This position is located in the Office of Administration, Office of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). Employee serves as the senior staff advisor to the Director, Office of OSH. As such, the incumbent plays an integral part in the decision-making process involving a variety of aspects of the management of VA's national OSH programs and develops and recommends policy and direction for VA enterprise wide.

Duties

Major Duties (include but not limited to): Primary purpose of position is to function as the lead manager and implementer of patient safety policies and activities develop by the National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) Serves as senior staff advisor to the Director, Office of OSH Assures that policies and programs are properly coordinated with other VA components and other government agencies, and keeps the Director fully informed of program issues affecting VA Maintains a comprehensive and current knowledge of the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules, regulations, standards and/or Federal Employee's Compensation Act (FECA) Coordinates activities of the Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and other key officials within the Department by serving as SME, troubleshooter, and negotiator Keeps Director apprised of and identifies problems either actual or anticipated, communicates with the representatives of the Under Secretaries and Key Officials involved and provides other consultative assistance Ensures development of specific milestones and evaluation procedures that permit monitoring and control of program functions, and ensures effective responses to changes in program priorities Assists in developing and implementing nationwide OSH and Worker's Compensation (WC) plans, policies, and programs contributing to the accomplishment of Department's strategic plans Assists with WC education or develops and conducts a comprehensive safety education program through formal training sessions, supervisor-employee discussions Consults and maintains liaison with other WC and/or OSH personnel such as industrial hygienists to resolve occupational health hazards; civil engineers regarding alterations of building; National Safety Council specialists to become familiar with the latest safety techniques and protective devices Develops and revises WC and/or safety and OSH instructions, rules, and regulations applicable to a wide range of medical facility operations systems and equipment; seeks cooperation of supervisors to improve WC program management and/or to eliminate unsafe working conditions and mechanical risks Plans and carries out surveys evaluating medical facility operations; prepares survey reports that identify where WC program management can assist with improving conditions Performs as a management consultant and represents the Director with Offices within the Department of Labor, especially OSHA and the Office of WC Programs (OWCP) 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: M-F, 8-430pm Compressed/Flexible: potentially available Telework: Location is negotiable after selection. However, selectee must report onsite to local facility 5 days per pay period. Remote: This is not a remote position Position Description/PD#: 1609567/1613653 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Work Environment & Physical Demands: Work is primarily sedentary but will require some official travel as part of conference presentations and site review visits that may require movement through confined spaces and moderate to extensive walking. Visits may include hospitals, cemetery settings, and conferences.

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, 11/25/2024. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12, for a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. SF-50 Requirement: 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. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade. Quality Ranking Factor (QRF): This position includes a QRF which is knowledge, skills, and abilities/competencies that could be expected to significantly enhance performance in a position but are not essential for satisfactory performance. Applicants who possess such KSAs/competencies may be ranked above those who do not, but no one may be rated ineligible for failure to possess such ability. This position will be working at the enterprise level as a worker's compensation and/or occupational safety subject matter expert where experience lecturing on these subjects is vital. Experience presenting and lecturing on these matters will be applied as a Quality Ranking Factor. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-13 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 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 planning, coordination and execution and gathering of relevant information, and evaluation of solutions or courses of action Effectively expresses information to individuals and groups taking into account the audience and nature of information (technical, sensitive, controversial) Makes clear and convincing presentations with supervisory review Works with customers (internal and external) to assess their needs with minimal supervision, providing information/assistance to satisfactorily resolve their problem Knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories, or instructional methods such as teaching, making presentations, lecturing, and testing GS-14 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience in planning, coordination and execution and gathering of relevant information, and evaluation of solutions or courses of action Independently applies the process of discovery that involves the diagnosis of a problem, identification and gathering of relevant information, and formulation of solutions Independently and effectively expresses information to individuals and groups taking into account the audience and nature of information (technical, sensitive, controversial) Independently makes clear and convincing presentations Independently works with customers (internal and external) to assess their needs provides information/assistance to satisfactorily resolve their problem Maintains a comprehensive working knowledge of Office of Occupational Safety & Health and Worker's Compensation procedures used throughout VA and is aware of the current status of key situations or problems at any given time You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementAnalysis and Problem SolvingCommunicationCustomer ServiceEducation and TrainingTechnical Credibility 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 http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: Katie Sidler
• Phone: 785-260-0789
• Email: [email protected]