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Secretary (OA)

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Health Administration

Summary

The incumbent will serves as an executive personal assistant to the Chief of Staff for this complexity 1B healthcare system. The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System supports numerous special medical programs including hemodialysis, cardiac catheterization, cardiac surgery, advanced radiographic studies, radiation therapy, as well as an extensive primary care program with 30 specialty care clinics at the Ann Arbor campus and outpatient clinics at Toledo, Jackson, and Flint.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
03/02/2026 to 03/10/2026
Salary
$61,639 to - $80,128 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 8
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Ann Arbor, MI
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
CBSR-12897910-26-HO
Control number
859493600

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent Ann Arbor VAMC employees and associated Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).

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Duties

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The incumbent serves as an executive personal assistant to the Chief of Staff for this complexity 1B healthcare system. The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System supports numerous special medical programs including hemodialysis, cardiac catheterization, cardiac surgery, advanced radiographic studies, radiation therapy, as well as an extensive primary care program with 30 specialty care clinics at the Ann Arbor campus and outpatient clinics at Toledo, Jackson, and Flint. The incumbent is responsible for providing technical and administrative support to the special project and major, complex assignments and responsibilities that the Chief of Staff assumes in his/her expanding role with the University, and VA Central Office.

Duties

- Ensures that the practices and procedures used by secretaries in subordinate clinical offices through the VAAAHS are consistent with those of the Director's office, VISN and VACO directives.
- Exercises exclusive control of the Chief of Staff's appointments and calendar with complete authority for commitments of time. Screens calls, visitors, and patients answering questions and completing business involving established policy of routine matters without making referrals to the Chief of Staff whenever possible.
- Exercises independent decision-making in routing and assigning actions and suspense dates on all correspondence coming to the Chief of Staff office on a daily basis. Maintains a log for all action items to monitor the timely completion and submission of responses. Develops and maintains a suspense system which is reviewed at least daily to flag pending issues and ensure due dates are met.
- Receives and reviews all correspondence received in the office of the Chief of Staff and replies to mail not requiring the Chief of Staff's attention. Screens all correspondence prepared for the Chief of Staff signature for clarity, completeness of reply, grammatical, and procedural correctness.
- Arranges conferences for the Chief of Staff on a nationwide basis and when local meetings are requested. This includes preparing agenda, notifying participants, arranging luncheons, scheduling tours and similar matters. Checks to ensure that commitments made at these meeting are met and keeps the Chief of Staff informed of the status of these commitments.
- Provides staff support for the Medical Staff meetings and Executive Committee of the Medical Staff (ECMS) meetings. This involves establishing a schedule of the meetings, disseminating the schedule to all participants, reserving rooms for meetings and getting the rooms prepared (ordering food, room set up, ordering audiovisual equipment, etc.), developing and timely distributing of agenda, compiling necessary materials for meetings, and recording and preparing minutes of the meetings.
- Prepares written documents, charts, and graphs. Many of these documents are original forms or reports which require extensive experimentation to determine proper layout and format.
- Other duties required that are not listed.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm.
Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD11050
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • You may be required to serve a probationary period
  • Subject to background/security investigation
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
  • 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 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/10/2026.

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-8 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.

Interchange Agreement: Applicants must be eligible under the VA Interchange Agreement, having served continuously for at least one year in the other merit system under this interchange agreement. For more information regarding the VA Interchange Agreement please visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-authorities/competitive-hiring/.


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-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
-Performing detail-oriented tasks and making decisions on disposition of those tasks independently.

-Scheduling, timekeeping, and VA travel.

-Running meetings or conferences and taking minutes.

-Arranging meetings with a large quantity of attendees.

.You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Administration and Management
  • Clerical
  • Organizational Awareness


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 incumbent's work is mostly sedentary; however, some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light-to-medium weight items is required.

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.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information


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


If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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.

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.

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.

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