The Program Specialist is a member of the Surgery Service's administrative staff located in the VA Medical Center (VAMC), Salt Lake City, Utah. The primary purpose of the position is to provide staff support and assistance to the Chief of Surgery and his/her Administrative Officer. The position is health-oriented in nature, and requires knowledge and skills gained from education, on the job training, developmental assignments, and/or experience in a health science or allied scientific field.

Duties

Duties will include, but are not limited to:

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 9/28/2023. 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: For GS-07:To meet the minimum qualifications at the GS-07 grade level, you must meet one (1) of the following: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05). Examples of specialized experience would typically include: guiding, assisting, establishing, monitoring and tracking the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of programs; arranging meetings and preparing reports/communications; collecting and reviewing administrative data to identify, quantify and resolve organizational problems; utilizing computer databases and registries; reviewing cost items and volume while locating inconsistencies and validating data; assigning, performing and reporting on provider audits; training new staff on specific programs, time-keeping, email, training items, personal identity/verification and computer access. ~OR~ Superior Academic Achievement: Applicants may qualify with superior academic achievement. Applicants must have completed a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree PLUS Superior Academic Achievement (SAA). SAA is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average (GPA), or (3) Honor Society Membership. (1) CLASS STANDING: Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class; (2) GPA: Applicants must have a GPA of 2.95 or higher based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; OR, a GPA of 3.45 or higher based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; (3) ELECTION TO MEMBERSHIP IN A NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC HONOR SOCIETY. ~OR~ Education: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-07 level. Applicants must have one (1) full year of graduate level education in an accredited college or university. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of the Program Specialist. NOTE: A transcript or course listing must be submitted if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Unofficial transcripts required. Applications submitted without this information will not be considered. ~OR~ Combination of education and experience: Applicants must have an equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education and experience to meet the total experience requirements for the GS-07 level as described above. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. For GS-09:To meet the minimum qualifications at the GS-09 grade level, you must meet one (1) of the following: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07). Examples of specialized experience would typically include: guiding, assisting, establishing, monitoring and tracking the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of programs; arranging meetings and preparing reports/communications; collecting and reviewing administrative data to identify, quantify and resolve organizational problems; utilizing computer databases and registries; reviewing cost items and volume while locating inconsistencies and validating data; assigning, performing and reporting on provider audits; training new staff on specific programs, time-keeping, email, training items, personal identity/verification and computer access. ~OR~ Education: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-09 level. Applicants must have a Master's or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college or university; OR, two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR, an LL.B. or J.D., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of the Program Specialist. NOTE: A transcript or course listing must be submitted if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Unofficial transcripts required. Applications submitted without this information will not be considered. ~OR~ Combination of education and experience: Applicants must have an equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education and experience to meet the total experience requirements for the GS-09 level as described above. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Problem Solving Teamwork 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 and involves heavy use of computers and all other communication tools. At times, stress may cause physical demands. 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 VA SALT LAKE CITY HCS 500 Foothill Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84148 US
• Name: Victoria Becoat
• Phone: 970-263-5042
• Email: [email protected]