Duties

The duties of the Program Specialist to the Director (include, but are not limited to:

• 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 or board or committee/council related work.
• Receives all correspondence for the Director, routing matters for action by all services as well as external stakeholders and provides follow-up to ensure that actions are completed. Screens all correspondence prepared for the Director's signature for clarity, completeness of reply, grammatical, technical and procedural correctness.
• Reviews all incoming VA and VHA publication to identify changes or new procedures applicable to operations of the medical center. Screens the publications, directives and periodicals in order to bring those of significance to the attention of the Director. Initiates the reproduction and distribution of these materials to the appropriate services throughout the medical center and research assigning due dates on reports and information indicated in the circulars/publications. Provides follow-up on reports assigned to see that deadlines are met and materials are submitted in proper format and are accurate and complete.
• Prepares agenda for and conducts periodic program specialist training sessions for all program support, clerks and administrative officers for the medical center, coordinating training efforts to include travel supply, personnel, correspondence and office procedures. Updates training materials as necessary to include changes in VA stationery and guidelines as directed by VA manual changes and interim issues and provides technical advice on preparation of all correspondence, internal and external.
• Independently responds to inquiries and problems brought to the Director by members of the staff, Central Office, White House inquiries, other Federal agencies, VA Regional Office, Veterans Service Organizations, Congressional Offices and other officials. Notifies appropriate people to respond to these contacts and does follow up to see that deadlines are met in these responses. Independently looks into concerns of veterans and their families, coordinating responses and actions and in many cases preparing the actual responses to the issues from researching the problem. Tracks and ensures that all suspense actions are answered properly and expeditiously.
• Makes decisions independently based on subject matter expertise and knowledge of the views and philosophies of the Director. This requires a high level of understanding of the medical center and the Director's policies and philosophies on a vast array of management issues, the ability to adjust those policies and philosophies in an emergent situation and the ability to exercise authority for the Director when required.
• Provides administrative guidance for staff members assigned to the medical center from VA Central Office programs to enable them to carry out their program responsibilities at the medical center, including initiation and follow-up on budget and travel request, equipment needs, etc., to effectively integrate them into the overall medical center program.
• Office manager for Director's office which includes the Office of the Deputy Medical Center Director, Office of the Assistant Director, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Associate Director for Operations, Office of the Associate Director for Patient Care Services/Chief Nurse Executive, Office of the Chief Quality Officer, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, Office of Public and Community Relations and other staff assigned to the Office of the Director.
• Plans and/or accomplishes special projects. Manages special projects for Office of Director or program issues of broad impact. Conceives and implements new initiatives and projects to strengthen, facilitate and integrate programs. Undertakes or participates in special projects, ongoing analyses, investigations and initiatives that have high priority for high level management. This may involve producing complex analyses and written reports, organizing special committees, workshops or other gatherings and initiating program reviews.

Work Schedule: 8am-4:30pm Monday-Friday
Telework: This position is authorized for telework.
Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD07579A
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• You must be an Internal employee to the the Baltimore VA Medical Center.
• 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
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/29/2023.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Administration and Management
• Clerical
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Organizational Awareness

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 is sedentary and does not require any special physical effort. Some work may require walking and standing in conjunction with travel and attendance at meetings and conferences away from the work site. The position might have to carry light items such as papers, books, and portable computer requirement or driving a motor vehicle relative to attendance at meetings. The work often requires long hours to meet project deadlines and to devise corrective action and solutions to unexpected technical and/or management crises resulting in sometimes highly stressful work situations.

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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

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.