This Program Specialist position is located in the Surgical Service at the West Haven, CT VAMC location. This position is a Full-Time position at 40 hours per week.

Duties

This position serves as a critical resource for the Chief of Surgery and the Surgery Service line throughout Perioperative Services by maintaining a list of all Medical Service Contracts and related financial costs associated with the contracts. He/she is responsible for every aspect of the Medical Services contracts from development of performance work statement through auditing the performance of established contracts, ensuring the contracts are kept current, ensuring all extension and modifications are in place so services can continue without any disruption to patient care. Some of the duties include, but are not limited to; The incumbent is fully responsible for initiating, completing, and maintaining contracting packages in urgent/non-urgent or emergent situations. Service Chiefs and Administrative Officers have primary responsibility for identifying the needs for each contract under their domain, the incumbent will work independently, he/she will provide technical expertise in translating clinical and organizational needs into a Performance Work Statement, he/she will utilize National pay survey's used by VA in order to conduct market salary research and Independent Government Cost Estimates, he/she prepares required procurement packets for sole source solicitations or Federal Supply Schedule services (FSS) and or temporary agencies and are submitted to the VISN1 Contracting Office. The incumbent will track and ensure mandatory training by using the VA-level programs such as Talent Management System, ensures background checks are cleared though the VHA Security Center, tracks ID badges and expiration dates. He/she Ensures quarterly reports completed required by Contracting are entered into the eCOR Contracting System. The contracting officer representative approves invoices and maintains administrative records related to the performance agreements, conducts compliance inspection reports by keeping these records to ensure or prevent waste and fraud. If a dispute arises between a contractor and the government regarding the quality of services and if needed the incumbent is responsible for informing and working directly with the Contracting Officer within the VISN1 Contracting Office. VA Connecticut is a 1A complexity facility and has a high volume of trainee's including residents and medical students the Contracting Officer Representative works in collaboration with the Administrative Officers and serves as the liaison for clinical contracted services in planning with the Affiliated academic partner to ensure the education and training program for health professional trainees that further enhances the quality of care provided to Veteran patients within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) this is accomplished by ensuing the contracts are put in place for the medical services are kept current or if new put in place. The contracting officer representative serves as a communication liaison between the contractor and the agency. This is done by facilitating direct meetings between parties, delivering written reports to his/her seniors, making phone calls and sending emails to either party and agency official in order to maintain and bridge the gap between the clinical services. All other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full-Time/Monday-Friday/8a-430p Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD027590 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required This position is a AFGE Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is in the Competitive Service Time-in-Grade Restriction: 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. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment. Veterans' preference does not apply for other current permanent Federal agency employees.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/27/2023. 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-9. 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-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Expert level pertaining to government contract processes, qualitative and quantitive program assessment tools and broad knowledge on public policies, laws,regulation and precedents applicable in healthcare contracts and administration. 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 degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education as described for the GS-11 above to qualify. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementBudget AdministrationComplianceContracting/ProcurementQuality Assurance 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, although some slight physical effort may be required. 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address West Haven VA Medical Center 950 Campbell Avenue West Haven, CT 06516 US
• Name: William Bernard
• Phone: 203 932-5711 X8234
• Email: [email protected]