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Program Support Assistant - Caregiver Support Program

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
El Paso VA Health Care System (EPVAHCS)

Summary

The incumbent serves as the Program Support Assistant to the Office of Associate Director for Nursing and Patient Services, in support of the Caregiver Support Program (CSP). The PSA aids the program staff in getting things accomplished through a knowledge and understanding of the organization, regulations, methods, and the other tools or resources of management.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
02/06/2026 to 02/11/2026
Salary
$45,409 to - $59,031 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 6
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
El Paso, TX
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
CAZM-12879060-26-JG
Control number
856922400

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Duties

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The Program Support Assistant (PSA) assists in the establishment and enrollment of veterans and caregiver into the Caregiver Support Program (CSP) and acts as the liaison and provides coordination and collaboration of services with the eligibility, travel, budget, non-VA care services and other departments throughout El Paso VA Health Care System. The PSA accepts CSP telephone calls from patients, family members, caregivers, CSP staff in the field, and other VA staff and or community agency staff, regarding program inquiries, patient care concerns, etc. The PSA obtains as much information as possible, provides information and resolves problems independently when possible and prioritizes and makes decisions regarding caller referral based on specific caller needs. The incumbent ensures timely clinical response to patients and callers that potentially have an emergent or urgent care need through prompt identification of the problem and appropriate clinical referral while exercising mature judgment and diplomacy.

The PSA has backup responsibility for establishment, monitoring and maintenance of clinic profiles in CSP. They advise medical and administrative staff relative to creating new clinic profiles or making changes to establish clinics. Proper configuration of clinic profiles and the Medical Center computer system has direct bearing on scheduling, flow and processes within individual clinic, how workload is captured, and how efficient reimbursement of CSP special funding. The incumbent works that the Administrative Officer and clinical services to ensure the clinic stop code information corresponds with the DSS stop code identifiers within each clinic profile, the incumbent is responsible for programming detailed encounter form and action profile settings, setting appointment length and overbook capacity and managing the assignments of cases to the caregiver program clinics. Other duties include:

  • Utilizes an electronic time and attendance computer program to perform timekeeping duties for all employees.
  • Handles conflict and problems in dealing with customers, constructively and appropriately.
  • Utilizes a range of software applications (i.e., Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) to prepare correspondence.
  • Receives and reviews all incoming correspondence.
  • Coordinates meetings and prepares meeting minutes.
  • Maintains office supplies and equipment.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Telework: Ad-hoc Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual/remote position.
Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant - Caregiver Support Program / PDHA756-00455-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Preferred experience;
  • 2 or more years of customer service experience
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • Valid driver's license preferred
  • Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
  • 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, 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, 02/11/2026.

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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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.

GS-6 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 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 various medical directives, Medical Center memorandums, procedures and publications pertinent to home patient care; Knowledge of medical records program, patient privacy regulations and release of information procedures; medical terminology and uses (in general, medicine, surgical, geriatrics, hospital terms, medical abstracts, abbreviations, nursing, social work, pharmacology, aging, and home health), spelling, grammar, and composition, and ability to determine and follow required formats for memos and reports; Knowledge of mathematics and use of a calculator and software computer programs to efficiently, effectively, and accurately maintain budget preparations and statistics required for weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports; Knowledge of Microsoft Office to include Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, and Access is required to retrieve statistics, prepare reports, and analyze data; and, Knowledge of the principles of financial management, personnel management, organizational structuring and strategic planning.

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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

  • Accountability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

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