Clarification from the agency

Only open to current permanent Veterans Health Administration employees.

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This 1 position may select either Leavenworth, KS or Topeka, KS as their duty location.

• The incumbent functions as the primary liaison to multiple staff offices and serves as the conduit for information flow and management of assignments between such offices.
• Monitors and manages incoming actions and requests from initial receipt to completion and closeout.
• Analyzes the subject matter of incoming information for appropriate distribution to offices internal or external to the office.
• Receives and monitors completed actions or responses; analyzes responses for completeness and accuracy against known policies and procedures; and ensures action or inquiry is closed out with the inquirer or office.
• Conducts or participates in special information flow studies, analyses, presentations and briefings, as assigned.
• Conducts analytical studies on particular operational processes, issue topics, or related special projects.
• Studies and projects addressed are commonly so diverse and intense that they often require input and assistance from departmental or program offices. These studies require study planning, statistical measurement, data analysis, and report preparation and development. When tasked with this type of project, serves as the responsible contact for leading these projects from initiation to completion and may be required to present the results to senior leadership.
• Develops position papers and decision documents representing the position of the organization on a variety of complex and sensitive issues such as the quality or timeliness of veteran care issues within the system or at times, issues of Congressional or media interest that have significant national impact e.g. quality and safety concerns or involve several functional areas. An expert level knowledge of health system services is required for the breadth and depth of studies encountered.
• internal/external reviews of a national concern; i. e, fiscal efficiencies and organizational structure that are reviewed by prominent parties such as the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) or the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
• The incumbent tracks both routine and uncommon deadlines initiated by OIG/GAO and internal reviewing officials to ensure timely submission of responses and actions.
• Communicates with responsible staff agency members to ensure completion of all requested actions and appropriately closes out all requests.
• Works closely with senior management and others in implementing and evaluating policies, plans, and internal operational systems such as correspondence management, information tracking among pertinent offices and stakeholders, and internal/external communication flows.
• Manages and coordinates of all online communication tools such as assigned intranet websites, internal SharePoint website collection, and other related informational tools in consultation with communication specialists.
• Assures compliance with all applicable policies, and development and maintenance of internal management processes related to these online tools.
• Coordinates events hosted by officials, including town hall meetings with internal staff, with assistance from continuing educational staff and initiatives when warranted.
• The incumbent completes all steps required within an event management process, including facilitating selection of the event time, developing a formal agenda, managing any required contracts and all logistical items, disseminating information to attendees, and ensuring smooth execution of the event.
• Works with various boards to coordinate regular committee meetings, ensuring all event management steps are completed.
• Coordinates with the appropriate individuals or offices to develop proposals and supporting materials for presentation at conferences, meetings, hearings and other external activities and meetings.
• This responsibility includes reviewing and analyzing materials in coordination with the originating office(s), and/or developing materials as needed using available resources or subject matter expertise.
• Briefs and advises senior management on agenda issues in preparation for activities and meetings and may represent the office at internal or external activities or meetings.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

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: 8:00AM - 4:30PM, Monday - Friday
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD098400 and PD103890
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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/trial period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/09/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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.

To be found qualified for this position, you must meet the individual occupational requirement:

Individual Occupational Requirement:

Undergraduate and Graduate Education:

Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.

or

Specialized Experience:

(for positions above GS-5): 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; and
• Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

In addition to the individual occupational requirement, you must meet the specialized experience for the position as well:

GS-12

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
  • Demonstrated mastery in applying analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to issues or studies concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of agency and program operations.
  • Expert knowledge of pertinent laws, regulations, policies and precedents, major issues, program goals and objectives, work processes, and administrative operations which affect the administration of GBO program and committee functions.
  • Mastery of VHA organization structure and operations to support VHA-wide assessments to improve the VHA system for health care.
  • Expert knowledge of missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems in general and in the country at large.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills to facilitate and coordinate vast needs for communications and information, between and among the stakeholders, including the Department, VHACO, VISNs, facilities and non-VA groups.

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.
  • Demonstrated mastery in applying analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to issues or studies concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of agency and program operations.
  • Expert knowledge of pertinent laws, regulations, policies and precedents, major issues, program goals and objectives, work processes, and administrative operations which affect the administration of GBO program and committee functions.
  • Mastery of VHA organization structure and operations to support VHA-wide assessments to improve the VHA system for health care.
  • Expert knowledge of missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems in general and in the country at large.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills to facilitate and coordinate vast needs for communications and information, between and among the stakeholders, including the Department, VHACO, VISNs, facilities and non-VA groups.

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

• Administration and Management
• Communication
• Information Assurance
• Organizational Awareness
• Organizational Performance Analysis

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 primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required when visiting different sections of the health care system for meetings or fact-finding.

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.