Duties

Summary

The incumbent serves as a technical expert, analyst, and advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations (DUSFO), and the Executive Management Officer in the Office of Field Operations.The Executive Assistant acts as a consultant and confidential advisor regarding the development and implementation of administration-wide policies and programs that impact the Department's mission and the internal management and operations of the Veterans Benefits Administration. Duties include:

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Responsibilities

Ensures the efficient operation of the office through proactive management and effective problem solving. Provides advisory services oriented toward general management solutions to achieve optimum overall program balance in relation to VA's and VBA's mission, goals, and strategic plan.

Participates with the DUSFO and EMO and acts on their behalf in an official and or unofficial manner, contacts with public and private officials; provides advice and consultant services beyond the sphere of administrative activities; and provides execution, coordination, and evaluation of administrative and managerial functions.

Develops and recommends effective and efficient internal management controls and administrative practices for Office of Field Operations. Consults with Assistant Directors in OFO to coordinate uniform consensus on matters that impact OFO. Addresses concerns raised by Assistant Directors and successfully resolves them by providing advice and guidance.

Manages and coordinates calendars and schedules for executive staff. Schedules and arranges logistics for meetings, conferences, and committees. Develops and prepares meeting and conference materials for DUSFO and other executive staff. Informs the DUSFO and EMO of any potential problem areas requiring attention. Makes every effort to resolve situations before they become significant problems. May conduct studies and provide recommendations on administrative and management functions. Develops systems and methods for tracking, managing, and reporting.

Makes recommendations about planning work based on existing team members and advises on the impact of efforts that require additional resources. Prepares and contributes to reports and other presentations on program planning and evaluation.

Designs and conducts a wide variety of comprehensive studies and detailed analyses of complex functions and processes related to short- and long-range planning. Identifies and proposes solutions to management problems which are of major importance to planning program direction. Prepares recommendations which impact the way planning is accomplished.

Directs the development of briefing materials and hot issue/topic briefings to ensure that the DUSFO and EMO are briefed on high level matters requiring their attention. Successfully and proactively keeps DUSFO and EMO up to date on sensitive matters before internal and external stakeholders elevate the matters to senior leadership. Uses information gathered from multiple sources to create concise and professional briefing materials for the DUSFO/EMO for higher-level presentations.

As appropriate, manages correspondence received by OFO via electronic and paper mail. Directs electronic and paper mail to appropriate liaison in OFO and takes direct action on correspondence as needed to include congressional inquiries and appointment requests from internal and external stakeholders.

Develops agendas and coordinates any leadership meetings taking place with DUSFO, ADUSFOs, EMO and all Assistant Directors. Reviews concerns/issues raised by Assistant Directors and gathers information to ensure that the DUSFO and EMO are fully versed on the issues prior to meetings with internal or external stakeholders.

Manages preparation and coordination of visits and meetings with stakeholders and senior leadership. Coordinates with Under Secretary's office and stakeholder representatives to ensure that DUSFO and EMO are fully prepared to lead meetings and is aware of hot topics and key messaging to advocate for OFO, VBA, or VA.

Coordinates travel plans for executive travel. Reviews and provides final approval on travel vouchers.

Work Schedule: 8:00am to 4:30pm
Telework: Yes
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Executive Assistant/39094-0
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• 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

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/11/2021.

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. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50 that indicates proof of status, and shows Time in Grade (for example, you were a career or career-conditional employee) and identifies your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess 1-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must also submit your most recent promotion or within-grade increase in addition to your recent SF-50. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. DO NOT submit Award SF-50's and/or General Adjustment SF-50's as they cannot be used to prove time-in-grade.

If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-14 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-14.

For a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13.

Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include: experience diagnosing problems within the organization and implementing plans and means to make improvements and/or implement change; or experience developing the design of business processes, systems, technology, and/or job roles for a division within a VA Office.

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: This position is primarily sedentary with some walking, standing, bending, stooping and carrying of lightweight items (i.e. folders, files).

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ .

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ .

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.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

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.

After you have met the minimum qualifications, you will be rated on the following competencies based on your application for this position:

READING: Understands and interprets written material, including technical material, rules, regulations, instructions, reports, charts, graphs, or tables; applies what is learned from written material to specific situations.

WRITING: Recognizes or uses correct English grammar, punctuation, and spelling; communicates information (for example, facts, ideas, or messages) in a succinct and organized manner; produces written information, which may include technical material that is appropriate for the intended audience.

PROBLEM SOLVING: Identifies and analyzes problems; uses sound reasoning to arrive at conclusions; finds alternative solutions to complex problems; distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information to make logical decisions; provides solutions to individual and organizational problems.

ORAL COMMUNICATION: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.

SELF-MANAGEMENT: Sets well-defined and realistic personal goals; displays a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment towards completing assignments in a timely manner; works with minimal supervision; is motivated to achieve; demonstrates responsible behavior.

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.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Cover Letter
• Performance Appraisal
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.