Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to current, permanent employees of the Department of Veteran Affairs and CTAP (Career Transition Assistance Plan for surplus/displaced employees) eligible employees only. All other candidates will not be considered.

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MAJOR DUTIES

The major duties of this position include but are not limited to:

• Develops or supports development of a variety of systems and data integration support tools through work with internal and external (e.g., VHA program offices, centralized IT staff, contracting firms, other Federal agencies) entities. Examples of such tools include submission trackers, project management systems, action item workflow trackers, internal process workload controls, automation of educational system process measures, improvements to action item tracking methods, and custom data collection and reporting dashboards to support VHA educational initiatives.
• Conducts projects that involve coordinating, analyzing, modeling, and consolidating project data as required to develop a wide variety of outputs (e.g., final proposals, reports, executive briefs/summaries, presentations, interactive data visualizations, dashboards, and data stories).
• Establishes and develops methods, tools, and other resources to obtain requested or required data and other information for use by executive and other management and staff (e.g., to solve widespread problems, resolve persistent issues, clarify management lines of authority).
• Performs ad hoc, unique, and/or other assignments involving sensitive/internal management information as directed by the supervisor or other management officials in support of program management operations.
• Creates and edits no- and low-code apps and workflows using VA standard tools such as SharePoint and Power Apps.

Promotion Potential: 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.

Work Schedule: Mon-Fri, 8:00am to 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: May be Authorized
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Return to Office (RTO): RTO mandates are in effect and selectees will be required to report to in-person work unless they are approved for an exception or an exemption. Any approval for an RTO exception, exemption, or extension will happen after a tentative job offer, but before a final job offer.
Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD20805A and PD27867A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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.
• 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 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, 10/13/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 level. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level. 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.


Specialized Experience: You must have one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal service that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Specialized experience is experience that included all or most of the following:

For GS-12- Do you possess one-year specialized experience to at least the GS-11 level? Specialized experience:

• Developing and supporting development of a variety of systems and data integration support tools through work with internal and external entities. Examples of such tools include submission trackers, project management systems, action item workflow trackers, internal process workload controls, automation of educational system process measures, improvements to action item tracking methods, and custom data collection and reporting dashboards to support VHA educational initiatives.
• Serving as an information technology (IT) administrative liaison establishing and maintaining mutual understanding and cooperation with the Office of Information Technology and other related external offices.

For GS-13 - Do you possess one-year specialized experience to at least the GS-12 level? Specialized experience:

• Conducting projects that involve coordinating, analyzing, modeling, and consolidating project data as required to develop a wide variety of outputs (e.g., final proposals, reports, executive briefs/summaries, presentations, interactive data visualizations, dashboards, and data stories).
• Leading integrated project teams consisting of subject matter experts (SME), contract IT staff, field users, and management officials in the development of operational requirements for IT systems.

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

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

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.

Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary and involves the use of typical office equipment telephones, copiers, personal computers and fax machines. However, the work requires nationwide travel to attend meetings, coordinate actions and, at times, to present briefings to large and small audiences. Some standing and lifting would be required or accommodated. The incumbent is a virtual member of a team and performs independently with limited face-to-face interaction with teammates, customers and others. This requires the exercise of sound time management, frequent written and telephonic communications, and a disciplined approach to project planning and execution.

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.