The Secretary (OA) serves as the Executive Secretary to the Medical Center Director and office manager for the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center. This is a full-time position at 40 hours per week.

Duties

Major duties include, but, are not limited to: Establish and maintain a formal system of procedures and administrative controls. On own initiative, change or recommend changes in administrative policies. Prepare agenda for and conducts periodic secretarial training sessions for all secretaries to department heads. Systematically study and evaluate the office processes and procedures to make changes that increase the efficiency of office operations throughout the medical center. Respond to inquiries and administrative problems brought to the Medical Center Director (MCD) by members of the staff and officials of the agency's central office, VISN 20, state and local governments, other hospitals and organizations, other federal agencies, and congressional staff. Record the commitments made by the MCD during meetings and conferences. Inform the staff of those commitments and arrange for the staff to implement them. Understand the MCD's strategic vision and views and assist medical center staff by providing guidance on current organizational issues. Exercise exclusive control over the MCD's appointments; with complete authority for commitments of time. Screen all calls and visitors, answer most questions and complete most business involving established policy or routine matters without referring people to the MCD. Receive all correspondence for the MCD; reply to mail not requiring the MCD's attention; route matters requiring action by hospital department heads; and follow-up to ensure that actions are completed. Screen all correspondence prepared for the MCD's signature for clarity, completeness of reply, and grammatical and procedural correctness. Return inadequate submissions for retyping or re-composition. Arrange conferences for the MCD, and at the request of VACO/VISN 20 officials, for meetings to be held locally. This includes preparing an agendum, notifying participants, and arranging luncheons and similar matters. Lead three secretarial positions that support the Chief of Staff, Associate Director, and the Associate Director, Patient Care Services (AD/PCS). Make work assignments, set or negotiate deadlines and completion dates. Schedule and approve funding for individual training. 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 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: . AD-HOC Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD703800 and PD703801 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD703800 and PD703801 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. It occasionally requires intermittent walking, bending, and carrying light objects such as files, books, and papers up to 15 pounds. The work requires use of a keyboard to access a computer to access software, send and receive emails, draft correspondence, create reports, and create presentations. The work requires use of a telephone to receive and initiate contact with staff and outside agency offices. Working Environment: The work is performed in an office setting, adequately heated and cooled. The work environment includes office, meeting and training rooms, and conference rooms.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 11/26/2024. 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 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-08. 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 as described below: 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: Independently establishes and maintains a formal system of procedures and administrative controls for the Executive Office. As the office manager for the Executive office, ensures that the practices and procedures used by all secretaries in subordinate offices are consistent with those of the Executive office. On own initiative, recommends changes in executive/administrative offices policies and procedures. Devises and installs office procedures and practices to be used by secretaries in subordinate offices. Establishes new tactics, techniques and procedures to meet new requirements and situations. Adapts procedures to meet the needs in emergency/emergent situations. Develops, prepares and distributes agenda for and conducts recurring secretarial training sessions for all executive, service chief and department secretaries to include but not be limited to training in all phases of secretarial/administrative work such as reviewing/editing/creating correspondence, telephone procedures, development/review/formatting of publications, directives, reports, and direct/face to face public relations responsibilities with Veteran's and their families. While performing at the GS-08 level, it is expected that the incumbent will perform the major functions of the position at the full performance level but with significant oversight. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed 1 full year of progressively higher-level graduate level education leading to a master's degree in a field of study directly related to the duties of the position. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level but less than one year; and, have more than six months, but less than one year of graduate education. GS-09 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-08 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Independently establishes and maintains a formal system of procedures and administrative controls for the Executive Office. As the office manager for the Executive office, ensures that the practices and procedures used by all secretaries in subordinate offices are consistent with those of the Executive office. On own initiative, recommends changes in executive/administrative offices policies and procedures. Devises and installs office procedures and practices to be used by secretaries in subordinate offices. Establishes new tactics, techniques and procedures to meet new requirements and situations. Adapts procedures to meet the needs in emergency/emergent situations. Develops, prepares and distributes agenda for and conducts recurring secretarial training sessions for all executive, service chief and department secretaries to include but not be limited to training in all phases of secretarial/administrative work such as reviewing/editing/creating correspondence, telephone procedures, development/review/formatting of publications, directives, reports, and direct/face to face public relations responsibilities with Veteran's and their families. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field closely related to the duties of the position. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience beyond GS-8 grade level but less than one year; and, have more than one year, but less than two years of graduate education. Preferred experience: Develops executive-level, confidential correspondence working collaboratively with Subject Matter Experts across the facility on behalf of the Medical Center Director. Utilizes secure tracking mechanisms for incoming and outgoing correspondence on behalf of the Medical Center Director. Applies a good understanding and proficiency of the applicable software to write, edit, and proofread documents prepared by or on behalf of the Medical Center Director You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationsCritical ThinkingOrganizational StewardshipWriting 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. 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 Mann-Grandstaff Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 4815 North Assembly Street Spokane, WA 99205 US
• Name: Denise Lindsey
• Phone: 916-776-0180
• Email: [email protected]