The Program Specialist functions as the administrative and managerial official with program responsibility of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and All-Employee Survey (AES) at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System.

Duties

This position is covered by AFGE bargaining unit. Per the AFGE Master Agreement, the Area of Consideration will be: 1st Area of Consideration - Current Facility and CBOC employees; 2nd Area of Consideration - VA Nationwide applicants; 3rd Area of Consideration - Other Status candidates Duties Include: Serves as Program Coordinator of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with responsibility for advising management on all matters concerning the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) program and providing leadership and direction in all implementing activities. Assesses program utilization, the current health needs of customer population, and the current organizational climate to ensure program effectiveness, particularly the availability of healthcare professionals. Utilize findings of employee/supervisor surveys, demographic analysis, and worksite evaluations in a comprehensive needs assessment, documenting the results. Provides advice to Top Management, Service Line Directors, and Corporate Function Managers on the potential impact of reorganizations and/or policies. Establishes formal lines of communication with personnel from Employee Relations, Employee Health, Equal Employment Opportunity, other members of management and the labor unions to ensure the responsiveness of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) program to the facility's needs. Plans, develops, and conducts supervisory training on the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) referral issues, confrontation techniques, and sensitivity to the troubled employee. Coordinates with Medical Center professionals to provide diagnostic screening, crisis intervention and short term counseling or refers customers to community resources for counseling and treatment. Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm, subject to change based on the needs of the facility. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist - Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Coordinator/PD075410. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved. 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, 08/17/2023. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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-09 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 in crisis intervention, group and individual counseling, treatment of behavioral problems, and the provision of referral services appropriate to client needs; experience in conducting psychological intakes and psychosocial assessments; experience conducting feasibility studies on employee participation in an Employee Wellness program; knowledge of preventive health measures and maintenance; ability to judge the strengths and weaknesses of other similar programs in the community; and skill in communicating clinical interpretations of clients' behaviors to people with little knowledge of behavior problems, i.e., administrative supervisors. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years or progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. (Transcripts Required) 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 graduate level, as described above, which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level. (Transcripts Required). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementKnowledge ManagementLeadershipProject ManagementStrategic Thinking 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 is mostly sedentary; however, walking, bending, and climbing are required to perform routine duties. Occasionally, the work requires moderate physical exertion. 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 New Orleans VA Medical Center 2400 Canal Street New Orleans, LA 70119 US
• Name: Kim Willingham
• Phone: 512-217-1672
• Email: [email protected]