Clarification from the agency

Only open to current, permanent VISN 19 Veterans Health Administration employees serving on a Career/Career-Conditional Appointment, and Career Transition CTAP employees. This does not include temporary, term or intermittent appointments. **This position is for a Temporary Not to Exceed 120 day detail/promotion, and may be extended and/or made permanent without further competition.**

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**This position is for a Temporary Not to Exceed 120 day detail/promotion, and may be extended and/or made permanent without further competition.**

The VISN 19 Network Office Health System Specialist functions as the primary liaison to multiple staff offices and serves as the conduit for information flow and management of assignments between such offices. Major duties include but are not limited to:

• Monitors and manages incoming actions and requests from initial receipt to completion and closeout.
• Analyzes the subject matter of incoming information for appropriate distribution to offices internal or external to the office.
• Receives and monitors completed actions or responses; analyzes responses for completeness and accuracy against known policies and procedures; and ensures action or inquiry is closed out with the inquirer or office.
• Conducts or participates in special information flow studies, analyses, presentations and briefings, as assigned.
• Conducts analytical studies on particular operational processes, issue topics, or related special projects.
• Develops position papers and decision documents representing the position of the organization on a variety of complex and sensitive issues such as the quality or timeliness of veteran care issues within the system or at times, issues of Congressional or media interest.
• Works in coordination with other internal reviewing services regarding complex audits and internal/external reviews of a national concern; i. e, fiscal efficiencies and organizational structure that are reviewed by prominent parties such as the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) or the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
• Tracks both routine and uncommon deadlines initiated by OIG/GAO and internal reviewing officials to ensure timely submission of responses and actions.
• Communicates with responsible staff agency members to ensure completion of all requested actions and appropriately closes out all requests.
• Works closely with senior management and others in implementing and evaluating policies, plans, and internal operational systems such as correspondence management, information tracking among pertinent offices and stakeholders, and internal/external communication flows.
• Contacts and engages frequently with staff at all levels to facilitate the work of the office related to a variety of operations-focused assignments and projects initiated by senior leadership or program offices, or departmental offices.
• Functions in myriad roles by contacting and engaging with various administrative program officials within Headquarters and in the field to manage, coordinate, and complete various assignments or projects that involve or are initiated by these officials.

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, 7:00am-3:30pm
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework on an ad-hoc basis. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This may be virtual on site at any of the VISN 19 station facilities only.
Position Description/PD#: Health Systems Specialist/12961-A; 12627-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Approved

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, 04/17/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. For the GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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 as described below:

Basic Individual Occupational Requirements:

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.
OR
Specialized Experience: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/ or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:
- Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
- Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and
- Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

In addition to the above Basic Individual Occupation Required, you must meet one of the following:

Specialized Experience for GS-12: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but not limited to; conducting or participating in special information flow studies, analyses, presentations and briefings; functioning as the primary liaison to facilities and multiple staff offices; working closely with senior management and others in implementing and evaluating policies, plans, and internal operational systems such as correspondence management, information tracking among pertinent offices and stakeholders, and internal/external communication flows; collaborating with Network senior leadership, functioning as a central point for information management and to provide critical analysis, overview, and oversight to senior leadership; conducting analytical studies on operational processes, issue topics, or related special projects.

Specialized Experience for GS-13: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but not limited to; conducting or participating in special information flow studies, analyses, presentations and briefings; functioning as the primary liaison to facilities and multiple staff offices; working closely with senior management and others in implementing and evaluating policies, plans, and internal operational systems such as correspondence management, information tracking among pertinent offices and stakeholders, and internal/external communication flows; collaborating with Network senior leadership, functioning as a central point for information management and to provide critical analysis, overview, and oversight to senior leadership; conducting analytical studies on operational processes, issue topics, or related special projects; developing position papers and decision documents representing the position of the organization on a variety of complex and sensitive issues such as, issues of Congressional or media interest that have significant system wide/organizational impact and may involve several functional areas; functioning in myriad roles by contacting and engaging with various administrative program officials within Headquarters and in the field to manage, coordinate, and complete various assignments or projects that involve or are initiated by these officials; Analyzing the subject matter of incoming information and actions received and monitoring completed actions or responses; analyzing responses for completeness and accuracy against known policies and procedures; and ensuring action or inquiry is closed out with the inquirer or office; maintaining portfolio of assigned health care system to act as critical liaison between Network Headquarters, Program Managers, VHA Program Offices and the field.

Preferred Experience: Experience supporting VISN or enterprise-level operations. Exposure to executive leadership (ELT) coordination or briefing support. Experience involving multi-facility integration, issue tracking, or operational reporting Familiarity with VHA operations, HOC coordination. Experience in rapid response, urgent issue management, and cross-program coordination

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

• Attention to Detail
• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Organizational Awareness
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

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.

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.