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Secretary (OA)

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Tennessee Valley Healthcare System | Chief of Staff

Summary

The incumbent serves as the executive secretary to the Deputy Chief of Staff. This position is located in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS), which has 11 community based outpatient clinics, a research program, two affiliations - Vanderbilt University and Meharry Medical College, and other educational institutions and sharing agreements with various DOD facilities.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted this week · Apply in 3 days
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 16, 2026
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—ADHOC as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$55,882 - $72,644 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 8
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
CBTG-12981858-26-JH
Control number
872622400

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Duties

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The incumbent will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the office functions and information to and from the Deputy Chief of Staff. Responds to administrative problems brought to the supervisor's attention by members of the staff or management officials outside the organization or outside the agency. Notifies the appropriate subordinate management officials of the need for information or recommendation, and either prepares the response or follows up to ensure a timely response by others. Performs administrative work for the Deputy Chief of Staff, which includes management of the office's schedule or day-to-day plans. Develops routine plans or schedules using standard references and existing information. Based on defined objectives, determines specific steps, input required, and/or milestones. Identifies schedule/time required, and estimates resources required. Acts as a liaison or handles the communication with persons and/or groups within and outside of an organization or office. Maintains liaison and communications with persons from a wide variety of backgrounds within the facility, the VISN office, and other VHA and VA officials as requested by the Deputy Chief of Staff.

  • Provides administrative support functions and serves as recorder for all assigned TVHS committees, boards, and councils as requested by the Chief of Staff or Deputy Chief of Staff.
  • The incumbent will also coordinate projects or compile information as requested by the Deputy Chief of Staff. This will require knowledge of the clinical services offered by TVHS.
  • Maintains and updates as necessary a Desk Guide that describes the tasks to be performed by the executive secretary in sufficient detail to guide staff providing temporary coverage the secretary is absent and that will facilitate orientation to the position in the event permanent replacement is required.
  • Provides backup coverage for other Director's Office secretary/administrative assistants at the York Campus as needed. Instructs and assists secretaries/administrative assistants in the clinical service/service line offices on correct correspondence procedures. Serves as timekeeper for employees under assigned Time and Leave units. Time keeping for these units is complicated by the fact that the units cover with various types of employees (e.g. Title 5, Title 38, etc) that may be located off site. May be assigned as an alternate timekeeper for other sections within the Office of the Director or the Office of the Chief of Staff. Works with Meharry Medical College to reconcile hours for contract physicians working with the Preventive Medicine contract.
  • As a team member in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, participates in discussions of mutual expectations and necessary follow-up. In this way, cooperation and collaboration are assured.
  • Serves the coordinator for control of keys for employees under the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff.
Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Telework: ADHOC 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#: Secretary (OA)/PD700770
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
  • Physical Requirements: The work primarily sedentary. Work requires walking, standing, bending, and carrying light items such as books, files, and papers. The work is performed in an office setting that involves everyday risks or discomforts and requires normal safety precautious typical of such places as meeting and training room, libraries, or commercial vehicles. The work area is adequately lighted, heated and ventilated. The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
  • 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 identification 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, 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, 06/16/2026.

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-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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.

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

GS-08 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

  • Assembles, summarizes, and tabulates data and statistics from multiple sources, ensuring their accuracy before submission.
  • Processing and editing incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, and memoranda; reviewing documents for grammatical errors.
  • Compiles and summarizes statistics and material from files or other sources as required for reports or presentations.
  • Coordinates and prepares Deputy Chief of Staff's evaluations and performance appraisals
  • Maintaining files of correspondence and events
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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

  • Accountability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Veterans Health Administration

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans?

VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) is an integrated tertiary health care system comprised of two hospitals, the Alvin C. York VA Medical Center in Murfreesboro and the Nashville VA Medical Center, as well as 21 outpatient clinics located in middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky. TVHS provides ambulatory care, primary care, and secondary care in acute medicine and surgery, specialized tertiary care, transplant services, spinal cord injury outpatient care, and a full range of extended care and mental health services. More than 146,000 Veterans in middle Tennessee, southern Kentucky, and northern Georgia trust VA TVHS for their health care needs. TVHS is the seventh largest VA medical center system in the nation serving roughly 75 counties with robust research and development, health care innovation, and more. Middle Tennessee offers an abundance of entertainment such as historic music venues, NFL Titans and NHL Predators, recreational activities, and natural sceneries ideal for any individual. Additionally, Tennessee does not have state taxes making the area more attractive to high-quality candidates.

Agency contact information

Davita Foushee Pugh
Phone
843-739-7502
Email
Davita.FousheePugh@va.gov
Address
Tennessee Valley HCS - Nashville
1310 24th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37212
US

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