Clarification from the agency

Status Candidates (Current permanent employees of the Department of VA including VA Title 38, Title 38 Hybrid, and Canteen employees serving on excepted appointments; All federal employees serving on a Career/Career-Conditional appointment; Former competitive civil service employees eligible for reinstatement; Veterans eligible under the VEOA and as 30% Disabled Veterans; Those eligible under the Employment Program for People with Disabilities

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***THIS IS NOT A REMOTE OR VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

The Executive Secretary (OA) will perform as the principal office assistant and executive assistant to the Deputy Executive Director, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS). The major duties of this position include but are not limited to the following:

• Acts as office liaison, handling communication with persons, and/or groups within and outside of TVHS.
• Ensures accurate identification, reporting, trending, and education to provide efficient operations and protection of resources.
• Coordinates arrangements for travel, arranging schedule of visits, making transportation and hotel reservations, and notifying organizations and officials to be visited.
• Performs administrative work, which includes management of the office schedule and day-to-day plans.
• Develops routine plans and schedules using standard references and existing information.
• Instructs and assists secretaries in the administrative and clerical offices on correct correspondence preparation and procedures.
• Reviews all outgoing correspondence requiring signature to assure completeness, indicated clearances, adequacy and conformance to policy, views, tone and grammatical correctness.
• Monitors suspense items and follows them to a timely completion.
• Notifies the appropriate office subordinate management officials of the need for information or recommendation for administrative problems, and either prepares the response or follows up to ensure timely response by others.
• Exercises exclusive control over the executives appointments/calendar to set availability and priorities.
• Directs the establishment and maintenance of the file and publications system of the Director's office, assuring compliance with governing regulations.
• Reviews correspondence for appropriate disposition, gathering information and using knowledge of healthcare system's policies and other regulations when composing replies.
• Alerts appropriate staff officials on new, updated an/or changes in policies and procedures providing recommendations, assigning action as appropriate and following up on procedural materials to ensure a timely response.
• Screens all visitors and telephone calls from within TVHS, VISN, Central Office, congressional staff, veteran service organizations, local agencies, Veterans and their families, Federal agencies, State agencies, etc.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday | 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM CST
Telework: Ad Hoc Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Executive Secretary (OA)/PD04816A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
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, 03/16/2026.

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-9 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8. 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.

• Examples of appropriate SF-50s include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

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.

In addition to the Time-in-Grade Requirements, you must also meet specialized experience. You may qualify based on your experience as described below.

GS-9 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Carefully read the following descriptions of the required specialized experience. You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-8) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization to be considered at the full-performance GS-9 level. Qualifying specialized experience is defined as:

• Independently planning and/or organizing activities of an office or unit.
• Applying evaluative methods and techniques to identify, analyze, and conceptualize issues and develop action plans.
• Maintaining suspense (follow up) systems to ensure items for action are completed.
• Serving as liaison between offices and/or sections
• Preparing travel arrangements.
• Maintaining executive schedule/calendar or day-to-day plans.
• Performing full range of secretarial and administrative duties.
• Updating and receiving office documents, standard operating procedures, and related materials.
• Scheduling and attending meetings.
• Preparing meeting minutes and follow up actions.
• Processing and editing incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, and memoranda; reviewing documents for grammatical errors.
• Performing timekeeping duties.
• Following procedures for purchasing supplies.

***The preferred candidate would possess clerical and administrative experience related to secretarial support for a professional setting or large organization and/or in a large medical center setting to top management.

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

• Administration and Management
• Attention to Detail
• Communication

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: Work is primarily sedentary. The work places no special physical demands on the employee other than some walking, standing, bending and carrying of light items such as folders, reports, books, files, etc. Additionally, the incumbent will have occasion to work with angry or verbally upset Veterans or staff on a recurring basis. Work is performed in an office setting where the work area is typically lighted, heated, and ventilated.

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.