Clarification from the agency

This position is Open to Status Candidates {Current and former competitive service Federal employees, and people eligible under special hiring authorities ( 30% or more, Schedule A). This includes all Merit Promotion sources: Status (Transfers, Reinstatements), VEOA, Permanent Canteen (VCS) employees, CTAP, ICTAP, Non-Competitive Eligibles and certain Excepted Service Employees (i.e., Interchange Agreements).

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This position will be responsible for the patient experience and patient advocacy program. This position will also be accountable to supporting and managing the organizational needs, as well as the design, implementation and evaluation of programs that facilitate the professional development and continuous learning of all team members. Tasked with translating the concepts of service excellence, patient experience, employee experience and patient relations into actionable behaviors, this individual will take a culture aimed at clinical excellence into the ever evolving world of patient & family centered care. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Develops of Veteran experience program.
• Collaborates with VA customers (employees, stakeholders, Veterans and guests) for patient experience plan implementation
• Implements activities for Veteran experience strategic plan
• Manages patient advocate office.
• Strategizes implementation of enhancing Veteran experience with senior leadership.
• Creates action plans from customer feedback data
• Serves as a subject matter expert consultant to executive leadership regarding customer service subjects.
• Educates and trains stakeholders
• Chairs or represents Veteran experience at stakeholder meetings, boards, committees or councils.
• Functions as a Contracting Officers Representative.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday | 7:30-4:00 PM CST
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Health System Specialist (Veteran Experience Officer)/PD708240
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

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, 09/11/2023.

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT:

1. Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:

• Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems
• Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups
• Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

OR

2. Education: Undergraduate or graduate education with a major study in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.

(TRANSCRIPT MUST BE PROVIDED.)NOTE: CANDIDATES USING EDUCATION TO MEET THE INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT MUST SUBMIT AN UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT OF CONFERRED DEGREE BY THE ANNOUNCEMENT CLOSING. LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement, you must also meet the Time-in-Grade Requirements below.

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.

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.

• Examples of appropriate SF-50s include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.
  • Award 50s do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.

In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement and Time-in-Grade Requirement, applicants must also possess the specialized 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. Qualifying specialized experience is defined as experience gained working as a Health Systems Specialist, Administrative Officer, Medical Information Supervisor, Patient Advocate Supervisor, or other work which involves managing a variety of veterans support services in a multifaceted facility:
• Evaluating and recommending solutions to measure, evaluate, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of key medical center operations that have (or may have) a significant impact of the patient experience.
• Providing briefings or presentations to executive leadership, service chiefs, and front-line employees.
• Serving as a change agent and working closely with hospital leaders in identifying priority areas, developing goals, planning improvement, and measuring effectiveness.
• Collecting, analyzing, and trending data.
• Developing/implementing policies and procedures.
• Conducting evaluations and assessment of results.

***PLEASE 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.

Verbiage displayed on your resume or application must contain your own words. You may refer to position descriptions, i.e., the general and specialized experience located within the vacancy announcement, to assist with describing work experiences; however, resumes or applications received in verbatim will not be considered. In your resume you will need to address the general and specialized experience listed under SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE (Qualifications section). Please use as much detail as needed, giving dates (months and years) of the experience, position title, and how the experience was gained. This information is needed to determine if you are qualified for the position.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Veteran and Customer Focus

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: When in the office, the work is mostly sedentary. Some work (specifically classroom teaching) requires walking, standing and the set-up of media equipment. The work generally does not require any special physical effort.

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/.

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.