The position is located under the Veterans Transportation Service (VTS) at the Veterans Healthcare System of the Ozarks (VHSO). The Veterans Transportation Program (VTP) provides transportation or reimbursement for travel at Government expense to beneficiaries and their attendants traveling to and from VA facilities and other places for the purpose of examination, treatment, or care. The incumbent serves as the primary contact to Veterans and vendors for patient transportation needs.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Monitors and audits all beneficiary travel accounts to make daily determinations of fund control point needs and any necessity for account adjustments. Responsible for projecting quarterly expenditures for beneficiary travel and must maintain accurate accounting records to support expenditures and projections. Prepares beneficiary travel vouchers for beneficiaries claiming reimbursement of their travel expenses in accordance with current Federal rates, mileage and determining additional allowances for ferry, bridge, and road and tunnel tolls when appropriate. Provides written correspondence to patients and third-party providers concerning the acceptance or denial of beneficiary travel claims and/or special modes of transportation. Prepares correspondence to patients concerning their eligibility and counsels patients who do not meet criteria for travel reimbursement. Effectively communicates, both written and orally, with Medical Center staff, patients, and outside sources. Determines beneficiaries individual eligibility for all travel reimbursement. When entitlement does not exist, explains policy to the beneficiary and all others concerned. Responsible for all phases of the authorization and documentation of domestic travel arrangements for beneficiaries traveling at Government expense assuring we are using the most cost-efficient manner. Arranges and monitors transportation for all beneficiary travel eligible passengers by commercial means or government vehicle. Protects printed and electronic files containing sensitive data in accordance with provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 and any other applicable laws, Federal regulations, statutes, and policy Protects Veterans data from unauthorized release or from loss, alteration, or unauthorized deletion. Provides training and education to other medical center personnel in all matters under the purview of their position. Keeps immediate Supervisor informed of any backlogs or other circumstances which may have a negative effect on the medical center or beneficiary travel fund control points. Efficiently manage the Medical Center's Beneficiary Travel Program budget. Serves as a subject matter expert on information and guidance to other departments requiring knowledge of beneficiary travel. Maintains accounts of all obligations concerning Beneficiary Travel such as: cash, vouchers, unauthorized ambulance bills, special modes of transportation, interfacility transfers, emergent transportation, non-emergent transportation, and taxi's or any other third-party vendors. Computes, records, and verifies transportation mileage cost and any subsistence costs related to any particular travel claim. Reviews requests for reimbursement of travel costs for the purpose of assuring compliance with regulations and procedures, completeness, accuracy, internal consistency, and agreement with basic authorization principles. Responsible for receiving and completing vouchers for unauthorized claims of ambulance transportation. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (schedule may vary based on the needs of the agency) 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#: Transportation Assistant/PD03218A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required 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 (if applicable)

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/05/2023. 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-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: Identifying problems, analyzing issues, developing solutions/resolutions and follow-up; working with beneficiary travel reimbursements; making determinations on bills, determining eligibility and arranging transportation; experience with Microsoft Office, organizing and maintaining documents and records; travel rules and regulations. This experience must be supported by your resume to be creditable. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Conflict ManagementCustomer ServiceFinancial ManagementOral Communication 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 duties and responsibilities of the position require some mobility between various clinic areas in separate building location sites, but generally the job is sedentary with some standing, stooping, reaching and lifting up to 20 pounds. The employee is required to work with computer equipment at least 75% of the time which impacts on hand and wrist motions. 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

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 Fayetteville AR VA Medical Center 1100 North College Avenue Fayetteville, AR 72703 US
• Name: SUSAN WILLIAMS
• Phone: 228-523-4934
• Email: [email protected]