Clarification from the agency

Open to those with Status eligibility.

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Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provides leadership and direction in aligning health professions training, staff education, and workforce development programs across the organization.
• Coordinates the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of learning programs that support organizational goals and workforce needs.
• Oversee localized web-based learning and education platform (TMS 2.0), including user account and access management, compliance tracking and reporting, curriculum and course administration, and system support, maintenance and training.
• Participates in strategic planning efforts and advocates for the development of a strong learning infrastructure.
• Promotes a culture of continuous learning by encouraging innovative educational methods and approaches.
• Serves as the primary liaison for educational initiatives with VISN, VHA Central Office, and other key stakeholders.
• Oversees relationships with academic affiliates, educational institutions, and community partners.
• Advises leadership on emerging learning techniques, educational theories, and training technologies.
• Researches and analyzes organization-wide educational and workforce development issues and provides recommendations to leadership.
• Identifies and advocates for resources needed to support and improve the learning environment, including staffing, funding, space, and technology.
• Reviews and evaluates training programs and educational offerings to ensure quality, effectiveness, and alignment with organizational objectives.
• Plans, assigns, directs, and evaluates the work of subordinate staff and establishes priorities and performance expectations.
• Monitors the quality, timeliness, and effectiveness of employee work and takes corrective action when necessary.
• Provides employee coaching, counseling, and guidance on work-related and administrative matters.
• Recruits, hires, develops, and recognizes employees while managing leave, performance, and employee relations issues.
• Identifies training needs, improves workflows and procedures, and manages personnel and resource requirements to accomplish organizational goals.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 am -4:30 pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Education Program Specialist/PD06536-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved
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 may 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, 11/16/2026.

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-11 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the Federal Service that has given the applicant the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of an Education Program Specialist. Examples of specialized experience are, but not limited to, coordinated education and training activities, including scheduling classes, tracking attendance, and maintaining training records; provided administrative and technical support for education programs, ensuring materials, resources, and participant information were accurate and up to date; collected and compiled training data and reports to assist management in monitoring program participation and compliance requirements; assisted with implementing educational initiatives and training programs by communicating program requirements and supporting instructors and participants; maintained compliance documentation and records related to training, accreditation, certification, or continuing education requirements. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and graduate level education beyond the second year.

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: You may be asked to participate in a pre-employment evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation.

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.