This Program Specialist is located in the Surgery Specialty Care Service Line (SSC SL) at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System (MVAHCS). The primary function is to support the Service Line Administrative Officer with contract development and administrative and operational management support in the areas of Service Line planning, organizing, evaluating, coordinating and implementation of the complex administrative operations and health care delivery systems of the SSC Service line.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to: Analyze problems and present both written and oral recommendations which affect the management of the health care delivery system. Reconcile contradictory requirements in preparing staff recommendations and/or coordinating clinical and administrative services to meet various regulations and standards of regulatory and credentialing groups. Communicate with various individuals and/or groups of people to gather information, present recommendations, and coordinate services involving sensitive and controversial issues. Adapt analytical techniques and evaluation criteria to measure and improve program effectiveness and/or organizational productivity. Draw conclusions and make recommendations by analyzing facts and conditions. Apply basic statistics and/or arithmetic practices used in business to manage program goals, budgets and staffing data. Administer personnel management and administration for departmental staff to support varied functions and activities. Maintain and report financial data to communicate effectively, and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others. Present factual information clearly through application of report writing techniques and constructing memorandums. Retrieve and complete data and entry for maintenance of databases, statistical analysis and improved report methods for work record and administrative operations. Compose error-free correspondence for an audience that includes highly educated clinicians and stakeholders. Apply budgeting techniques to control and balance funding allotments and prepare briefing reports. Utilize rules, regulations, standards, directives, and local policies to make good judgment in interpreting and adopting directives/guidelines, Joint Commission standards, and medical center policies. Develop and modify procurement strategies when little or no contractual precedents exist. Advise or develop Medical Center or Service Line policies without technical review or supervision to enhance and/or maintain efficiency and effectiveness of programs and services. Collects, analyzes, and interprets a wide variety of data to measure the effectiveness efficiency and productivity of a procedural or factual nature. Prepare procurement documents that follow a business model for the provision of contract services to ensure quality patient care. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: The tour of duty for this position is typically Monday - Friday, Admin Hours. Additional information may be provided during the interview process. Telework: Ad Hoc only is available and determined by service line Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD60340-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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, 08/31/2023. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Understanding of the overall programs, missions and requirements of health care delivery systems; familiarity with regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; Knowledge of accounting principles and practices and basic statistics and/or arithmetic practices in order to work with budgets; Understanding of administrative areas such as human resources, procurement and contracting regulations; Ability to analyze, accrue and evaluate various data for accurate maintenance of databases; Skill in report writing technique and ability to compose correspondence and memos; This specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service and well documented in your resume or application package . OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education or a masters or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D., in a related field of the position to be filled. (Transcript Required). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond a bachelor's degree educational level. This can be determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the required experience and education as a percentage of the total required. The total percentage must equal 100 percent. Only education in excess of the first 18 semester hours (i.e., beyond the first year of graduate level education) is creditable towards meeting the specialized experience requirement. (Transcripts with a conferred/completion date must be submitted). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementAnalytical ThinkingFinancial ManagementOrganizational Awareness 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 primarily sedentary however the incumbent must be able to navigate the medical center and possess the ability to stand, sit, walk, stoop, bend, reach and twist to access a standard office environment. Must also have the ability to sit or walk for prolonged periods of time; ability to read fine print and view a computer screen for long periods of time; speak and hear well enough to understand, respond, and communicate clearly in person and on the telephone; and perform all other activities of the position without restrictions. Reasonable accommodation may be considered in determining an applicant's ability to perform the duties/functions of the position. 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 Minneapolis VA Medical Center One Veterans Drive Minneapolis, MN 55417 US
• Name: Tracy Casady
• Phone: 402-995-4028
• Email: [email protected]