This position is in the Improvement and Compliance Service (ICS), in the Office of Finance and Planning of the National Cemetery Administration (NCA). The position is located in Washington, DC and is responsible for supporting the program lead in the implementation of initiatives, strategies, handbooks/directives, and systems to ensure ongoing organizational assessment, internal controls, continual process improvement, and improved internal and external customer satisfaction throughout NCA.

Duties

This announcement is a solicitation for applications from current NCA employees. Please note that as provided for in the AFGE/VA Master Agreement the FIRST area of consideration for this position will be permanent employees of the NCA, ICS, the SECOND area of consideration will be other eligible applicants. Major Duties include: Develops and implements plans for assessing the effectiveness of operational and business practices at cemeteries, staff offices, and program areas throughout NCA and for state and tribal Veterans cemeteries receiving VA grants. Implements strategies to accomplish complete and objective evaluations of programs, processes, systems, cemeteries, and offices, as required. Identifies, reviews, and analyzes data collection methods to ensure consistency in reporting and comparability among similar types of activities. Organizes, plans, and leads review teams and/or oversees reviews conducted by NCA employees or VA employees (as part of a Service Level Agreement). Develops/reviews feedback reports for completeness, accuracy, and clarity. Prepares preliminary review feedback reports for management review and comment; considers feedback and then prepares and presents final review reports to senior leadership and responds to any follow-up issues pertaining to the review findings. Maintains a working knowledge of the four phases of a quality audit (planning, performance, feedback, follow-up) and can apply them as a team lead conducting a review of a: NCA cemetery, district office, staff office; or state or tribal Veterans cemetery. Key areas of reviews may include leadership practices assessed with Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework criteria; Office of Inspector General open recommendations; Government Accountability Office open recommendations; improvement projects; cemetery/office level internal controls (operational and financial); cemetery operational standards and measures, and performance scorecards. Reviews NCA performance data to identify areas of opportunity and develop improvement proposals for senior leadership consideration. Develops project agreements and leads teams through accepted improvement methods to clearly define the situation, quantify the current performance level and its impact, identify possible remedies, test high potential remedies, present findings and recommendations to senior leadership, and identify self and management controls to maintain gains once improvements are implemented. Supports the improvement and innovation of systems and processes by identifying new product/service features to exceed customer expectations. Applies a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques to collect, analyze, assess, and improve programs, processes, and systems through new and better ways of doing business. The position requires approximately 35% travel. Travel includes leading review teams, conducting training classes, and leading improvement project teams. Position is telework eligible, but requires a certain amount of time in the office to gather and organize materials related to the analyst's assigned work for: travel; feedback reports; senior leadership briefings; and development of special leadership packages, such as recognition packages. Work schedule: Required to work Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Compressed/Flexible Schedule: May be available Telework: May be available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description Title/PD#: Program Analyst/133070 The full performance level of this position is GS-13. Relocation Expenses: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not authorized

Requirements

• Subject to a background/security investigation.
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• This position requires in-depth knowledge and experience in National Cemetery field and administrative operations.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all specialized experience and time in grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement, 11/03/2023. 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 within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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 your most recent non-award 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 non-award SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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. This position has the following Selective Placement Factor. Selective Placement Factors are competencies/KSAs that are required for successful performance in a position. This experience must be documented on your resume to be creditable. This position requires in-depth knowledge and experience in National Cemetery field and administrative operations. 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-12) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: demonstrated mastery of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods and techniques used to collect, analyze, and present complex program, process, and system data; strong proficiency with Microsoft word, Excel, and Power Point software. Knowledge of and experience in data collection. and evaluation tools and techniques such as: surveys; interviews; flowcharting; Pareto Analysis; Lean tools and techniques; knowledge of Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework criteria and quality audit phases (plan, performance; feedback; and follow-up); effectively use written communications to develop and prepare reports, proposals or studies. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Audit ReportingAuditingCommunicationOrganizational Performance AnalysisProject Management 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. Most work is performed in a typical office setting that is adequately lighted and climate controlled. Some work (primarily compliance reviews) requires the collection of certain types of data, like cemetery appearance data, to be collected outside of the office environment. Assignments may require travel (approximately 10-15 trips per year). Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address National Cemetery Administration 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: NCA Human Resources Center
• Phone: (317)916-3660
• Email: [email protected]