This position serves as the Program Specialist (Navigator) in the Veteran Engagement Service at the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System (VASNHCS) Reno, NV.

Duties

Major Duties: Speak directly to Veterans and Family members, identifying barriers and concerns with care and providing resolutions to these concerns. Act as a quality assurance specialist, helping assure accuracy of data entered in the Patient Advocate Tracking System. Perform analytical and evaluative work associated with line and/or program activities. Welcome Veterans into the local system, orienting them to Veteran health education and health promotion. Assist Veterans in articulating their goals for health, supporting them in advocating for themselves to obtain effective services, and providing tools and resources to assist in navigating the Health Care System. Supports the mission of the Veteran Engagement team. Provide information, liaison, and advocacy services to support Veterans' personal health goals and shared goals with clinical care team. Collaborate with Veteran Experience Coordinator in establishing and implementing policies and procedures and assures that programs and services are incompliance with patients rights. Make inquiries into patient complaints, initiates action or changes necessary to correct problem situations, and reports on corrective measures taken. Work Schedule: Mon-Fri 0730-1600 Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD654-04956-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/28/2023. 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-07 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. 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-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: meet the needs of customers while supporting VA missions, provides consistent information per established policies and procedures, handles conflicts, responds to all inquiries in person, by email, and telephone, informs supervisor or management official of any issue or potential incident where a customer is dissatisfied or angry, interacts with patients, supervisors, staff, visitors and non-VA personnel, protects data from unauthorized release or loss, uses MS word, MS excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed one full year of graduate level education relevant to the position. OR Superior Academic Achievement (S.S.A.): Applicant must have one of the following: Class Standing: Applicant must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision OR, Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.): Applicant must have a GPA of: 3.0 or higher out of 4.0 on the official transcript or as computed based on 4 years of education or 3.5 or higher out of 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education post-high school education and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to DetailCustomer ServiceManages and Organizes Information 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: The work will involve a laptop computer at docking stations in staff cubicles/office space, outpatient treatment rooms, and group/conference rooms. The work will involve walking around to different workspaces within the clinic and thus conveying a patient-centered environment where providers go to the patient. The physical demands include presenting oneself in an energetic way to create positive attitudes about health and well-being for Veterans, families, VA employees, and stakeholders. 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System 975 Kirman Avenue Reno, NV 89502 US
• Name: Yesenia Nery
• Phone: 910-488-2120 X1273
• Email: [email protected]