Job Summary

This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mid Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), at the Salem VA Medical Center (VAMC) and is the Staff Assistant to the Associate Medical Center Director. The Health System Specialist is responsible for a broad range of activities related to the institutional objectives of quality patient care, education, and research.

Job Description

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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. Health System Administrator requires the Individual Occupational Requirement be met. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): Undergraduate or graduate education with a major study in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) -OR- Specialized Experience - progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. -OR- Special Provision for In-Service Placement - Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included: assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements; practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles and oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program. In addition to the IOR, applicants must meet the following grade level requirements. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-12: 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Serves as a member of a management team in the health care field in the assessment of current operations and development of new programs and policies; review and analysis of data concerning clinical service activities; responsible for a wide variety of recurring and special reports; responsible for budget preparation, works closely with Top Management and other key personnel in the formulation of projects, strategic plans, resource utilization, needs assessments and assigned administrative activities. Must also possess management ability to delegate authority, evaluate and oversee people and programs, recognize and adapt to changing priorities; and knowledge of the interrelationships and interdependencies among various medical and administrative services and programs. There is no educational substitution for the GS-12 level specialized experience. 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. 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/.