The positions duties assist one individual, and in some cases the subordinate staff of that individual, by performing general office work auxiliary to the work of the organization. The position is the principal clerical or administrative support position in the office. Duties require knowledge of clerical, administrative procedures & requirements, office skills, application of skills to increase effectiveness, use of office automation equipment to prepare correspondence, documents & reports.

Duties

Receives and screens visitors and telephone calls, i.e. identity, purpose of call and relative importance in relation to availability of staff members. Escorts/refers callers to proper personnel. Where personnel are unavailable takes messages and/or provides information as to availability of the supervisor. Provides information within standard office procedure, generally pertaining to any of the duty areas herein described, and within caller's "need to know". Receives and reviews incoming correspondence, screens for general information and determines priority or deadline dates. Determines what correspondence can be personally answered. Incumbent personally responds to routine and nontechnical requests for information such as status of reports, suspense dates for matters requiring compliance, and similar information readily available from the files. Forwards remaining requests to supervisor with back-up information, if necessary. Reviews documents prepared for signature of or requiring coordination by management for appropriate tone; conformance with regulations, grammar, format, and special policies of the activity; and completeness of information. Returns inadequate communications to originator for correction when not in conformance with known policies, or when correspondence regulations have not been followed Uses various functions of several types of office automation systems such as word processing, databases, and graphic software. Also uses electronic mail to transmit and receive messages Responsible for proper spelling, grammar, format, and arrangement of materials. Reviews and prepares all congressional correspondence received by the organization for necessary action. Reads and processes incoming correspondence and material. Thoroughly screens material prior to distribution for suspense dates, establishes controls, and follows up on responses which are due. Ensures that correspondence is properly routed in a timely manner. Compiles information for and prepares a variety of recurring and one-of-a-kind detailed reports and documents using a variety of computer software. Insures that reports are prepared and forwarded within established time-frames. Assists supervisor and subordinates in the procedural aspects of expediting the work of the office by explaining reporting requirements, arranging for submission of data to be assembled by incumbent in general reports. Guides and assists personnel concerning procedures of preparation of correspondence. Reviews outgoing correspondence to insure uniformity and proper format, grammatical correctness, neatness and completeness of content. Responsible for proper spelling, grammar, format and arrangement of material. Utilizes office automation equipment to prepare correspondence, documents and reports. Utilizes computer systems equipped with file management programs, electronic mail, calendar, graphics, spreadsheets, word processing programs and data base management systems. Selects appropriate software type to accomplish task and transfers files and data between and among more than one system. Prepares standard forms using available software. Uses data base programs to input data and perform computations for administrative reports. Determines data required and displays desired and inputs appropriate commands to achieve special reports. Sends and receives messages via electronic mail. Work performed requires the services of a qualified typist. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00AM - 3:30PM CST (Subject to change) Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD097900 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, 12/05/2023. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. Typing Proficiency Requirement: In addition to meeting experience requirements, applicants for this position must show possession of the following skills: Must have the ability to type at least 40 words per minute. Proficiency in typing must be documented on candidate's application, other written format, or by self-certifying to their proficiency. Words per minute are based on a 5 minute sample with three or fewer errors. The maximum number of errors allowed in a dictation sample equals 10 percent of the required dictation speed (80 words per minute or 120 words per minute) multiplied by the number of minutes in the sample. The maximum number of errors allowed in a dictation sample for these three positions equals 5 percent of the required dictation speed multiplied by the number of minutes in the sample. 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: knowledge of office automation systems and a fully qualified typist to perform word processing duties, take appropriate follow-up action; and to perform non-routine assignments such as locating and assembling information from files and documents, compose correspondence not requiring a technical knowledge and to maintain awareness of the clerical and administrative problems, organization policies and procedures and personnel rules and regulations in order to perform the administrative needs as required, spelling, punctuation, and required formats to identify and correct grammatical errors and type materials in a final form, coordinate the work of the office with other offices, transcribing dictation, PC computer equipment, printers, electronic typewriters and software to provide staff support and to accomplish specific programs and projects. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementCreative ThinkingCustomer ServiceOral Communication 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. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. 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.


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 St Louis Health Care System 1 Jefferson Barracks Drive St. Louis, MO 63125 US
• Name: Celena Bruce
• Phone: 909-871-7874
• Email: [email protected]