Clarification from the agency

Federal employees will need to upload a copy of their SF-50 to support eligibility.

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This position is located in VA Northern California Health Care System performing a variety of clerical, administrative and technical duties/responsibilities in support of management with the intent of accomplishing the administrative responsibilities of the sections within Surgical Service. Provides primary coverage and cross-coverage as assigned to the Eye Care Services, Urology, General Surgery, Vascular, Podiatry, Orthopedic, GYN or other Surgical Service sections.

Major Duties and Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Serves as a program support assistant demonstrating excellent communication skills which reflect a competent, professional, and compassionate response to the needs of the patient and providers.
• The work involves a high degree of complexity since incumbent must have a general knowledge of medical center operations. Must be able to correctly interpret and implement guidelines. Must be willing to actively handle problems and deviations in accordance with practices and policies. Must possess the ability to present ideas, findings, and recommendations in person and in writing. Must be a tactful person who can solve problems and can work out solutions with the many varied types of people who the incumbent has daily contact with, i.e., veterans, families, professional staff, administrative staff, etc. Incumbent schedules clinic appointments using Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) a n d VS E scheduling options and Recall Software. Uses established business rules to schedule appointments for veterans and comply with the principle of Advances Clinic Access. Must be able to multitask and use Microsoft Teams efficiently for communications and meetings.
• Assist with onboarding of employees including but not limited to woe, per-diem, Fee-Basis, part­time and full-time physicians and other employees. Activities to include ADPAC duties requiring knowledge of IT processes, gathering and submitting documents from employees, submitting pharmacy cards. Assistance with HR processes including MSS requests and taking training to further assist surgical administration. Assist providers and affiliate staff with VISTA electronic signatures, CPRS and other accounts. This may require correspondence with multiple services: human resources, privileges & credentials, payroll and occupational health. Assist with the ongoing credentialing process for OPPE, FPPE and credentialing process.
• Maintains a clinic calendar for personnel leave, submits clinic cancellations when necessary due to provider leave. Identifies opportunities for opening clinics to increase access. Incumbent exercises expert knowledge of clinic scheduling; dates, time, and location.
• Special procedures which require greater attention to detail including perioperative appointments will be assigned specifically to the incumbent to schedule and maintain. This may include CPRS chart review and interdisciplinary coordination of Operating room/Procedural space and necessary supplies and medications. This will involve correspondence with Sterile Processing Services, Nursing, Pharmacy and other Surgical Service Units.
• Responsible for preparation and submission of monthly or quarterly analytical and interpretive reports as required by their assigned Sections. These include primarily Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation (OPPE), Focused Professional Practice Evaluation (FPPE) reports, and credentialing files.
• Performs all aspects of timekeeping for Surgical Service. Enters employee work tours, accurately and timely posts tours of duty, annual leave, sick leave, authorized absence, etc. in the VA Time and Attendance System (VATAS) in a timely manner. This includes having knowledge of regulations and required procedures for part-time physicians with fixed tours or with adjustable hour tours.
• Reviews training and travel requests for completeness and eligibility; advises employees on the status of the training and travel requests and follows-up with the employees to ensure understanding of training/travel requirements. He/she will be responsible for assisting staff with processing education requests for authorized absences, CTRAPS and coordination with fiscal to arrange travel in the CONCUR Travel Solutions System. Incumbent assists supervisors and employees in identifying training needs, provides information on all aspects of the training /travel request and approval process and follows-up to ensure projected training/travel needs are planned and scheduled.

Work Schedule: M-F, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant (OA)/01496-O

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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/examination.
• 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

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

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-07 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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 as described below:

• 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:
  • Experience in program administration and management; assistance with day-to-day operational duties; communicating effectively both verbally and in writing with a variety of individuals; problem-solving and applying decision-making skills. Sustaining processes and procedures to ensure program effectiveness; interpreting, analyzing, and responding to requests for information from internal and external entities; collecting, compiling, managing, and reporting program data; preparing correspondence and reports; utilizing automated software (such as Microsoft Word, Excel, etc.); developing a yearly program budget; developing a tracking mechanism to monitor funds and monitor all program expenditures.

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

• Attention to Detail
• Critical Thinking
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)

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; religious; 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: Involves active listening, reading, observing and evaluating verbal and nonverbal behavior, walking, speaking, bending, carrying of light items such as paper, books, small parts, writing reports, writing clinical notes, using office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, photocopy machines, and possibly driving an automobile. Some work is performed in a clinical setting that exposes the incumbent to the communicable diseases common of the homeless population. Strenuous physical activity is not required.

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.