Clarification from the agency

The area of consideration is current, permanent employees of the Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and satellite offices, those employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies, ICTAP, and Veterans who meet the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) of 1998.

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He/she is assigned as direct staff to a member of the Executive Leadership team and their Service Chiefs and Program Officers and serves as a back-up for other Health System Specialists in the office and may be detailed to fill critical administrative leadership positions within the facility and VISN to support continuity of healthcare delivery operations.

• Develops a thorough, administrative and strategic operational initiatives of the organization that enables the specialist to identify problems, analyze data, and recommend resolutions based on specific knowledge of the organization's objectives and priorities, resources, and catchment area.
• Plans, organizes, trends and reviews requests for resources within their assigned executive's chain of command and makes recommendations, based upon the relative needs while considering their ability to utilize the resources requested.
• Assist in prioritizing resource allocations throughout the healthcare system in conjunction within the Director's authority.
• Assist the Executive Leadership Team in assessing needs in a realistic fashion, documenting them effectively, and presenting them to a diverse audience of internal and external stakeholders.
• Point out (and correct as appropriate) errors, incomplete or inconsistent data, and illogical arguments or conclusions.
• Reviews as assigned i.e., resources requests for FTEE, Equipment, Overtime, and Space, and keeps abreast of the medical center budget and forecasts needs based on regional market trends.
• Reviews policies and procedures that are in conformance with the overall philosophy of the Veterans Health Administrative (VHA) related to all aspects of healthcare programs.
• Reviews medical center budget initiatives, subsequent justifications and defends for the clinical or administrative service/program to the Medical Center Director as needed.
• Provides guidance and advice on program specific matters such as handling legislative issues, the development and implementation of policy or program initiatives, protocol issues, and other important correspondence or VISN/VACO related matters.
• Coordinates and participates in strategic planning throughout the healthcare system, and with subordinate services and programs within their ELT members chain and scope of command, to produce decisions and actions that shape and guide the organization's purpose and activities, particularly with regard to the future - a fundamental component of organizational management and decision making.
• Works closely with other facility/VISN elements on project development and submission.
• Makes recommendations regarding necessity of the project, and what elements are to be included in the scope of the project based on local, VISN, or national strategic initiatives and alignment.
• Reviews audits and evaluations which are conducted at the facility.
• Deals with problems arising from quality care issues and consumer complaints arising from individual patients, Veterans group, Congressional offices, and other stakeholders.
• Obtains data and prepares replies to correspondence for the signature of the Medical Center Director, Network Director, or for the appropriate VA Central Office, i.e., the Secretary, the Under Secretary for Health (Executive in Charge), Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management, and the ADUSHOM, etc.
• Serves as the primary liaison as assigned on behalf of all elements of the healthcare system between the VISN and headquarters.
• Resolves problems through personal contacts, obtains expedited decisions on urgent matters, and otherwise assists services/programs in obtaining responsive action for their requests.

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
• 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)

• 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, 02/20/2026.

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-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.

Preferred Experience: Supervisory experience; previous Administrative Officer or Health System Specialist experience; more than three (3) years in a healthcare facility.

Individual Occupational Requirement: This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) which is a minimum qualification requirement. To be considered for the position, you must ensure that the experience is reflected in your resume and/or if applicable, transcripts must be uploaded to support education requirement or substitution.

• 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.

• 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:
  • 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.

• Special Provision for Inservice 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:
  • Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements;
  • 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
  • Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.

• 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: develops a thorough, administrative and strategic operational initiatives of the organization that enables the specialist to identify problems, analyze data, and recommend resolution based on specific knowledge of the organization's objectives and priorities, resources, and catchment area; plans, organizes, trends and reviews requests for resources within their assigned executive's chain of command and makes recommendations, based upon the relative needs while considering their ability to utilize the resources requested.

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:



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.