Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open to current permanent Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) employees and those eligible under Career transition (CTAP) only as applicable.

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The VA has adopted Core Values and Characteristics that apply universally across the Department. The five Core Values define "who we are," our culture, and how we care for Veterans, their families and other beneficiaries. The Values are Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence ("I CARE"). That's why we created the Technical Career Field (TCF) Program - one of the largest training programs at VA. TCF positions equip professionals (including veterans) with the specialized knowledge they need to support the delivery of quality health care for our Nation's veterans.

The TCF career fields represent those technical fields where VA-specific knowledge and experience is desirable for success in the field. Individuals selected follow a formal training plan for two years during which they are trained, coached, and supervised by a preceptor. Preceptors are selected annually, through an extensive application process, for their technical expertise, their commitment to training and the suitability of their facility as a training location. *Selectees will be required to sign Mobility, Training, and Continued Service Agreements.

This is a developmental position leading to a GS-11, performing assignments intended to broaden skills and provide practical experience leading to progressively more complex assignments performed under progressively less supervision. 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.

The Technical Career Field (TCF) Trainee is an integral member of a Quality Management service line that uses communication, education, and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates; leveraging project management principles and environmental assessment to drive adoption of change. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Routine dialog to enable the sustainment and optimization of our health information technology (IT) solutions and workflows, for the benefit of all staff and Veterans.
• Cultivates a healthy collaboration between enterprise and facility level clinical / biomedical engineering staff and health informatics, ensuring that patient care technology is effectively and efficiently integrated into the clinical process.
• 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.
• Studies how people interact with devices, products, and systems.
• Utilizes an applied field where behavioral science, engineering, and other disciplines come together to develop the principles that help assure that devices and systems are optimized for the people meant to use them.
• Evaluates, documents, analyzes, prioritizes, and recognizes requirements for the improvement of the EHR and other systems in collaboration with the end-user.
• Supports the initial phase of requirements analysis where information is gathered on what an IT system needs to perform by engaging with business owners, subject matter experts (SME).
• Uses communication, education, and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates.
• Provides communication channels to clinical and business teams to support deployment, sustainment, and optimization efforts.
• Performs activities that support the management and delivery of educational experiences using information solutions and technology in all areas of healthcare.
• Utilizes innovative practice patterns and specializations to continuously develop the informatics role and associated competencies, aligning it with the strategic needs of the organization.
• Develops and provides formal and informal education and in-services to facility staff as required to facilitate program success.

Work schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday, 7:00am-3:30pm
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available
Telework: This position may be authorized for Ad Hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description Title/PD#: Program Analyst (Informatics) TCF Trainee/PD99353-TS, PD99347-TS, and PD99346-TS
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
• 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.
• Training-Service Agreement and Mobility Agreement required
• 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-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, 07/21/2026.

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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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. 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 education and/or experience as described below:

GS 7 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: Serves as a trainee within the Informatics team and is assigned responsibility to improve the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care by integrating clinical and information processes necessary to achieve successful adoption and application of new technologies throughout the VHA. With assistance from higher lnformaticist, provides communication channels to clinical and business teams to support deployment, sustainment, and optimization efforts; includes communication among all stakeholders through each level of the organization, to facilitate and support change. Qualifying experience includes knowledge and use of clinical software packages; prepares reports and presents information effectively; performs data analysis, to include collecting, evaluating, and synthesizing data; and assisting with evaluating and recommending operational process changes.

OR;
Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 full year of successfully completed graduate level education.

OR;
Superior academic achievement. Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): SAA at the baccalaureate level in the coursework detailed above is fully qualifying. Applicants who wish to apply under this provision must submit proof from their educational institution that they meet one of the criteria listed below. To qualify for Special Advancement for Achievement (SAA), applicants must have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled and meet one of the following:

• Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university, or major subdivision.
• A grade point average of "B" (a GPA of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
• A grade point average of "B+" (a GPA of 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
• Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. For a list of recognized honor societies please visit http://www.achsnatl.org/quick_link.asp.

For more information regarding SAA please visit http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e5.asp#e4f

OR;
Experience and Education 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 beyond a bachelor's degree may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-07 level. Note: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.

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

• Analytical Thinking
• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Data Management
• Flexibility
• Health Informatics
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Program Management
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork
• Technical Competence

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/.

Physical Requirements: 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you met 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 also be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

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

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.