Clarification from the agency

First consideration will be given to current, permanent employees of the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System. Second area of consideration is given to permanent VA Wide employees. All other statuses' will be considered after internal merit promotion VA employees are exhausted. Special authorities include but are not limited to: Certain former overseas employees and foreign service employees. Clarification for these authorities is provided in the questionnaire.

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Duties of the position include, but are not limited to the following:

• Providing leadership in development of organizational structures and processes to ensure optimal administrative operations within the service including serving as the operations expert for the service, setting administrative priorities and assigning administrative and operational work throughout service line
• Short and long-range planning efforts, utilizing applicable guidance and directives from Office of Patient Care Services, VA Central Office (VACO), Veterans Integrated Service Network 20 (VISN20), and VAPS.HCS
• Analyzes, extracts, summarizes, identifies, interprets and evaluates significant trends and issues
• Forecasts and estimates program requirements and prepares reports, justifications, charts, graphs, statistical and narrative data for briefings and presentations to management officials
• Manages interrelationships with other internal organizational elements and services and affiliated external organizations
• Responsibility for Human Resource program for Service Line including: directing development and submission of all Human Resources action documentation and ensuring all actions are completed in accordance with Human Resources and VAPSHCS policies and regulations for all matters involving recruitment, promotions, performance, awards and recognition, position classification, new employee orientation, training, disciplinary action, and competency assessments for all clinical/non-clinical staff in the Federal Wage, Title 5, Title 38 and Hybrid Title 38 pay systems and providing expert advice to the Service Line Administrative Services Managers (ASM's), and clinical managers and supervisors regarding Human Resource issues
• Responsible for the financial management of the Service Line including budget formulation, justification and execution and financial management and financial reporting
• Serves as a control point official for all Service Line fund control points used for scarce medical services contracts, personnel service contracts, fee basis referrals and supply purchases
• Reviews and approves for all contract requests funded by the Service Line including IPA's to ensure resources are available to cover needs
• Provides oversight of all Equipment Inventory Lists (Ell) within the Service and ensures the AMS's conduct annual inventories
• Prepares five-year space needs plan for inclusion in the Facility Plan and is a regular and active participant on the facility Space Committee that advocates for space needs in support of the Service Line's mission and work
• Provides oversight of Service line Emergency Preparedness program and either serves on the facility committee for Emergency Preparedness
• Supervises subordinate supervisory Administrative Services Managers (ASM's), and serves as a second level supervisor for all administrative and clerical staff
• Using subordinate supervisors, leaders, team chiefs, committee chairs or comparable personnel to direct, coordinate and oversee the clinical work
• Develops performance standards and evaluates the work of subordinates and ensures reasonable equity among units, groups, teams or projects of performance standards and rating techniques developed by subordinate supervisors
• Hearing and resolving group grievances or serious employee complaints
• Reviewing and approving serious disciplinary actions involving non-supervisory employees
• Recommending awards or bonuses for non-supervisory personnel and changes in position classification subject to approval by higher level supervisors
• Finding ways to improve production and/or increase the quality of the work including finding and implementing ways to eliminate or reduce significant bottlenecks and barriers to production, promote team building and improve business practices
• Developing Service Line policies and programs concerning such matters as equal employment opportunity, merit promotion, labor management relations, and position management and fostering a commitment to these programs in the clinical areas

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: Monday - Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Administrative Officer/PD41293A and PD40363A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved.
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
• 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 02/17/2026.

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.

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

GS-12 Requirements
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: providing oversight of administrative programs by gathering data to conduct detailed analyses concerning the relationships among administrative positions, workload, and productivity to manage or develop organizational resources related to administrative regulations, long-range program plans, goals, objectives, and milestones for the delivery of services at the operating level.

Note: There are no educational substitutions for this grade level.

GS-13 Requirements
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: leading studies to identify the organizational structures and process that provide optimal procedures or processes needed to develop, create, modify, improve, or streamline concepts, methods, and resource assignments to ensure administrative priorities, resources and services needed to manage and operate administrative or clinical programs to improve the current operations to meet the enhanced organizational goals and objectives.

Note: There are no educational substitutions for this grade level.

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

• Administration and Management
• Leadership
• Organizational Awareness
• Project Management

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 and performed in a typical office setting. Some slight physical effort may be required.

Work Environment: The incumbent typically performs work in an office setting that is adequately lighted and climate controlled, however, regular trips to patient treatment areas and exam rooms are essential. The position requires travel between divisions of the VAPSHCS including the Community Based Outpatient Clinics and may require occasional overnight travel to meetings, conferences, or training sessions.

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.

Resume Reminder - Your resume must include the following information for each job listed:

• Job title
• Duties (be as detailed as possible)
• Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)
• Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
• Series and Grade, if applicable, for all Federal positions you have held

Please be aware that your answers will be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail.

Recommended: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications.

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.