Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to current, permanent, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center employees only. Current, permanent facility employees must submit their most recent, NON-AWARD SF-50 to be considered.

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At this level, assignments are designed to prepare the incumbent to perform the duties and responsibilities in the developmental position of Health System Specialist. Assignments emphasize data analysis, program assessment, and advisory support related to the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) initiative.

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Provides advisory assistance to managers and supervisors regarding EHRM concepts, requirements, and anticipated operational impacts
• Explains established EHRM principles, tools, and expectations to stakeholders to promote understanding and consistency
• Assists in assessing the impact of EHRM-related change on staff workflows and operations and elevates concerns, risks, and improvement opportunities to leadership
• Analyzes EHRM-related operational data, including adoption trends, performance indicators, and identified risks to clinical and administrative operations
• Works with the medical center Executive Leadership Team (ELT), Informatics Steering Committee, staff, and ICC leadership and staff to apply a structured methodology and lead and support HCS level change management activities during the EHRM transformation at the assigned site
• Facilitates the analyses of medical center change readiness, creates gap analysis, and articulates the impact of EHRM on workflow, role and venue
• Forecasts and estimates program and staffing requirements and ensures program goals, objectives, and operations are realistic
• Conducts management surveys, audits, special projects, and provides expert advisory and consultative services to operating or management officials
• Develops and prepares internal instructions, guidelines, etc. concerning EHRM and recommends required policy changes and procedural adjustments to ensure proper and adequate accomplishment of deployment program goals and objectives
• Ensures alignment with VISN and VHACO policies and procedures as well as external regulatory requirements.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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)

• 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/12/2026.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 and 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.

Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): Minimum Requirements for Series 0671 requires the applicant to have education or specialized experience.

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Possession of an undergraduate or graduate level degree 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.

OR

Specialized Experience: 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: (1) Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; (2) Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and (3) Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

Special Provision for In-service Placement: Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included: (1) Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements; (2) Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and (3) Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 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 VA systems in relation to the analysis of data, evaluation of operational impacts and providing recommendations to supervisor; High level of knowledge of organizational structure, functions, services, and procedures of VA medical centers and VA in general and ability to communicate the knowledge; Knowledge of medical professional and administrative programs at VA medical centers or health care systems and their inter-relationships.

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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge to plan and conduct projects and studies to evaluate and recommend ways of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of health care services, using both qualitative and quantitative measures and the ability to determine the most advantageous means of developing strategic partnerships for the benefit of the veteran population served; Ability to apply extensive knowledge and skills in hospital administration principles, theories, and practices to projects and studies where the results of data analysis are recommendations for partnership opportunity development.

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: Mastery knowledge of the general principles of health care management, systems and methods of organization and administration in general and around the industry is essential; Comprehensive knowledge of the mission, functions, and enterprise goals of VHA, VISN 15 and the medical center as well as their operations and interrelationships; Knowledge of the capabilities, operating characteristics, and advanced functions of a variety of office automation software e.g., word processing, spreadsheet, database, calendar, electronic mail; Specific knowledge and mastery in the utilization of a wide variety of VHA web-based data sources, e.g., ARC, OSS, OQP, VERA, VSSC, Pyramid, Briefing Books, etc., and data metrics associated with high performing VISNs and facilities.

Preferred Experience: Change Management and Administrative experience

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

• Administration and Management
• Organizational Development
• Problem Solving
• Project Management

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.