As an Executive Assistant in the Director's Office, incumbent is responsible for coordination and support of the Regional Office of Wichita, Kansas. Serves as the Executive Assistant to the Director. The Director's Office comprises the executive function overseeing the entire VA Regional Office. Assists and advises the Director with office procedures, scheduling and office activities.

Duties

Specific duties include: Maintains strict confidence in performing all duties as directed, especially relating to personnel matters and policies. Incumbent serves as the general office manager to clerical staff in the Office of the Director. Sets up and maintains the daily activity calendar for the Director. Schedules appointments and arranges meetings and assures that daily activities for the Director and Assistant are coordinated and that schedule changes are made with minimal disruption to office activities. Responsible for operating a VBA workstation, including accessing the Benefits Delivery Network, all PC applications, and other associated VA programs. Reads, sorts and promptly distributes electronic mail received in the Director's Office. Receives and reviews all incoming mail and sets controls, as needed, on action items including maintaining diaries on all one-time reports. Is responsible for effecting necessary control and follow-up to ensure timely completion of all reports. Routes mail to divisions, Service Organizations and various offices as appropriate. Must be cognizant of proper grammar, construction, format, enclosures, etc. for responding to correspondence, and compliance with the Director's policies and viewpoint. Keeps the Director informed of important matters that arise during absences of the Director and brings attention to significant items in reports, files and correspondence. Prepares and conducts meetings with regional office secretaries and administrative support personnel to discuss any problems with correspondence or other problems of common interest. Recommends to the Director any changes needed in office policy, procedures or format of correspondence/reports based on analysis and findings. As necessary, prepares and conducts training for RO secretarial/administrative support groups on problem areas noted, new issues/procedures and any changes in office policy or format. Receives incoming calls and visitors to the Director's Office from the Office of Field Operations (OFO), other VA Headquarters personnel, Congressional members and representative heads of other federal agencies as well as the general public. Acts as liaison with Congressional staff members and other higher-level government officials both within and outside the Department of Veterans Affairs. Screens incoming calls for the Director, determines the nature of the inquiry, refers the caller or visitor to the proper person, including those to be answered outside the Director's Office. Responds to inquiries relative to veterans' benefits using a sound knowledge of veterans' benefits programs. Knows where to route the call, correspondence or claimant so the issue/problem is resolved. Understands the basic differences between benefit programs and knows the essentials of eligibility for various programs as to provide correct responses to claimants and other third parties who may inquire. Responsible for dealing with media inquiries and visitors. Deals with news media personnel to maintain a positive proactive image of the Regional Office and lends necessary support to the station Public Affairs Officer. Assists in handling dissatisfied/hostile claimants who visit the office or contact us by telephone. Is responsible for obtaining necessary assistance from the Federal Protective Service when the situation warrants. Primary contact person with the Travel Management Center, has responsibility for making all necessary travel arrangements for the Director's Office staff This includes flight information, hotel accommodations, preparing travel authorities and vouchers and obtaining fund obligations. Is responsible for conference registrations, GSA car requests as necessary. Responsible to initiate and conduct necessary analysis/study in the areas outlined to include administrative support, travel, and public relations. Studies may cover activities, functions, procedures, etc. which involve the clerical or administrative aspects of the organization. Recommendations for change are sound based on well-grounded finding and analysis. Acts as a back-up to monitor station Statistical Analysis of Operations and Internal Control programs as well as other reports. May be asked to prepare an analysis of some of these vehicles when called on by the Director or Assistant Director. Assists the Director's Management Analysis Staff in special projects, committee-related work, gathering background material for use by the Director/ Assistant Director for reports, etc. This includes preparation of PowerPoint presentations for the Director/Assistant Director, and other related presentation material using WORD, EXCEL, and other PC applications.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• 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:12/12/2023.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. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-09 Level: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-07). Specialized experience is defined as experience in ONE of the following areas: Providing administrative support services to executives. Managing phone and reception activities in a busy office that frequently receives visitors. Preparing and editing correspondence using standardized office automation software. Completing projects using automated data processing and information management programs. Recommending changes in administrative policies/procedures to facilitate the flow of paperwork. OR­­ Education substitution of a master's or equivalent graduate degree of 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B or J.D., if related (transcripts required); OR Combination of specialized experience as described in "1" and GRADUATE education as described in "2" which totals at least one year. [To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify.] A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information. 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. Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week. Physical Requirements: The work is basically sedentary with some walking, bending and carrying of light objects. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.

Contacts

• Address Wichita Regional Benefit Office 9111 East Douglas Avenue, Suite 200 Wichita, KS 67207 US
• Name: Ersula Stanford
• Phone: 303-914-5684
• Email: [email protected]