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Transportation Assistant

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Health Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The incumbent serves as a Transportation Assistant with the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System in Seattle, Washington.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
06/25/2025 to 07/07/2025
Salary
$45,331 to - $65,689 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 5 - 6
Location
2 vacancies in the following location:
Seattle, WA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
6
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
Yes
Announcement number
CBSV-12754695-25-AH
Control number
839421300

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

1st consideration will be given to current, permanent VA Puget Sound Healthcare System employees. 2nd area of consideration is permanent VISN20 employees. 3rd area of consideration is permanent VA Wide employees. All other statuses' will be considered after internal merit promotion VA employees are exhausted. Special authorities are clarified in the announcement Questionnaire.

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Duties

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Duties include but are not limited to:

  • Acts as a subject matter expert on VA funded and non-VA funded transportation and lodging programs, eligibilities, and procedures. The incumbent reviews clinical requests for transportation and lodging utilizing CPRS, and determines best mode of transportation and appropriate lodging, based on patient medical need and cost effectiveness.
  • Authorize, schedule, and complete travel requests for patient travel utilizing the Veterans Transportation Service, Beneficiary Travel program, and also public and private transportation programs and options. Utilizing these transportation programs and options, the incumbent effectively coordinates and provides VA funded and non-VA funded common carrier and special mode transportation, based on patient medical need and cost effectiveness; utilizing various software such as CPRS, VetRide, Shuttlebot, public transportation trip planning sites, etc
  • Provide the most cost effective and medically appropriate transportation available, to serve the Veteran's needs by working with state and federal transportation agencies, along with public, private and volunteer transportation organizations. Incumbent will assist the Veteran, their representatives, and staff in completing necessary paperwork for all arranged transportation and lodging.
  • Arranges complex public, private and volunteer transportation services (i.e. train, plane, bus, taxi, wheelchair van, ambulance, air ambulance, etc.) for patients adhering to provider specifications of mode of transport and ensuring that mode is correctly denoted according to the patient's medical condition. Coordinates patient transfer with other VA facilities, ensuring the patient arrives at a specified time for admission. Properly annotates travel arrangement in patient record and provides Veterans with their travel itinerary when necessary.
  • Accurately arranges and coordinates air ambulance travel for eligible Veterans for organ/tissue transplants or other inter-facility transfers. Prepares authorizations for travel by taxi and/or other hired vehicles. Makes travel arrangements with basic information received from the traveler to resolve problems.
  • Coordinates the day to day operation of the VTS program flow, processes and functions. Provides technical guidance necessary to achieve the optimum use of the service resources, including thorough knowledge of the Vetride Program and the driver tablets associated with the Vetride program. Plans and provides support services in the following types of program areas: electronic records management; driver scheduling set up and management of program; space utilization services; cost reduction analysis based on transportation options and availability of public, private, volunteer, Beneficiary Travel and VTS program transportation options. Provides advisory services to the supervisor and Mobility Manager regarding the requirements and implications of services provided. Provides advice to operating managers and supervisors on how provided VTS, Beneficiary Travel, public transportation, and volunteer transportation services can assist in accomplishing specific unit missions and programs.
  • Responsible for hotel invoice reconciliation and verifying correct billing rates and dates to all hotels the VA utilizes. Incumbent must have knowledge of payment process utilizing the VISTA Fund Control Point Clerk option. Must have knowledge of the 1358 annotating process as well as designating appropriate funds to each obligation.
  • Accurately schedules lodging appointments in VISTA. Correctly annotates and completes each consult request in CPRS, ensures appropriate lodging dates are entered, and contacts the Veteran with all appropriate lodging information by mail and/or phone. He/she will review and act upon all lodging view alerts in CPRS in a timely manner for notifications of requested lodging extensions, and/or cancellations, notify the affected hotel, and adjust travel arrangements as necessary.

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: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position
Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD41280A and PD41281A
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
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • You may be required to serve a probationary/trial period
  • 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 dentification 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)
  • 5 CFR ยง 330.502 - General restriction on movement after competitive appointment applies

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days the closing date of this announcement, 07/07/2025.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05.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.

GS-05 Requirements:

  • Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-4 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to perform travel and lodging arrangements; determine and verify patient eligibility; authorize, schedule, and complete travel requests; knowledge of payment processes; manage a patient funds program; use work-related software applications; reconcile invoices; perform basic data analyses; document reimbursement claims; document medical statuses; generate reports; assist customers in completing necessary paperwork; work with public and private transportation agencies; review lodging alerts to accommodate cancel, extend, and adjust arrangements; provide excellent customer service; use Microsoft word, excel and PowerPoint; handle multiple problems under pressure; and format letters, reports, emails and memoranda.
OR
  • Education (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed 4 years above high school, leading to a bachelor's degree. This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university.
OR
  • Combination: Experience and Education: (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience as described in A but less than one year, and I have some education more than the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) but less than 4 years of above high school education.
GS-06 Requirements:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: accurately schedules lodging appointments; coordinate transportation and lodging programs, eligibilities, and procedures; provide excellent customer service; review clinical requests for transportation and lodging utilizing computer application systems; authorize, schedule, review, adjudicate and complete travel requests for patient travel; provide advice to operating managers and supervisors; reconcile and verify correct billing rates and dates.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Accountability
  • Adaptability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Creative 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; 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: Work involves various physical demands requiring the employee to be versatile in the many functions performed. These include sedentary work performed at a desk with intermittent standing, walking, bending, and lifting of lightweight records or supplies.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office setting. Work is performed within view and hearing of patients and the general public. The incumbent has direct contact with patients and possible exposure to contagious diseases. Immediate attention is required for travel and patient funds activities, while lodging arrangements must be completed timely. Meeting these obligations may present varied demands on the incumbent. Patients may present skeptical, agitated, uncooperative, and some may become hostile or dangerous. The work environment is multifaceted, complex, and demanding.

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/.

Education

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

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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.

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.

Resume Reminder- Your resume must include the following information for each job listed:

  • Job title Duties (be as detailed as possible)
  • Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)
  • Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
  • Series and Grade, if applicable, for all Federal positions you have held
  • Please be aware that your answers will be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail.
Recommended: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications.

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.

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