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Telecommunications Equipment Operator

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

Summary

The primary purpose of this position is to provide comprehensive telephone and telecommunications support to all VISN 12 facilities and customers. The position is located at the VISN 12 Centralized Attendant Center at the William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital in Madison, WI.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
06/25/2025 to 07/02/2025
Salary
$40,332 to - $52,426 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 5
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Madison, WI
1 vacancy
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
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
Yes
Announcement number
CARZ-12753724-25-CMB
Control number
839434500

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Duties

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***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

  • Providing telephone and related telecommunications services to all facilities in the network;
  • Performing telecommunications support assignments, which involves a significant amount of customer service in recognizing and routing patient and other inquiries to the correct location and program;
  • Assists officials responsible for the functioning of the program by identifying functional problem areas;
  • Providing general telephone and visitor referral services;
  • Referring callers to appropriate facility or program area by determining the nature of the call;
  • Receiving and connecting incoming and outgoing calls utilizing complex computerized equipment and telecommunications software;
  • Interviewing incoming callers and providing telephone and/or organizational information to callers;
  • Providing customer service to difficult calls such as threatening, abusive, or distraught callers;
  • Coordinating with local authorities in the event of a threat or emergency related call;
  • Answering and placing internal network and long-distance calls;
  • Maintaining a record of toll and long-distance calls, showing the time the call was placed, the staff person requesting the call, and the number that was requested;
  • Furnishing information to customers concerning telephone extensions, organizational functions, and staff information;
  • Receiving telephone trouble calls, maintaining a trouble log, and notifying the supervisor or telephone technician of troubles;
  • Operating the internal and external paging system to facilitate paging requests;
  • Operating computerized telecommunications systems, and/or performing support and service functions requiring knowledge of telecommunications processing sequences, procedures, user and/or program functions, computer requirements, and/or techniques associated with the maintenance of the system;
  • Provides support directly to system users within the organization and providing training, as well as troubleshooting telephone and computer related problems.
  • Performing related duties as required.
Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm.
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • You may be required to serve a probationary 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)

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS GS-05: One year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-04 grade level in Federal service. Specialized experience includes: operating and maintaining telecommunications systems and peripheral equipment such as 911 emergency phone, code alarms, security equipment and alarm systems. This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. ~OR~

A bachelor's degree or 4 years of successfully completed education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. Transcripts required. ~OR~

An equivalent combination of specialized experience and post high school education that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. Your experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts required.

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

  • Communications
  • Computer Skills
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Problem Solving
  • Telecommunications


IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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.

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; religious; 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.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. The employee sits comfortably to perform duties. There is some moving around to adjust equipment and carrying of light items such as papers and books. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. The work involves the common risks or discomforts (requiring normal safety precautions) typical of offices, meeting rooms, libraries, and the like. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. Work areas in or near computer rooms may be environmentally controlled and although cool, require only normal clothing to compensate for minor discomfort.

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

IMPORTANT: 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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov).

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. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Your responses to the assessment questionnaire will be reviewed along with the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation to determine if you are qualified for the position. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered and/or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

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.

Candidates who apply under All U.S. Citizens announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows:

  • Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;
  • Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;
  • Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.
Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher).

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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