Secretary (Oa)

Summary

This Secretary position is in the Medical Service at the VA Maine Healthcare System located at the Togus location. This position is full time at 40 hours per week.

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Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

06/12/2024 to 06/27/2024

• Salary

$44,117 - $57,354 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 6

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Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• Togus, ME 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)

0318 Secretary

• 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-12440332-24-DD

• Control number

795338300

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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.

• Federal employees

• Competitive service

Current or former competitive service federal employees.

• Federal employees

• Excepted service

Current excepted service federal employees.

• Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of this agency.

Clarification from the agency

Current permanent employees of the Veterans Administration, Other Federal Employees, and Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).

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Duties

The Secretary position is to provide a wide array of administrative and project support to the Chief of Medicine, Assistant Chief of Medicine, Administrative Officer (AO), Emergency Department Director and Supervisory Hospitalist. Duties will include, but not be limited to the following:

• Controls incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, memoranda and other forms

of written communication.

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

• Supervises and orients summer volunteers and/or students assigned to the office and prepares their evaluations and gives feedback on their performance.

• Serves as a patient advocate for the service. This requires personally listening to

patients' or their families' concerns and assisting in the resolution and documentation.

• Provides administrative support for Medical Service staff meetings and assists in

preparation of meeting Power Point presentations.

• Prepares meeting agendas.

• Attends meetings, takes accurate minutes and follows up on action items with

appropriate staff members independently.

• Serves as timekeeper for multidisciplinary and administrative staff.

• Maintains current file of provider privileges.

• Collects and displays provider-specific statistics for workload measurement such as

daily admission log, inpatient roster log, patient complaints, meeting attendance, etc.

• Receives telephone calls and visitors.

• Picks up, sorts and distributes mail.

• Maintains suspense of incoming or outgoing correspondence or material; advises staff member of approaching deadlines and initiates follow-up on overdue matters.

• Establishes and maintains office files of correspondence, publications and other materials, following established filing procedures.

• Arranges travel; completes and routes necessary forms required for authorization and funding of travel.

• Maintains employee service records and files.

• Types a wide variety of material for the service, including technical reports, MS

PowerPoint presentations, MS Excel spreadsheets, medical lectures, proficiency reports

and policies.

• Assists providers with presentations (audiovisual aids, scheduling rooms, reminding

participants, etc.

• Orders office supplies for the staff.

Work Schedule: Full-Time Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm

Compressed/Flexible: Not authorized

Telework: Authorized/Ad-hoc: 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#: Secretary/00214-0

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Notauthorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Notifications:

• This position is in an AFGE Bargaining Unit.

• This position is in the Competitive Service.

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

• Current and former 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.

• 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.

• Must be able to type 40 words per minute

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/27/2024.

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 6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 5. 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 as described below:

GS 6 Specialized Experience: Have at least one 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: Controls incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, memoranda and other forms of written communication; routes materials to the appropriate staff members and performs follow-up tracking to ensure timely reply/action. Prepares and edits letters and reports and reviews correspondence for accuracy and completeness. Serves as timekeeper for multidisciplinary and administrative staff. Organizes and manages the hospitalist, medical on-call and intensivist schedule. Receives telephone calls and visitors, ascertains nature of call or visit, refers to supervisor or staff member as appropriate. Picks up, sorts and distributes mail. Maintains employee service records and files and inputs personnel actions, using electronic Human Resources system. Accurately and promptly 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. Orders office supplies for the staff.

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

• Attention to Detail

• Customer Service

• Interpersonal Skills

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/.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

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.

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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.

Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.

2. All other VA employees.

3. Current permanent Federal employees of other agencies.

4. All other applicants.

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

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.