and calendar scheduling; Experience with Microsoft Teams or similar platforms to participate in virtual meetings, exchange messages, and collaborate on shared documents; and Create and deliver presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint, including organizing content, designing slides, and presenting information to groups of two or more. 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. 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/.
