Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employees and CTAP eligibles.

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The Chief, Business Office is responsible for planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and coordinating all elements within the Business Office in support of the organization's business goals and objectives. The Business office is comprised of the following sections: Health Administration, Health Information Management, Patient Accounts, and Office Operations.

Program responsibility includes Medical Care Cost Funding (MCCF), Fee Basis authorizations and payments, coordination of benefits, Medical Records, Medical Information, Transcription, Release of Information, Beneficiary Travel, Compensation and Pension program, Decedent Affairs during irregular hours, Bed Control, Inter-facility Patient Transfers and Bed Control, Veteran Eligibility, Means Testing, Patient Enrollment, Administrative Officers of the Day (management on off-tours), TRACES Bed Reporting Program with the Department of Defense, and all health administrative computer packages. Incumbent assures that all legal requirements for care are met. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Administers operating programs and activities supporting benefits and services provided to veterans, their dependents or beneficiaries, within the Business Office as well as medical center-wide.
• Develops both long and short range policies and plans for the Business Office by coordinating the health administration needs of the medical center.
• Responsible for the interpretation and coordination of health benefits administration policies as promulgated by federal laws, VA policies, rules and regulations, the Network, and/or medical center management. Assures adherence to the intent of these policies by interpretative conferences of all service chiefs concerned.
• Provides technical advice to top and middle management for new laws affecting the delivery of health administration benefits to veterans.
• Advises top management on possible options and impact on health administrative procedures and ensures that pertinent government officials, veteran service organizations, local congressional offices, state legislative committees, veterans within the medical center's jurisdiction and medical center employees are given adequate detailed information on legislative and regulatory changes.
• Initiates action to reduce health administration operating costs without adversely affecting patient treatment.
• Provides for maintenance of data related to budget and expenditure estimates.
• Works closely with top management to provide workload statistics, advise on funding shortages and recommendations regarding funding or program adjustments, promotes cost consciousness, and identifies areas in which savings are possible.
• Determines organizational goals, develops plans, formulates, defends and justifies personnel and financial resources, and approves distribution of resources to support the mission of the service.
• Reviews work efforts within staff to ensure continued support to mission elements of the facility as well as progress and timeliness of function.
• Identifies problem areas, coordinates corrective action and directs changes to implement improvements as necessary.
• Exercises managerial authority to set long range goals and objectives, translate objectives into specific service projects, determine program emphasis, plan for long range staffing and organization needs, manage organizational changes, and decide on the full range of personnel actions, affecting service and subordinate level staff.
• Directs, through subordinate supervisors, a workforce of administrative and support personnel.
• Sets performance standards, and serves as senior rater or rater for subordinate employees.
• Approves or decides on personnel actions, makes selections on key positions and approves selections made by subordinate supervisors.
• Hears and decides on group grievances and serious disciplinary measures.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: 08:00am - 04:30pm, Monday-Friday.
Telework: Ad Hoc telework as determined by agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Medical Administration Officer/PD045670
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, 05/18/2026.

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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
  • Management experience in the area of healthcare administration for a medical center, experience providing oversight of several program areas that support the mission of the medical center; supervisory healthcare experience interpreting and implementing programs to support patient care services;
  • Healthcare advisory roles providing technical advice to managers on laws affecting the delivery of health administration benefits to beneficiaries;
  • Management experience in healthcare revenue planning, coordination and implementation;
  • Applying supervisory functions in the operational aspect of a medical service, such as formulating and installing clinical, administrative, and clerical procedures to ensure expeditious and efficient processing of work;
  • Thorough reporting, analytical comparisons, projections and advice;
  • Providing essential data for planning, budgetary effectiveness, workload projections, etc.;
  • Determining management needs and assuring timely data collection and meaningful reporting of service activities;
  • Thorough application of management analysis techniques and promoting utilization of management principles and practices.

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

• Administration and Management
• Financial Management
• Leadership
• 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 work area is adequately lighted, heated and ventilated. The working environment includes everyday low risks and discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of offices, meeting and training rooms, or commercial vehicles.

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.