This Secretary position works within the Office of the Executive Director at the Togus VA Medical Center in Togus, Maine. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

The purpose of this position is to provide administrative support to the Executive Office, with the primary duty being to carry out correspondence analysis for executive communications. Duties include but are not limited to: Reviews correspondence for technical and substantive compliance with management, Network, and VA policies. Conducts a technical review of correspondence prepared by an operating organization unit for signature by the Center Director and Associate Directors. Assures consistency with agency procedures on completeness, timeliness and appropriate format. Provides assistance to staff to assure that routine responses to public inquiries on standard matters are appropriate and in compliance with executive preferences and policies. Assures background and supporting information is provided in correspondence package. Coordinates all controlled correspondence, determines the service/division or care line that will prepare a draft response to each issue in the complaint, assigns a diary date, follows up to ensure a timely turn around. Integrates the various responses for the Director's and Associate Directors' signature into a well-written, accurate, and timely response to the writer's inquiry. Processes incoming correspondence including official VA mail; electronic mail via computers in MS Outlook, VISTA; hospitals and federal agencies; security documents from OPM; White House referrals; and Congressional correspondence which involves specific regulations to be followed in assigning action to Divisions/Services and Product/Care Lines for timely replies to Congress or veterans. Coordinates correspondence for the management staff in the Executive Office. Screens all correspondence prepared for the Director's and Associate Directors' signature/concurrence for clarity, completeness of reply, and grammatical and procedural correctness. Corrects inadequate submissions or returns them to the submitting service for revision. Screens all publications, directives and periodicals received in the Director's Office. Makes appointments and arranges conferences and meetings without prior approval based on knowledge of Executive Office management officials. Performs additional duties as assigned by leadership. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30 am - 4:00 pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized 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)/PD025090 and PD025100 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Notifications: This position is an AFGE Bargaining Unit position. This position is in the Competitive Service. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Current Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. Time-in-Grade Restriction: Applicants must also meet time-in-grade requirements. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/02/2024. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. For a GS-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Selective Placement Factor: Typing Proficiency: Applicants must be able to type 40 words per minute. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-07: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performing clerical/administrative duties in an office environment; Answering phone calls and forwarding to the appropriate staff; Performing quality review and making corrections of documents; Maintains and adjusts a supervisor's meetings as need; Ensuring the accuracy of data in reports. GS-08: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performing clerical/administrative duties in an office environment; Answering phone calls and forwarding to the appropriate staff; Performing quality review and making corrections of documents; Maintains and adjusts a supervisor's meetings as need; Ensuring the accuracy of data in reports, identifying and correcting errors; Resolving and responding to customer inquires. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to DetailClericalComputer SkillsCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Decisiveness 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. No specific physical qualifications are required. The work includes walking, bending, stooping, and some lifting, usually not more than ten pounds. Work Environment: The work is performed in an office setting. Some functions of meeting minutes are accomplished in hospital areas. Medical, surgical, psychiatric and nursing home patients are visitors to the Director's Suite. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Togus VA Medical Center 1 VA Center Augusta, ME 04330 US
• Name: Jessica Steed
• Phone: (802) 295-9363 X2021
• Email: [email protected]