Clarification from the agency

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

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This job opportunity announcement (JOA) will be used to fill one (1) full-time and permanent Program Support Assistant (OA), GS-0303-06 target 07 vacancy at the Louisville, KY Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), with Business Office Service.

The Program Support Assistant (OA) is located in the Business Office (BO) at the Robley Rex VAMC. The Business Office is comprised of a wide-range of programs: Member Services; Eligibility; Enrollment; Switchboard Operators; Veterans Transportation Service; Beneficiary Travel; Health Information Management (Release of Information, File Room, Coding); Clinic Support (Clinic MSAs in the medical center and OPC); and Facility Trainers with more than 200 employees. The Program Support Assistant serves as the Business Office Secretary, reporting to the Chief, Business Office and works closely with all Business Office managers on assigned tasks and projects to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Business Office programs. The Program Support Assistant provides the primary administrative support (including timekeeping) to both management and other staff within the service.

The duties included but are not limited to:

• Schedules appointments and conferences upon own initiative based upon personal knowledge of the Business Office's current issues of importance and workload.
• Arranges meetings, conferences and personnel interviews, assembles background materials, and briefs management on the actions.
• Develops an effective tracking mechanism to ensure Business Office deadlines are met.
• Handles requests for information independently.
• Analyzes and resolves problems concerning Business Office activities that require interpretation of policies and procedures established by the medical center.
• Collects and compiles data which subsequently will be used by management of formulate policy and changes with the medical center.
• Receives and screens telephones calls and visitors.
• Handles problems of a procedural or general nature.
• Resolves concerns without further referral.
• Listens to the complaints, discusses the issues, answers questions and obtains relevant facts to determine the nature of the problem.
• Communicates effectively, orally and in writing.
• Creates correspondence for signature.
• Assures content, grammatical, and typographic accuracy and conformance with VA correspondence format.
• Other duties/tasks as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
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 Support Assistant (OA)/PD403180 and PD403170
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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.

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, 05/22/2026.

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 the GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. For the GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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.

In addition to the time in grade requirements listed above, the below qualification requirements must be met at the grade(s) in which you are applying.

This position requires the skills of a qualified typist. In addition to meeting the experience requirements, you must be able to type at least 40 words per minute. All candidates MUST provide a certificate of proficiency from a school or other organization authorized to issue such certificates by the Office of Personnel Management local office, or by self-certifying their proficiency. Performance test results and certificates of proficiency are acceptable for 3 years. Agencies may verify proficiency skills of self-certified applicants by administering the appropriate performance test. All candidates must submit documentation of his/her typing proficiency with their application package to clearly indicate the amount of words typed per minute.

Example of a Self-Certifying proficiency statement:
Date
I, ______________, can type at least 40 words per minute.
Signature in pen
Print/type Name

Your resume will be used as a work sample, and it will be used in determining your specialized experience for this position.

Grade Determination:

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

GS-06

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
  • Using management information system(s), office automation systems, and processes, computer applications, principles, and techniques, including ability to develop and implement new automated systems for control and support of interrelated program operations.
  • Collecting, compiling, and tracking data and statistical information in support of an organization's operation.
  • Utilizing VA data collection systems such as VSSC, Pyramid Analytics, Corporate Data Warehouse, VISTA, CPRS, VERA and VetLink in order to pull data for compiling and distributing reports.
  • Reviewing correspondence, required report formats, proper grammar, spelling and punctuation, syntax, etc., in order to review documents for conformance with formats and procedural requirements, and to identify and correct grammatical errors, and to prepare all materials in final format.
  • Utilizing a variety of software and programs to accomplish work such as email, spreadsheets, databases, and word processing.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

GS-07

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-06) 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 quantitative and qualitative analysis methods and techniques in order to be responsible for performing program analysis functions at the service within a medical facility.
  • Planning and conducting program reviews and analyses, formulate study reports and recommendations regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of a service's operating and support programs, operations and activities.
  • Using management information system(s), office automation systems, and processes, computer applications, principles, and techniques, including ability to develop and implement new automated systems for control and support of interrelated program operations.
  • Preparing and presenting recommendations regarding complex issues to management based on analysis and evaluation, including the preparation and presentation of reports, proposals, charts and graphs, etc.
  • Knowledge of basic statistical, accounting, budget formulation, fund control points, allocation of funds, and economic principles and techniques, skill in applying complex fact-finding, analytical and problem-solving methods, and techniques to identify interrelated program problems, draw conclusions and recommend appropriate action or solutions to improve program efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Collecting, compiling, and tracking data and statistical information in support of an organization's operation.
  • Utilizing VA data collection systems such as VSSC, Pyramid Analytics, Corporate Data Warehouse, VISTA, CPRS, VERA and VetLink in order to pull data for compiling and distributing reports.
  • Reviewing correspondence, required report formats, proper grammar, spelling and punctuation, syntax, etc., in order to review documents for conformance with formats and procedural requirements, and to identify and correct grammatical errors, and to prepare all materials in final format.
  • Utilizing a variety of software and programs to accomplish work such as email, spreadsheets, databases, and word processing.

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

• Customer Service
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Organizational Awareness
• Problem Solving
• Writing

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 is generally sedentary; however, there will be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as papers and books. The tasks may require long periods at a desk working on a personal computer or other piece of equipment.

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.