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Program Support Assistant (OA)

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System

Summary

This position is pending classification consistency review; final title, series, grade may change based on OPM standards.

This position is within the Associate Director of Outpatient Operations (ADOO) programs and services at the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System, performing a variety of clerical, administrative and technical duties/responsibilities in support of management with the intent of accomplishing the administrative requirements of ADOO services.

Overview

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Accepting applications
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$40,736 - $65,599 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 5 - 7
Promotion potential
7
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
Yes
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
CBST-13087403-27-LPL
Control number
888577200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is ONLY open to current permanent Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System employees including satellites and CTAP eligibles only. This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date

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Duties

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The Position Description (PD) associated with this position is currently undergoing a classification consistency review in accordance with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidelines. This process ensures that similar positions across the VA and federal government are classified consistently based on duties and responsibilities. As a result of this review, the final job title, occupational series, and/or grade level may be adjusted, including the possibility of a lower grade if the duties support that determination. If this occurs, selections will be notified and given the opportunity to accept or decline the revised offer. If a downgrade occurs after entry on duty, prior pay may be subject to overpayment review and potential debt; you will be notified of any determination and your rights.

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.

  • Performs a variety of clerical, administrative and technical duties.
  • Assists in the development of internal administrative standard operating procedures.
  • Assists in resolving administrative problems.
  • Receives and logs outgoing correspondence reviewing for accuracy.
  • Develops methods for automating administrative data collection.
  • Identifies and recommends performance indicators/goals (i,e, performance awards, leave, equal employment opportunities, etc).
  • Identifies issues and communicates with leadership its effect.
  • Maintains control of action correspondence, communicating follow up actions.
  • Coordinates with staff on personnel management matters .
  • Formulates and recommends changes in administrative policies/procedures.
  • Compiles and prepares a wide variety of continuing or one-time special statistical and narrative reports.
  • Maintains a continual accumulation of all types of data for reports.
Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, Full-Time - 8:00AM-4:30PM - tour of duty subject to change based upon facility needs.
Telework: 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#: Program Support Assistant (OA)/PD03591A, PD03592A, and PD03593A
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.
  • Driver's License: A current, valid state-issued Driver's License is required for this position. NOTE: We cannot accept photographs, therefore; please do not submit a copy of your license with your application package. If an interview is requested, you will be required to provide a copy of your current, valid state-issued Driver's License.
  • Please provide your driver's license number, issuing state and expiration date. Reminder - Do not include a copy of your license; if referred for interview it may be requested at that time.
  • Must be able to independently operate Government Vehicle.
  • Must provide clean driving record report from the DMV during the pre-employment process.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • A pre-placement examination may be 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).

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/21/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement:

  • For a GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-4 level.
  • For a GS-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5 level.
  • For a GS-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6 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.

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. 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:For the GS-05:Specialized Experience:
  • Experience working in a healthcare setting
  • Supporting a healthcare operation
  • Experience with operational or program issues
  • Inventories supplies and equipment
  • Communicates both verbally and written
OR

Education: Substitution of 4 years above high school level or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. If you are qualifying on education, transcripts are required.

OR

Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Combination of specialized experience and post high school education as described above that demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of this position. For the GS-05, only education in excess of 60 semester hours (2 years) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. If you qualify by a combination, your experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts are required.

For the GS-06:Specialized Experience
  • Experience working in a healthcare setting to ensure organizational goals are met
  • Supporting a healthcare operation or program to ensure federal and organizational regulations are met
  • Analyzing operational or program issues and making recommendations
  • Experience with budget to include inventory of supplies and equipment
  • Skilled in effective communication both verbally and written
For the GS-07:Specialized Experience:
  • Experience working in a health care setting and ensuring that work meets the organizational mission
  • Supporting a healthcare operation or program to ensure federal and organization regulations and standards are met
  • Analyzing operational or program issues and making recommendations while taking into consideration the full range of factors which affect the healthcare delivery system
  • Experience managing and tracking budget to include inventory of supplies and equipment necessary to run a healthcare program efficiently
  • Skilled in effective communication with a wide range audience both orally and written to express complicated information in an accessible format.
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/.

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.

Education

There is no educational substitution for theGS-6 and GS-7 grade levels.

For the GS-05 grade level a transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

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.

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.

TheCareer 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 ICTAP and 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:

  • Administrative & Management
  • Analytical Reasoning
  • Communication
  • Computer Skills
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?

The Gulf Coast is a great place to live and work! You'll find picturesque, white-sand beaches lining the Gulf of Mexico, exciting, fun-filled outdoor activities to include boating, fishing and championship golf courses, taste-tantalizing cuisine, plentiful shopping, and must-see cultural attractions. The Gulf Coast also features unlimited stakes gaming, top-name entertainment, and spectacular stage shows you won't want to miss. With a unique combination of attractions that will please everyone, the Gulf Coast is undoubtedly "the" place to live and work!

Agency contact information

Lesa Lang
Phone
804-566-8397
Fax
X7432
Email
LESA.LANG@VA.GOV
Address
Biloxi VA Medical Center
400 Veterans Avenue
Biloxi, MS 39531
US

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https://vacareers.va.gov/

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