This position is located at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in the Office of Management Support, within the Office of the Director.

Duties

Work with relevant clinical and administrative chiefs and staff members to develop and share innovation-driven strategic plans for programs, services, and/or the facility. Identify and champion opportunities for innovation, in collaboration with local and national internal and external stakeholders. Create a facility-level Innovation program segment that encourages creative thinking, innovation, collaboration, and transparency. Identify opportunities to improve service and program performance. Execute open dialogue across organizational lines both within the MEDVAMC and with stakeholders across the VA to maximize opinion diversity and input from a wide range of stakeholders. Execute innovation strategies through collaboration with external stakeholders outside of both MEDVAMC and VA more broadly. Develop and execute a facility-wide plan to promote a culture of innovation and foster innovation throughout MEDVAMC. Manage employee submission of innovation projects to VHA Innovators Network Innovation Accelerator program through the Spark-Seed-Spread Innovation investment competition. Manage the employees' innovation program proposal process by coaching them through the application, identifying a mentor for the project from among innovation stakeholders, and establishing funding and resources. Negotiate terms and conditions of investment awards to include costs, schedules, and oversight responsibilities and works with stakeholders, such as contractors, logistics, and fiscal, to execute and negotiate the specific score, objectives, and terms with internal and external stakeholders. Make recommendations to the VHA Innovators Network as to what projects are deemed appropriate to award, and what costs seem feasible. Conduct program evaluation, including monitoring and assessing investee performance, and establishes performance measures for assessment of innovation impact and value to the organization. Conduct qualitative interviews to capture lessons learned for systems-level improvements of the Innovators Network. Conduct post-award reviews and analyses to identify management, financial, and administrative issues. Conduct risk assessments and business reviews of innovation proposals and projects at sites. Coordinate with the VA Technology Transfer Program (TTP) and/or Office of General Counsel (OGC) to help protect Government interests regarding intellectual and design patents when necessary, facilitating all discussions with leadership, TTP, and the OGC. Educates staff regarding memorandums of understanding (MOUs) when they desire to work with partners outside of the VA. Execute the operating budget, prepares budget requests with justifications, and aligns resources to deliver sustained value to Veterans. Develop and execute an external communication plan involving marketing and promotional media to demonstrate the value of innovation projects to Veterans and their families. Identify opportunities to develop policies to accelerate innovation at the national, regional, and local level. Create programs to streamline innovation pathways, such as improved contracting, IT, logistics, fiscal, and biomedical engineering. Collaborates with innovation stakeholders across the VA organization, such as with System Redesign, Veterans Experience, HSR&D, and other program offices, to help lead and support the VA transformation with improvement and innovation activities. Develop and execute training activities for VA employees at the facility and national level surrounding innovation-related competencies Position the organization for success by identifying, developing, and implementing new or cutting-edge programs, processes or strategies. Teach and train employees on the business-related competencies related to innovation projects such as business model analysis, Return on Investment (ROI) analysis, cost modeling and analyses, and budgeting. Research, identify, and implement innovation projects identified as best practices from other sites or within their site. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30 am - 4:00 pm, subject to change based on the needs of the Agency. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description Title/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD040700 Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• May serve a probationary period
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/03/2023. Individual Occupational Requirements, you must have one (1) of the following: a. Undergraduate or graduate education in hospital administration, public administration, or related field such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR b. Specialized experience which includes Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: - Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; - Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and - Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. Note: This experience must experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, beginning and ending date (month/year) of employment AND hours worked per week. OR c. Special Provision for In-service Placement: Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included: - Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements; - Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and - Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program. In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement, you must have one (1) of the following: a. Specialized Experience: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: knowledge of innovations and associated clinical improvements and provides users and staff with consultative support and education; Consults, advises, and educates all levels of employees including the highest levels of management, on methods and means to make health care operations more effective and efficient; knowledge of the principles of care improvement and related data; examining the need for change throughout the organization, determines what changes need to be aligned and how to do it, and leads or participates on process improvement, root cause analysis; experience in leading innovation initiatives in healthcare or related fields; knowledge of changes in technology and clinical environment to identify, propose, formulate and support new or revised major administrative and clinical policies and directives for clinical software packages; knowledge of the healthcare industry, including current trends, regulations, and policies; experience in program/project management, including tracking and reporting on progress, budgeting, and resource allocation; ability to create and sustain innovation, develop new products or services, and pioneer new business and clinical models; experience in adapting and modernizing outdated internal workflows, both in clinical and operational arenas. Note: This experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, beginning and ending date (month/year) of employment AND hours worked per week. OR b. Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Ph.D. or equivalent Doctoral degree or have three (3) years of higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M. (if related). NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR c. Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and graduate level education. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, beginning and ending date (month/year) of employment AND hours worked per week. 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.

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.

Contacts

• Address Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center 2002 Holcombe Boulevard Houston, TX 77030 US
• Name: Susan Reynon
• Phone: (808) 726-0496
• Email: [email protected]