The incumbent serves as the liaison between the patient, community provider and/or staff at the Huntsville VA Medical Clinic. The incumbent will provide a channel through which patients/community partners can seek solutions to problems, concerns and unresolved needs. The incumbent works closely with community partners, health care providers and administrative support staff throughout the community and the medical center to resolve grievances from patients, family members and community providers.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: The incumbent assists patients in understanding their rights and responsibilities when seeking care in the community. Maintains a working liaison with Congressional Offices, Veteran Service Organizations, community groups and other whose interest is helping and protecting the Veterans, their families and other individuals acting on the Veteran's behalf. The incumbent interprets the Medical Center's mission, policies, procedures and available resources/services to the patient and presents the patient's problems, opinions and needs to the appropriate staff and to management. Explains entitlements to patients and their families. Safeguard and ensure statutory and constitutional rights of the patient. Assist with congressional and/or patient inquiry letters as requested by the Office of the Director. The incumbent is called upon to provide information with which to answer these inquires and/or complaints. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, day shift as determined by Supervisor Telework Eligible: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Customer Service Specialist/PD093970 and PD093980 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, 09/22/2023. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-9 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. AND You may qualify at the GS-07 based on your experience and/or education s described below: To qualify at the GS-7 grade, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level or higher and/or meet educational requirements or a combination of specialized experience and education. GS-7 Specialized Experience: Examples of Specialized Experience include but not limited to: Experience preparing written correspondence in the form of letters, memorandums, policies, procedures and statistical reports for members of the medical center leadership team; Experience in customer service/relations, educating patient/providers, and resolving issues; Experience with community care eligibility, claims payment, care quality, vendor relations and/or any issues impacting customer/vendor collaboration; Experience working with internal and external customers to resolve issues in a timely and competent caring manner; Experience providing specific education related to the Community Care Program, Veteran's Choice Program entitlements and the MISSION ACT. OR Education: Substitution of 1 full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement (transcripts required). OR Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Combination of specialized experience as described above, and graduate education as described above which totals in excess of the first year or an excess of 18 credit hours (transcripts required). [To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.] To qualify at the GS-9 grade (Full Performance Level), you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level or higher and/or meet educational requirements or a combination of specialized experience and education. GS-9 Specialized Experience: Examples of Specialized Experience include but not limited to: Experience serving as the liaison between the patient/family, vendor, and staff to seek solutions to problems; Experience providing in-service education, as necessary, to bring awareness to hospital staff of pertinent changes related to the Veteran perceptions of internal and external services; Experience working closely with community partners, health care providers and administrative support staff throughout the community and the medical center to resolve grievances from patients, patient family members and community providers; Experience resolving problems, expedite services and/or implement or recommend corrective measures within established facility policies and where appropriate, through committee participation; Experience assisting patients in understanding their rights and responsibilities when seeking care in the community. OR Education: Education: Substitution of a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related (transcripts required). OR Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Combination of specialized experience as described above, and graduate education as described above which totals in excess of the second year or an excess of 36 credit hours (transcripts required). [To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.] Preferred Experience: Experience with Community Care and previous customer service experience. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Client Orientation Customer Service Problem Solving Employee Development 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

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 Birmingham VA Medical Center 700 South 19th Street Birmingham, AL 35233 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]