Clarification from the agency

Open to current, Federal employees (serving on a career/career-conditional appointment or covered under OPM's Interchange Agreement); Reinstatement/Transfer Eligible; Special Authorities; Peace Corps & AmericCorps Vista; Military Spouses; Preference eligible veterans or veterans separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after three or more years of continuous active service. **FIRST CONSIDERATION WILL BE GIVEN TO CURRENT VA MONTANA HCS EMPLOYEES**

Videos

Major duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

• Direct the financial services program to include internal financial auditing, accounts receivable and payable, payroll, cashiering, accounting, budgeting, managerial-financial analysis, employee travel and active participation in overall Medical Center planning and
  decision-making activity.
• Provides top management, as well as all secondary levels of management, with staff advice and assistance in comptroller, manpower, and internal controls matters.
• Consults with management and advises subordinate activities on major program activities, objectives and goals, priorities, identification of needs, resolution of problem areas, and other matters to assure optimum management of the health care system resources within the
  framework of legislative, VA and VACO requirements, policies, procedures and guidance.
• Develops long-range financial plans, annual medical center budgets formulation, goals, objectives, and milestones and evaluates the effectiveness of financial management efforts.
• Plans, reviews and analyzes all facility operational programs to include salary, supplies, facilities and services.
• Develops administrative regulations, policy, or guidelines for the conduct of program objectives or new criteria for measuring program accomplishments.
• Responsible for the preparation of accurate and timely financial statements displaying the financial position of the medical center; recommending policy changes to the VHA Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at VA Central Office to effect improvements in standardized
  systems; and assuring management that fiscal transactions are compatible with requirements of the Office of Management and Budget, General Accounting Office and the Treasury Department.
• Develops, coordinates, and maintains an integrated system of financial staff services including accounting, budgeting, management-financial reporting, auditing, management analysis, payroll operations, employee travel services, and agent cashier operations.
• Provides expert advice to program officials and to accountants, budget analysts, and other specialists on interpretation of accounting, budget and financial regulations pertinent to systems development efforts or program operations.
• Utilize financial records to analysis of workload versus cost of all clinical programs as well as evaluating indirect costing criteria.
• Coordinates information outputs from financial management systems that support management of programs funded by a number of appropriations.
• Knowledge of Federal Statues, VA Regulations, Comptroller General Decisions, and regulations of the Treasury Department and Office if Management and Budget.
• Consults with management and advises subordinate activities on major program activities, objectives and goals, priorities, identification of needs, resolution of problem areas, and other matters to assure optimum management of the health care system resources within the
  framework of legislative, VA and VACO requirements, policies, procedures and guidance.
• Plans, reviews and analyzes all facility operational programs to include supplies, facilities and services. Incumbent provides an effective system of financial control throughout the health care system.
• Assures consistency in the interpretation and application of financial management regulations and procedures throughout the VA Medical Center & provides top management with advice, assistance, and necessary coordination with respect to controversial, inconsistent, or conflicting requirements.

Conditions of employment

• 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
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/14/2023.

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 by the closing date of this announcement. 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. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): There is an Individual Occupational Requirement which is a qualifying requirement for this position. The IOR for this position is:

Basic Requirements

1. Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.")
   
   or
2. Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicant's background must also include one of the following:
   1. Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;
   2. A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or
   3. Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

• Knowledge of the theory, principles, concepts and practices of accounting, budget management, and VA financial programs;
• Ability to apply this knowledge to broad and difficult assignments;
• Leadership and management acumen sufficient to direct a comprehensive financial management program for a large and diverse workforce;
• Knowledge of governmental accounting operations and requirements including those established by the Government Accountability Office (GA 01, Department of Treasury, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)), and the Department of Veterans Affairs and Comptroller General Decisions to independently perform a variety of assignments;
• Knowledge of applicable legislation, statutes, regulations, policies, practices and procedures;
• Knowledge of operations, function and objectives of various financial analysis components and programs, as well as patient eligibility and medical care billing and collections programs;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations, not only with subordinates, but with all levels of key management officials, the latter particularly requiring the exercise of tact, ingenuity and resourcefulness;
• Knowledge of the theories, practices, methods, and techniques of auditing to independently review and conduct evaluations of the agency and provider operational programs and their related accounting systems.

• Communication
• Decision Making
• Human Capital Management
• Leadership
• Principles of Finance

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.