Clarification from the agency

AREA OF CONSIDERATION: This vacancy is open to current permanent VISN 3 employees currently aligned under the VISN 3 Network offices. Legacy VISN 12, Legacy VISN 9, Legacy VISN 10 and Legacy VISN 23 VISN Network Offices and CTAP eligible.

Videos

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

Operations Oversight 25%

• Analyzes and evaluates on a quantitative and/or qualitative basis, the effectiveness of VISN operations in meeting established goals and objectives.
• Evaluates facility and VISN operations against short and long-range objectives.
• Performs administrative work in one or more of the following areas: personnel, management/administration, budgeting and financial management, procurement and contracting, property management, and/or supply.
• Performs management and/or program support work such as program or office planning, evaluation of administrative programs or issues, training program administration, correspondence control, liaison, special projects from Director Team, or board or committee related work.
• Works within all levels of the VA Organization to accomplish required tasks within specified time requirements and manages and/or prepares responses to correspondence in an organization; and/or acts as a liaison or handles the communication with persons and/or groups within and outside of the organization.
• Manages Boards, Committees, Symposia, Conferences Plans and/or supports committees, boards, symposia, or conferences. Develops broad themes and directs proceedings of high-level conferences where work and decisions have a major impact on the agency or an important subject or program.

Operations/Program Planning 25%

• Provides comprehensive executive staff support in the development of both long- and short-range policies and plans for the organization by coordinating the medical administration needs of the organization(s) to which accountable.
• Maintains a thorough understanding of the Network Director's long-range objectives and the orderly and logical progression of steps to achieve those objectives.
• Administers planning process, provides authoritative recommendations.
• Develops and directs the total and complex administrative duties of the Office of Network Director.
• Gathers and maintains valid data used to develop, evaluate, and modify organizational structure and systems to achieve program goals.
• Participates in the analysis and interpretation of workload and other data used in resource planning.

Supervision 25%

• Recruits and hires subordinate staff members in line with merit staffing procedures and equal employment opportunity guidelines.
• Assigns work to staff and provides technical and policy direction to their efforts.
• Reviews completed work of the staff and provides feedback to encourage top performance to enhance an atmosphere of team.
• Plans training and development with subordinate employees to assure they acquire and maintain both technical competencies in their fields and cross training in related fields.
• Evaluates the work performance of subordinate staff members and recommends appropriate awards to enhance effective performance or takes action to deal with inadequate performance, through counseling, training, coaching and other means.
• Resolves staff complaints concerning working conditions and related matters, and provides referral services, if necessary, to employees who develop personal problems that interfere with effective performance or undermine work group cohesiveness.

Organizational Analysis & Special Projects 25%

• Evaluates, processes, or makes recommendations for effective organizational changes per the vision and mission of the Network Director.
• Serves as team leader for VISN studies or projects with significant organizational changes.
• Facilitates planning, design, implementation, and accomplishment of the Network Director's agenda and is accountable for the oversight and administrative management of VISN support positions under their purview.
• Leads, conducts, or participates in complex management studies and reviews-particularly those with wide or significant effect upon agency's organizational structure, policy, processes, operations, fiscal control, and economy and those where the boundaries of the studies may be broad.
• Selects qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies appropriate to the subject under examination directly related to the VISN daily operations in direct support of the Network Director.
• Identifies and collects necessary data including legislative and program data and interviews with senior management, program officials, employees, and supervisors; assembles and assesses information gathered; formulates findings, conclusions, and recommendations; presents results in written and/or oral form, which are well-organized, supportable, and clearly expressed.

Work Schedule: 7:30am - 4:00pm; Monday - Friday
Telework: Ad-Hoc - In accordance with agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Health System Specialist - Supervisory Executive Assistant to the Network Director/PD00009VS
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
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. This position requires the application, assessment, and questionnaire to be fully completed. The assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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, 11/02/2026.

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.

To Qualify for this position, you must possess the following:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-13). Qualifying specialized experience is defined as: 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.
• Examples of Specialized Experience include: Mastery knowledge of the principles and practices related to the management of health care delivery, healthcare operations, and current innovations and events in healthcare; Mastery knowledge of missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems in general; Mastery analysis of a wide range of qualitative and/or quantitative methods for the assessment and improvement of program effectiveness or the improvement of complex management processes and systems; Comprehensive knowledge of the range of administrative laws, policies, regulations, and precedents applicable to the administration health care delivery systems in general and in the country at large; Knowledge of administration and agency strategic plan, mission, program goals and objectives, the sequence and timing of key organizational and program events and milestones; Knowledge of relationships with other VA, VHA VISNs, VHA Program Offices, VISN and medical center programs and key administrative support functions within the VA, VHA, VISN and across the Medical Centers; Adapting principles, practices, processes, and techniques common to any general administrative situation to the specialized requirements of a health care delivery system.

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:

• Conflict Management
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Manages Resources
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating

Supervisory Situational Judgment Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment and decision-making skills that align with relevant competencies, organizational values, and best practices. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete. The assessment for this application does not include a cut score for a minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. However, you must answer each item in the assessment.

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 required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination 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.