This position is located in the Office of the Associate Chief of Staff (ACOS) for the Ambulatory Care Service line. The Program Support Assistant provides technical and program support on all administrative and management functions in support of the service line.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to, the following: Responsible for assisting the Administrative Officer (AO) with personnel management functions in recruitment and staffing, incentive awards, employee relations, and training. Assists in preparing various personnel action and recruitment forms to be submitted to human resources. Aids ACOS AC and AO in the preparation of training requests and other related training documentation and also serves as a secondary TMS administrator. Assists AO in making recommendations to the ACOS AC in projecting staffing plans, appraisals, and training requests. Assists AO in personnel activities, i.e., writing position descriptions, recruitment requests, managing employee access, and coordination of annual proficiencies and evaluations. Helps prepare required documents to submit requests to Human Resource Management Service (HRMS) and Position Management for recruitment. Assists AO in maintaining service organizational chart, department medical center memorandums, standard operating procedures (SOPs), handbooks and functional statements/ position descriptions. Assists in coordinating the mid-cycle and annual performance evaluation process for the service. Analyzes each cost item pertaining to labor, training, travel, space requirements, equipment, pay estimates for contractors, supplies, purchases. Coordinates the submission of reports of survey, management briefing, and other reports from the subunits. Serves as the secondary for processing training requests. Prepares estimated training costs. Assists AO in coordinating the annual survey of training needs, prepares required documentation, ensures processing through finance and accounting to Human Resource. Assists the ACOS AC and AO with studies of quality improvement, manpower, space, and equipment utilization. Helps collect statistical data and identify trends in studies of these programs and other Primary Care program areas Utilizes knowledge of agency specific computer programs to enter, search for, edit, and extract data and information. Creates and edits unique spreadsheets in Excel that compile a variety of data regarding Primary Care programs and studies. Assists management and technical subject matter experts in various subunits with collecting data and metrics used within a variety of operational reports that support the program and/or the combined organization's routine needs. Reviews documents, reports, and/or applications for omissions and inconsistencies, and ensures data entry is complete and accurate Enters pertinent information into an automated tracking system. Maintains automated system of program-specific data to track suspenses. Acts as work order owner for the service, submitting all electronic work orders through VISTA, and tracking all orders to ensure completion in a timely manner. Serves as the secondary for processing organizational policy and process actions. Assists AO in ensuring quality assurance programs that are monitored by accreditation agencies and the Medical Facility. Establishes, implements, and monitors control and filing systems for documents, pending actions, and completed actions. Schedules appointments, coordinates meetings, and schedules conferences. Maintains the Primary Care Services call schedule for medical oversight. Interprets VA administrative policies, assists in developing or implementing local policies, defining administrative requirements and/or providing advice to management on related issues. Serves as primary timekeeper for employees and services that report to the Associate Chief of Staff for Ambulatory Care. Receives, schedules, refers, and contacts members of the staff, agency, and persons outside the agency ranging from other government agencies to the general public. Answers telephones, refers visitors, or provides information about the office, its functions, and standard operating procedures. Screens calls and personally answers calls when the requested information concerns routine and procedural requirements. Processes incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, emails, memoranda, and other forms of written communication. Edits/composes letters and reports, reviews correspondence for accuracy and completeness, prepares public presentation outlines, and develops standard or form letters and replies to inquiries. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD001760 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, 10/11/2023. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5 level. 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: experience using automated software applications such as Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint); medical terminology; data entry into tracking systems; reports summarizing findings from tracking systems to be submitted internally and externally; prepare in final format memoranda, letters, meeting notes, and other documents; maintain files and suspense; coordinate meetings; maintain calendars/schedules; receive/route mail and telephone calls; travel preparation; and maintains supplies and equipment. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Conscientiousness Creative Thinking Customer Service Decision Making Technology Application 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. 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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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 George H O'Brien Jr VA Medical Center 300 Veterans Boulevard Big Spring, TX 79720 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]