Summary This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Hampton VA Medical Center under the Associate Director Clinical Business Operations which is organizationally aligned under the Director's Office. Responsibilities This position performs public contact work, administrative and clerical support, maintains appointments, schedules and calendars, prepares special reports, coordinates travel arrangements, takes minutes and performs other duties in support of the Associate Director Clinical Business Operations. Duties include but are not limited to: Ensures correspondence conforms to regulations and special policies of the Medical Center and is in proper format, contains correct grammar, and if applicable that staff coordination has been completed. Receives and processes all correspondence and documents transmitted through the Light Electronic Action Framework (LEAF) portal and the Executive office for review, approval, and signature, establishing controls on certain items. Serves as liaison between the management staff and supervisor by providing accurate, timely information and advice on procedures, reports, requirements, and other matters necessary to implement policies, directives, and instructions for the VAMC. Reviews communications and develops standard paragraph and form letters. Develops internal routing and flow patterns for communications. Assumes full responsibility for clerical functioning of all committees/boards of which the Executive Team member is the chair. Records, transcribes, and edits the minutes of various meetings (staff meetings, boards, and councils); prepares the minutes for distribution, singling out the action items, and follows up as required. Provides general office supply and equipment support services such as procuring or justifying the full range of office services, obtaining, and monitoring the use of services, supplies, or equipment for the office. Exercises control over supervisor's appointments with complete authority for commitments of time; establishing priorities at own discretion; setting up, rearranging, and when necessary, coordinating meetings with staff offices. Arranges for meeting space, speaker, and support arrangements for large conferences. Maintains a calendar of future events for up to the next 12 months, on monthly, bimonthly, and weekly basis; scheduling briefings and updating the calendar for a two-month period. Planned conferences, major inspections, visits by high-ranking officials and other information that may impact on scheduling appointments and activities for the supervisor are added as information is received from various sources. Maintains timecards for staff members under the Executive's Time and Leave codes and ensures accuracy and timeliness of postings. Receives telephone calls and greets visitors to the office. Uses judgment and initiative to screen or refer as appropriate. Screens callers/visitors by ascertaining name, affiliation, and purpose of call/visit, and based upon subject matter, determines whether matter should be referred to supervisor or other appropriate staff members, or whether information can be supplied personally. Acts as liaison to other managers and staff within the organization and provides accurate advice on procedures, reports, requirements, and other matters necessary to implement the supervisor's policies, directives, and instructions. Work Schedule: 8am-4:30pm (Monday thru Friday) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary to Associate Director Business Operations/PD029900 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: 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 identification 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 may 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 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, 09/21/2026. 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-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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-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: Providing clerical and administrative assistance to the organization; receives telephone calls and greets visitors within the office setting using independent judgement in referring, initiating, or disposing of inquiries and requests; creates and maintains administrative files and records; preparing official correspondences such as memos, letters, and reports; maintaining supervisors calendar and scheduling meetings, briefs and appointments. 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. 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/.
