Clarification from the agency

All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to current permanent employees of the Veterans Health Administration and all US Citizens. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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Duties include, but may not be limited to the following:

• Uses communication, education, and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates.
• Consults with appropriate staff to initiate, develop, and execute projects in support of data needs.
• Leads meaningful and coordinated use of subject matter experts to support decision-making among informatics functions to optimize the healthcare system and the tools that support the business.
• Evaluates content quality and assures access to knowledge resources, eliminating redundancy in duplicated data sources, and improving information interoperability across the organization.
• Applies statistical, machine learning, visualization, inferencing and other techniques to enable decision support ranging from the point of care to enterprise-wide population management with the goal of transforming practices and improving system health.
• Develop reports and information tools using a variety of methods and tools such as Structured Query language (SQL), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) from the VISN and the VA Corporate Data Warehouse.
• Enables healthcare capabilities and the evolution of technology adjoined to the electronic health record (EHR) to deliver quality care by developing, implementing, monitoring, maintaining, and optimizing informatics tools and access to them.
• Supports the thorough analysis of a workflow to consider opportunities for the potential improvement or optimization of the behavior of people, systems, information, and tools.
• Ensures the VHA EHR operates in a way that improves patient care, ensures patient safety, and meets the needs of providers through continuous evaluation, testing, and improvement of the system.
• Applies a true end-to-end process to evaluate workflows, identify issues, develop solutions based on best practice guidelines, and resolves and communicates changes to maintain and optimize processes that deliver Health Information Technology (HIT) solutions.
• Uses communication, education, and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates.
• Performs activities that support the management and delivery of educational experiences using information solutions and technology in all areas of healthcare.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8am-4:30p
Telework: Ad-Hoc, as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description #: 993725S
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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 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 trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

Grade Determinations: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below

Program Analyst (Informatics), GS-11:

• Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Program Analyst - Informatics. Qualifying specialized experience includes communicating among stakeholders to facilitate and support organizational change; applying a wide range of established practices, theories, and emerging information in relation to health care delivery, informatics, and applications; independently completes analytical projects related to process improvement; experience with data life cycle to include data design, collection, and management to input, retrieve, analyze, summarize, and present information; and knowledge and use of national database architecture and file structure. OR;
• Education: Successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.M. if related, that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR;
• Combination: Equivalent combination of successfully completed education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position. Only education more than a master's or equivalent graduate education may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-11 level. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.

NOTE: One (1) full year of work is 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited based on time spent on 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.

Preferred Experience: Knowledge of concepts, principles, and theories of instructional methods such as teaching, training, research, making presentations, lecturing, and testing. Knowledge of the principles, procedures, and tools of data management, such as modeling techniques, data backup, data recovery, data dictionaries, data warehousing, data mining, data disposal, and data standardization processes. Experience working with clinical or administrative healthcare data, such as patient records, encounter data, or claims data. Experience with tools such as SQL, SAS, R, Python, or Power Bl. Ability to apply statistical methods (regression, trend analysis, forecasting) to healthcare operations or outcomes data particularly relevant at the GS-11 level where independent analysis is expected.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is gs-11.

Physical Requirements and Work Environment: The work is usually sedentary, but it requires periods of walking, standing, bending, or climbing, and employees may carry light items such as books, instruments, laptops, and other similar materials. The work is conducted in offices, conference room, and clinical/hospital patient care settings. Typically, the work is hazard-free, not requiring any special equipment or clothing. The employee is in on-call status as needed and works flexible hours to meet the needs of the facility end user.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

1. Current permanent employees of the Veterans Health Administration.
2. All other applicants. Note: Veterans' Preference is not applicable to internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

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.

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.