Program Support Assistant

Summary

This position is located in the Health Administration Service (HAS), Eligibility Section, under the direct supervision of the Eligibility Supervisor.

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Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

04/22/2024 to 05/01/2024

• Salary

$45,640 - $66,142 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 5 - 6

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Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• Houston, TX

• 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

• Job family (Series)

0303 Miscellaneous Clerk And Assistant

• Supervisory status

No

• Security clearance

Not Required

• Drug test

No

• Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

• Trust determination process

Credentialing

Suitability/Fitness

• Announcement number

CBST-12380911-24-JW

• Control number

787707900

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This job is open to

• Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.

• Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of this agency.

Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent employees of the facility/CBOCs where this vacancy is located at Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center serving on career/career- conditional appointments or covered under VA Interchange Agreements and those eligible under CTAP. This does not include temporary, term or temporary intermittent.

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Duties

• Knowledge with healthcare benefits, assisting families with a death, burial and explanation of death benefits.

• Effectively and properly analyzing and evaluating all situations to ensure that the customers and family's welfare is protected at all times.

• Superior communication skills, providing customer service. Experience in actively listening to customers with respect and concern, paying attention to details, and customer needs.

• Experience communicating and interacting with patients in a manner which is appropriate to cognitive, emotional, and chronological maturation needs of the adult and/or geriatric patient.

• Integrates several types of software to generate specific working documents and forms such as spreadsheets, databases, graphics, presentations, research manuscripts, and other related products..

• Performs basic analysis of the data and generates a variety of reports. Maintains automated system of program-specific data to track due dates on items such as imaging follow up, scheduling preparations, report review, etc.

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, 08:00am

• 4:30pm (Subject to change based on the needs of the Agency)

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD3559-A and PD3600-A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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Requirements

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 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, 05/01/2024.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04.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:

GS-05

• Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-4 level in the Federal service that has equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this Program Support Assistant position to be filled. Specialized experience includes: Experience using automated systems to input or retrieve data; performing administrative and clerical work in an office setting; communicating with customers and answering various questions; Experience compiling data and preparing reports; entering or editing data in spreadsheets. NOTE: This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit.

OR,

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed four (4) years of education above the high school level in any field which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED)

OR,

• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the second year) and specialized experience as described above, which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED)

GS-6

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service, that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) needed to successfully perform the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to this Program Support Assistant position to be filled. Specialized experience include: Experience using automated systems to input or retrieve data; performing administrative and clerical work in an office setting; communicating with customers and answering various questions; Experience compiling data and preparing reports; entering or editing data in spreadsheets. NOTE: This experience must be supported by your resume to be creditable.

There is no educational substitution for the GS-06 level.

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

• Communication

• Computer Skills

• Planning and Evaluating

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 is primarily a sedentary position, but the work requires some walking, bending, stopping, and carrying of light objects such as manuals, documents, etc. Concentration and sustained performance under prolonged stress is required because of the time factors involved in completion of work assignments within deadlines.

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

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 for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. 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/.

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

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

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.

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• Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window

Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

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.