This position is in the Facilities Management Service Line (FMS) of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) and reports to Program Manager of Activations at the University Drive Campus in Pittsburgh. This position provides professional guidance, planning, and execution on Major, NRM, and Minor Projects activations and special projects as assigned. The incumbent serves as the Project Activations Specialist in the Facility Management Service Office within the medical center.

Duties

The Project Activations Specialist is responsible for managing and overseeing resources, acquisitions, activations budget, and coordination of all project aspects to accomplish successful project activations within the medical center and community clinics. The work performed by the incumbent and staff ultimately affects the plans, goals and effectiveness of VAPHS operations in providing complex veterans services. Some of the major duties include, but are not limited to: Project Activations Facilitate collaboration and communication between services in the development and implementation of activations plans and timelines. Provide non-supervisory guidance to multidisciplinary team to facilitate planning and activation of construction and in-house construction projects. Serve as key member of Project Design team to ensure effective planning of resources to ensure renovated unit will be fully functional. Manage project activations through collaboration integrated project team inclusive of internal and external stakeholders to include clinical representatives, engineering project managers, business managers, contracted architectural/engineering services, vendors, move team, and other key stakeholders. Serve as subject matter expert for activation of projects, utilizing knowledge of medical center functions, project scope, schedule, and budget to support the medical center in long term project planning and strategic development of future projects. Plans and executes studies and manages assigned projects. Work with projects that are highly confidential and complex in nature. Analyze proposals and solutions related to the determination of effectiveness of project scope. Develop resource needs and ensure timelines for activations. Provide the Activation management with independent assessments related to project planning, phasing and execution. Present information and takes positions consistent with policies and program objectives. Develop new or modified work methods, organizational processes, records, files, management processes and project timelines by reviewing operational and project trends. Provide oversight of fund control points to ensure project activation funding is being appropriately managed. Communication Serve as focal point for all communication flow related to project activations. Provides management and customer communication about significant matters; develops good working relationships with customers. Assists in the facilitation of communication with individuals at all levels both inside and outside the agency. Ensuring the interface of diverse functions. Eliminate or streamline duplicative processes. Execute operational plans based upon effective controls and realistic projections. Utilizes various measures of efficiency to motivating a diverse groups of professional and administrative employees. Customer Service Identify barriers to providing exceptional customer service by using customer feedback in planning and providing products and services to enhance the overall customer service experience of all Veterans, staff and visitors. Maintain communication with all appropriate services to evaluate the quality of support provided. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 7:00 am to 3:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Not available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD00911A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved 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, 01/01/2024. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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 and/or education s described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one 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: Managing and overseeing resources, acquisitions, activations budget and coordination of all project aspects to accomplish successful project activations within a medical center and or clinic(s); overseeing project management criteria with multidisciplinary teams from various backgrounds such as facilities, engineering, biomedical engineering, safety, etc.; ensuring facility projects are completed within established timelines; troubleshooting problems to ensure project management completion; communicating with key stakeholders on project timelines, and advocating project needs, support and resources to leadership when needed to successfully complete facility design or project(s). OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. Combination: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position if the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of specialized experience at the GS-9 by 12 months. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: General EngineeringProblem SolvingProject ManagementWritten 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: Work will involve office work (60%) and physical exertion (40%) such as walking, bending, stooping, climbing in utility rooms, crawlspaces, attics, roofs, penthouses, etc. Work involves physical exertion, such as intermittent periods of walking daily, stooping, bending, crouching and climbing, with or without ladders, in performing daily inspections. The employee is frequently required to inspect or otherwise observe drainage systems, nonstandard height sub-basement areas and utility tunnels which may require duck-walking or crawling. Work includes lifting and inspecting construction material samples which can weigh more than 50 lbs. 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

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Pittsburgh VA Medical Center 1010 Delafield Road Pittsburgh, PA 15215 US
• Name: Chase Wilkins
• Phone: (412) 395-6108
• Email: [email protected]