Clarification from the agency

Open only to current employees of legacy VISN 1, VISN 2, VISN 4, and VISN 5

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As a Supervisory Health System Specialist (Executive Assistant to the Network Director), you will serve as the Executive Assistant to the VISN Network Director and subject matter expert on VA, VHA, and VISN operations, including OIG Hotline/Non-Case Referral processes, suspense and tracking management systems, and official correspondence. Coordinate issues at the VHA/VISN level that often carry national implications, performing analytical and evaluative work on operational and program activities, and collaborating with VISN/VHA leadership and the VHA Healthcare Operations Center (HOC) to ensure effective communication.

Operations Oversight - Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of Headquarters Unit operations against short- and long-range goals. Manage correspondence and communications on behalf of the organization. Plan, manage, and direct boards, committees, symposia, and conferences with major impact on the agency, and conduct special projects to analyze and provide recommendations on administrative programs or issues.

Operations/Program Planning - Provide comprehensive executive staff support in developing long- and short-range policies and plans. Develop processes, guidance, systems, and succession planning for VISN operations. Gather and maintain data used to evaluate and modify organizational structure and systems, and participate in workload analysis for resource planning.

Supervision - Exercise full supervisory authority over a permanent staff (e.g., Veterans Experience Officer, GS-13; Supervisory Public Affairs Officer, GS-14; Staff Assistant, GS-11). Recruit and hire in accordance with merit staffing procedures; assign work and provide technical and policy direction; evaluate performance and recommend awards or address inadequate performance; resolve employee complaints; and ensure a safe and equitable work environment.

Organizational Analysis & Special Projects - Evaluate and recommend organizational changes aligned with the Network Director's vision; lead complex management studies and reviews with significant effect on the agency's structure, policy, and operations. Identify data, interview senior officials, and present findings and recommendations in written and oral form. Provide staff support for budget and expenditure oversight, advise on funding shortages, and negotiate with management officials, contractors, and stakeholders to obtain and commit resources.

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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

• 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/08/2026.

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 and/or education as described below:

Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series. To qualify for the GS 0671 occupational series, applicants MUST possess one of the following:

• Undergraduate and Graduate Education:Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR,
• Specialized Experience:Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:
  • Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
  • Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and
  • Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. OR,
• Special Provision for Inservice Placement:Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included:
  • Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements;
  • Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and
  • Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.

• 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:
  • Serving as a senior administrative or executive-level advisor to senior leadership, providing subject matter expertise on complex healthcare or large-organization operations, correspondence management, and issue tracking/suspense systems.
  • Providing full first-line supervisory authority over a professional and administrative staff, including recruiting/selecting employees, assigning and reviewing work, and evaluating performance and addressing employee relations matters.
  • Independently planning, directing, and evaluating headquarters-level or multi-site operations against short- and long-range goals, including leading or serving as team lead on management studies or organizational analyses with significant or wide-reaching effect on structure, policy, or operations.
  • Developing and directing long- and short-range administrative or operational plans, including succession planning and sustainment strategies, and managing or directing high-level boards, committees, or conferences where outcomes have a major impact on the organization.
  • Negotiating directly with management officials, contractors, or external stakeholders to obtain or commit resources, presenting findings/recommendations to senior officials to gain formal agreement, and providing staff support for budget and expenditure oversight.

• Communications
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Leadership
• Organizational Awareness
• Strategic Thinking

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.