Clarification from the agency

AREA OF CONSIDERATION: This announcement is open to CTAP eligible applicants and to current, permanent employees of the Veterans Health Administration ONLY.

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Major Duties:

Under the oversight of the Surgical Services Chief and reporting indirectly to the Surgery, Anesthesia, Eye Clinic, and Respiratory Therapy Section Chiefs, the incumbent is responsible to develop and execute all business operations and administrative functions within Surgical/Anesthesia Service.

Administration and Management:

• • Develop and execute all business operations and administrative functions within Surgical and Anesthesia Services.
  • This position is responsible for interpreting administrative policies and requirements, defining administrative requirements, and providing guidance and advice to management on such requirements.
• Incumbent is responsible for managing service-level resources. This includes the Service's physical resources and physical space assigned to the Service, e.g., station equipment planner and committee member.
• Proactive monitoring of resource utilization to help the Service Chief assure that resources are used in alignment with agency mission and values.

Data Management

• Incumbent uses multiple VHA reporting databases to gather, logically compile, organize, store, analyze, and interpret copious amounts of information and data.
• The Administrative Officer requires ability to anticipate and identify potential problem areas and to operationalize these for formal analysis.

• Independently, the incumbent will proactively and systematically develop, gather, collate, manage, analyze, interpret, and present data regarding the Service's operations to facility and or VISN leadership.
• Serves as data management expert for the services and consults with Group Practice Manager (GPM), Administrative Officers, Executive Assistants, Service Chiefs and Executive Staff as requested.

Self-Management

• Incumbent proactively monitors resource utilization to help the Service Chief assure that resources are used in alignment with agency mission and values.
• This position anticipates resource gaps, advocating for needed resources (space, staffing, funding, equipment) on behalf of the Service, and develops business arguments to effectively support resource requests.
• The Administrative Officer supports the Service in meeting its organizational goals fulfilling its mission.

Critical Thinking

• Including the interpretation of administrative policies and requirements, defining administrative requirements, and providing guidance and advice to management on such requirements.
• Incumbent may propose and/or implement improvements to clinical operations through the application of the evidence-based health care business principles such as flow management and advanced clinic access.

Communication

• The position requires excellent communication and presentation skills, using both verbal and written media.
• The incumbent demonstrates the ability to teach, train, inform, and communicate with individuals at all levels of organizations.
• Serves as Services day-to-day liaison with the hospital's administrative departments (human resources, fiscal, IT, healthcare administration, etc.).
• In this role, incumbent provides support, guidance, and training to leadership as well as front-line staff on administrative issues

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday,8:00am - 4:30pm (PST)
Position Description/PD#: Administrative Officer/PD704910
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

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)

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 time-in-grade requirements and specialized experience within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 03/03/2026.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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 (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of an Administrative Officer, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes: Serve as the data management expert for the services and consult with Group Practice Manager (GPM), Administrative Officers, Executive Assistants, Service Chiefs, and Executive Staff; Develop and execute all business operations and administrative functions; Independently and systematically develop, gather, collate, manage, analyze, interpret, and present data regarding the Service's operations to facility and or VISN leadership; Interpret administrative policies, defining administrative requirements, and provide guidance and advice to management; Provide administrative expertise and support to program coordinators to maintain compliance with accreditation standards established by the Joint Commission and other relevant regulating bodies; Monitor performance standards on business and administrative functions regarding quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and patient satisfaction with the goal to identify opportunities for improvement. NOTE: 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. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B. or J.D. in a related field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.

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.

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.

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:

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

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. 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.

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.