This position is located within the Telephone Operator Section, Medical Administration Service at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System. The Telephone Operator Section provides 24/7 coverage for both telephones and system alarms. The primary purpose of the position is to ensure over 250,000 calls are received and routed to the correct destination.

Duties

Major duties include, but not limited to: LEAD DUTIES: (50%) Leads a unit or team of employees performing work at the GS-4 level. Provides guidance and technical direction for accomplishing the work of the unit or team. Ensures the work assignments of employees in the unit or team are carried out. Distributes and balances workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow and/or job specialization. In case of shortage of personnel due to scheduled or unscheduled leave, the incumbent will be responsible for distributing the workload to other team members to ensure smooth workflow. Ensures timely accomplishment of assigned tasks, and ensures that each employee has enough work to keep busy. Monitors the status and progress of work and makes day-to-day adjustments in accordance with established priorities. Maintains a current knowledge and answers questions of other employee's procedures, policies and directives. Trains or arranges for the training of team members in the accomplishment of tasks or projects. Gives on-the-job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices and provides competency tests as required. Monitors and reports on the status and progress of work, checking on work in progress and reviewing completed work to see that the supervisor's instructions on work priorities, methods, deadlines and quality have been met. Checks work in progress or spot checks work not requiring review, and reviews completed work to see that the supervisor's instruction on work sequence, procedures, methods and deadlines have been met. TELEPHONE OPERATOR DUTIES: (50%) Employee duties in operating the digital multi-line telephone system includes the following: handling incoming calls and having a full working knowledge of the Health Care System (HCS) and its many sections and services, placing long distance and overseas calls, being able to remain calm, courteous and efficient when a caller becomes angry and abusive, knowing what to do and who to call when there is a systems failure, remaining calm and collected in handling emergencies. Making proper response to alarms, knowing which ones take priority over all the other activities. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 7:30am - 4:00pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Telephone Operator/PD006740 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, 10/10/2023. 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-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: distributes and balances workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow and/or job specialization; monitor the status and progress of work and make day-to-day adjustments in accordance with established priorities; operates a telephone system to direct local and routine or complicated long-distance calls of various precedence and security levels using related sets of procedures; monitor alarm systems and uses radios to transmit information in emergency situations; knowledge of the capabilities of the telephone system and skill in the procedures necessary to connect a number of parties on one or both ends of complicated conference calls and arrange tow party or conference calls; knowledge of MS Office Suite and Outlook to read mail and create/submit required reports; communicates and treats customers in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner; handles conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have four years of education above high school. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond high school. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer ServiceInfluencing/NegotiatingInterpersonal SkillsOral CommunicationTechnical CompetenceTelecommunications 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 sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. 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.

Note: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Contacts

• Address VA Central Texas Health Care System 1901 Veterans Memorial Drive Temple, TX 76504 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]