Program Support Assistant (Primary Care)

Summary

This Program Support Assistant position is located within the Primary Care service at the White River Junction VA Healthcare Center located at White River Junction, Vermont. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week.

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Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

04/26/2024 to 05/06/2024

• Salary

$49,838 - $64,792 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 6

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Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• White River Junction, VT 1 vacancy

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

Yes-as determined by the agency policy.

• Travel Required

Not required

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent -

• Work schedule

Full-time -

• Service

Competitive

• Promotion potential

None

• 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

CBTD-12395989-24-JES

• Control number

788681700

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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 Department of Veterans Affairs (including the facility and CBOCs where this vacancy is located) serving on career/career-conditional appointments including VA Title 38, Hybrid Title 38, and Canteen employees on excepted appointments covered by the interchange agreement and those eligible under CTAP. This does not include temporary, term or temporary intermittent.

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Duties

The Program Support Assistant independently manages the administrative functions of staff and programs, coordinates care with VA patients and non-VA facilities.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides clerical assistance and technical support to the Primary Care Team by maintaining and supporting the work performed within the facility.

• Establishes and maintains positive, collaborative relationships with key contacts in WRJ VAMC.

• Serves as a liaison with building management when issues arise in the facility such as temperature control, noise, telephone services.

• Assists with emergency preparedness and maintains policies and procedures for the facility/clinic.

• Controls incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication; routes materials to appropriate staff members and performs follow-up tracking to ensure timely reply and action.

• Prepares and edits letters and reports and reviews correspondence for accuracy and completeness.

• Reviews correspondence generated by other administrative employees assigned to the Service.

• Anticipates the needs of clinic management, compiling data and background material before routing.

• Provides administrative support for staff meetings, which may include oversight of the schedule and room calendars, audiovisual equipment and connections, and the preparation/dissemination of PowerPoint presentations, meeting notifications, agendas, and meeting minutes.

• Assists in the hiring process for new staff; coordinates interviews for candidates for new or vacant staff positions, independently prepares itineraries and notifies necessary staff. Helps with the pre-employment and orientation process of new employees, assuring all needed information is submitted to various VA departments, schedules orientation and assists with orientation clinic specific administrative activities.

• Assists in issuing PIV badges and/or replacement badges for employees, contract providers, residents, and volunteers.

• Transmits and receives documents and messages electronically using such software applications such as electronic mail, desktop publishing, calendar, spreadsheets, database, Power Point, and word processing.

• Assists other users with selection of applications, training on a variety of standard application packages, and selection of appropriate formats and procedures for tasks.

• Develops and maintains proficiency in applications as requested by supervisor (e.g. Microsoft Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel).

• Maintains a suspense system for all externally assigned tasks, as well as those generated by the Clinic Director.

• Performs timekeeping duties for staff including the approval of leave and certification of timecards.

• Performs other duties as needed and assigned by the Supervisor.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm

Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized

Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant (Primary Care)/PD03222A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Notifications:

This position is an AFGE Bargaining Unit position.

This position is in the Competitive Service.

Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay.

Current Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

Time-in-Grade Restriction: Applicants must also meet time-in-grade requirements. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service.

Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.

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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, 05/06/2024.

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. 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:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Providing timely, accurate, and complete responses to customer inquiries using a variety of communication methods, providing daily oversight and management of a clinical scheduling system at a facility wide level, working with internal and external customers to obtain critical information related to clinical operations, navigating a multitude of systems and databases to monitor processes and ensure efficiency and timeliness of tasks, and providing high-level administrative support in a clinical setting, including employment and credentialing requirements. Processing incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memoranda and other forms of written communication; Coordinating meetings and taking minutes for distribution; Making travel and lodging reservations; Ordering and monitoring the use of office supplies; Timekeeping. (NOTE: The specialized experience must be well-documented on your resume, and an ADDITIONAL SF-50 must be provided that shows one year of Time-In-Grade at the GS-5 level)

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

• Administration and Management

• Communication

• Computer Skills

• Customer Service

• Problem Solving

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 primarily sedentary with considerable computer and keyboard work. The work includes some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as files, papers and books.

Work Environment: The work environment involves the normal risks and stresses typical in an office environment which supports an extremely busy clinical service with various professional staff.

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.

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.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and 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.