Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent employees of the Tucson VA Medical Center.

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The incumbent establishes administrative qualitative standards; the objective of which is intended to improve programs, facilities and operations. The incumbent develops and implements standards that affect the service. Incumbent maintains records, prepares project administrative and statistical reports, assures compliance with review process, and monitors compliance with program requirements.
The incumbent plans initiatives for hardware and software needs for the service. The incumbent is responsible for the preparation and implementation of the Medicine Care Line contingency plans for system failure specifically addressing manual system backup plans addressing how day to day business will be conducted for long and short-term outages. Responsible for determining the physical and data security needs for the service areas and implements necessary improvements. Reviews access to terminal and file codes for the purpose of controlling access to the patient and medical records to assure compliance with the Privacy Act and Cyber Security regulations.
The incumbent coordinates ongoing data collection and performs analysis to determine optimal organizational performance. He/She uses available data to determine current performance and develops and implements local performance measures as needed to assess current status and determine areas targeted for improved effectiveness and efficiencies.
The incumbent is responsible for the coordination, planning, implementation, and training for service and facility staff in business and functional areas for various information technology packages.
The incumbent serves as the functional "expert" for matters relating to the Patient Information Management System (PIMS) core package. Additionally, the incumbent provides training on other service packages, such as Pharmacy, Radiology, Laboratory, and Health Summary, as they relate to the business office process. The incumbent identifies system inefficiencies and develops studies or data collection techniques related to specific identified problems. He/She coordinates with other staff to identify information needs and develops data collection methods and report formats to meet those needs. The Program Application Specialist organizes, compiles, summarizes, and analyzes the data collected and develops reports which reflect the scope of activities and identifies trends and opportunities for improvement.
Ensures data is being captured and reported accurately and appropriately. Analyzes utilization trend data on a monthly/quarterly basis to verify the accuracy of the data, identify problem areas, provide objective assessments, prioritize identified problems, analyze variances and recommend appropriate actions and/or alternatives.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8 AM to 4:30 PM
Telework: 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#: Program Applications Specialist/PD14536O
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, 04/07/2026.

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-7. For the GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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.



For the GS9: 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 GS7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: provides assistance, training, and troubleshooting for clinical and administrative staff in business processes and associated supporting software, provides training for individual users on daily operational tasks and trains new users, maintains records, prepares project administrative and statistical reports, assures compliance with review process, supports the implementation of new and updated information technology systems. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Master's degree or equivalent or LL. Or J.D. or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. 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 a Bachelor's degree. Combinations may be computed by first determining your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for that grade level. Only graduate education beyond a bachelor's degree will qualify toward GS-9. Example: An applicant has 6 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS-7 and 1 year of graduate level education. The applicant meets 50 percent of the required experience but none of the required education, since he or she does not have any graduate study beyond that which is required for GS-7. Therefore, the applicant meets only 50 percent of the total requirement and is not qualified for the position. (The applicant's first year of graduate study is not qualifying for GS-9.)

For the GS 11: 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 GS9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Independently and with limited oversight engages in coordination, planning, implementation, and training for service and facility staff in business and functional areas for various information technology VISTA packages, identifies system inefficiencies and develops studies or data collection techniques related to specific identified problems, provides training and troubleshooting for clinical and administrative staff in business processes and associated supporting software, uses available data to determine current performance and develops and implements local performance measures. 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 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. 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 a Master's degree. Combinations may be computed by first determining your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for that grade level. Only graduate education beyond a master's degree will qualify toward GS-11. Example: An applicant has 9 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS-9 and 2 1/2 years of creditable graduate level education in music. The applicant meets 75 percent of the required experience and 50 percent of the required education, i.e., the applicant has 1/2 year of graduate study beyond that required for GS-9. Therefore, the applicant exceeds the total requirement and is qualified for the position. (The applicant's first 2 years of graduate study (master's degree) are not qualifying for GS-11.)

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


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 nature of this position is primarily sedentary but some light lifting and walking may be 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/.

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.