Clarification from the agency

Open to Current, Permanent employees of the James H. Quillen VA Medical Center and its associated outpatient clinics ONLY.

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Major Duties and Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• The incumbent is responsible in the provision of continuity between the Surgical Service for researching and interpreting internal and external policies, directives survey standards and regulatory requirements.
• These responsibilities include multiple and complex systemic activities relating to all aspects of clinical operations including coordinating utilization management and quality assurance activities to increase the efficiency and appropriateness with which services are provided and resources are utilized. This involves assessing the appropriateness and timeliness of care methods provided using written measurable criteria. The incumbent monitors, as directed by the Chief of Surgery or the Deputy Chief of Surgery, clinical operations including review, analysis and reporting of workload statistics and program functions.
• The incumbent ensures accurate identification, reporting, trending and interventions and education to provide efficient operations and to protect the organization's resources. The incumbent collects data from multiple sources ensuring that precise and accurate summaries are provided for reporting, tracking/trending and reviews-and validates the data. Data will include, but is not limited to, relative value units (RVU), clinic encounters, procedures, clinic wait times, missed opportunities, external peer review, etc. Data sources include, but are not limited to, DSS, VSSC, ProClarity, File Man, etc.
• The incumbent establishes effective tracking systems and conducts statistical analysis on the data to identify patterns, trends, and variances. The incumbent selects and utilizes appropriate evaluation measures, conducts qualitative and quantitative data analysis and summarizes significant results and recommendations to improve services and to promote quality care. The incumbent provides guidance that assures that findings are used to modify and improve program processes and systems to facilitate achievement of the facility strategic plan.
• The incumbent prepares correspondence to local and national inquiries by facilitating retrieval of medical records for external abstractors, sharing results and databases with providers in accordance with the Privacy Act and Confidentiality Statutes, and recommending actions to improve the delivery of care and services. The incumbent is responsible for satisfactory resolution of complex patient concerns that reach the level of the Service Chief or Executive Leadership Team (EL T). The incumbent serves as program resource for Internal Control
  Systems ensuring appropriate management controls are in place for all key functions and coordinates required reporting for various service reports.
• The incumbent is responsible for the management and final development of all action items such as data calls, VISN, FOIA, and OIG requests, local and VISN submittals and congressional correspondence.
• The incumbent serves as Chief of Surgery liaison for administrative investigations or root cause analysis reviews involving clinical operations and other internal and external reviews, including investigations, surveys and focused reviews. The incumbent collaborates with the Office of Quality Management to provide education, consultation and technical assistance to service staff to Joint Commission standards and the Joint Commission survey process. The incumbent is responsible to contribute substantially to the efficient operation and effective management of clinical programs within the service by taking the initiative in the development and implementation of needs assessments and potential problem identification by developing constructive approaches to program analysis and systematic problem solving exercises.
• The incumbent provides leadership for the design and implementation of indicators, processes, and critical pathways that promote interdisciplinary efforts in the establishment of effective monitoring and evaluation of patient centered outcomes and organization performances.
• The incumbent prepares and submits provider specific quality assessment information for use in program quantitative and qualitative evaluations. The incumbent works closely with DSS staff to provide labor mapping information on staff for the JHQVAMC complex clinical operations.

Work Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 6:30 am to 5:00 pm
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: This position may be authorized for ADHOC telework only. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Administrative Officer/PD601380
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 by the closing date of this announcement, 02/27/2026.

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. 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:

• 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: Coordinating personnel actions and budget requests; Serving as time and attendance monitor; Developing management policies, programs, and operations; Monitoring and reporting the status of mandated training requirements.. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in one or LL.M. if related. Note: coursework must have equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Administrative Officer position. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond two full years of graduate level education. (To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond the second year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.)

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

• Attention to Detail
• Conflict Management
• Customer Service
• Writing

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: This position requires mobility with the facility environment and occasional travel to other cities for meetings and conferences. The position may require flexible duty hours to accomplish program objectives. The work is performed in the facility complex of clinical operations in an office setting, classrooms, meeting rooms, and other locations, which are climate, controlled environments. The work environment involves every day risks or discomforts and requires normal safety precautions typical of such places as meeting rooms, training rooms; etc.

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.