Secretary (OA)
What you'd do
This position is located in the Executive Office at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS), a two division facility providing primary (including mental health care), specialty and tertiary referral care for Veterans.
Major duties
This position provides secretarial support to the medical center Director. Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Provides telephone and receptionist services. Receives schedules, refers and/or contacts members of the medical center V20 and VA Central Office staff and persons outside the agency including other government agencies, Veterans and their families, and the general public. Screens all calls and visitors answering most questions and completing most business involving established policy or routine matters without referring people to the supervisor. Maintains records of leave and attendance. Requisitions office supplies, repairs for office equipment and printing services. Maintains the office filing systems. Serves as a liaison to other managers and staff within the medical center providing advice on procedures, reports, requirements, and other matters necessary to implement the facility's policies directives and instructions. Responds to administrative problems brought to the supervisor attention by members of the medical center staff or management officials outside the organization and/or the agency. Notifies the appropriate subordinate management officials of the need for information or recommendations and either prepares the response or follow up to ensure timely response by others. Plans and arranges for the preparation of information needed for budget reports. Makes arrangements for travel and large conferences including developing information for use in the conferences. Performs office duties such as electronic mail, desktop publishing, calendar, spreadsheet, database, and or graphic software. Provides general clerical services such as maintaining electronic files, solving operating or user problems, or utilizing advanced software functions. Uses MS word or comparable word processing software to execute several office functions such as storing and retrieving electronic documents and files, activating printers, inserting and deleting texts, formatting letters, reports and memoranda, and transmitting and receiving e-mail and MS Excel or other comparable spreadsheet software to develop and change spreadsheets in order to graphically display data. Schedules appointments coordinates meetings and/or schedules conferences including general calendar maintenance, recording appointments, arranging meetings and small conference administrative details and following up on action items with appropriate staff members independently. 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, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework on an as needed (ad hoc) basis, determined by the needs of the service. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD410180 and PD410190 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 07/06/2026. 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8. 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. Please note: In addition to meeting experience requirements, applicants for this position must show possession of the following proficiency: Ability to type 40 words per minute. Applicants may meet this requirement by passing the appropriate performance test, presenting a certificate of proficiency from a school or other organization authorized to issue such certificates by the Office of Personnel Management local office, or by self-certifying their proficiency. Performance test results and certificates of proficiency are acceptable for 3 years. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-8 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: With significant oversight, knowledge of the administrative concepts, principles and practices sufficient to independently eliminate conflict and duplication in extensive office procedures; knowledge of the supervisors policies and views on all significant matters affecting the organization in order to develop materials for the supervisor use in public speaking engagements and brief or advise staff members or persons outside the organization on the supervisor's views on current issues; knowledge of office routines and procedures sufficient to receive and refer phone calls and visitors to staff members; knowledge of a range of common clerical practices and procedures sufficient to file materials and obtain requested information; ability to coordinate the work of the office with work of other offices; knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation and required formats sufficient to recognize and correct errors in correspondence and reports. GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-8 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of the administrative concepts, principles and practices sufficient to independently eliminate conflict and duplication in extensive office procedures; knowledge of the supervisors policies and views on all significant matters affecting the organization in order to develop materials for the supervisor use in public speaking engagements and brief or advise staff members or persons outside the organization on the supervisor's views on current issues; knowledge of office routines and procedures sufficient to receive and refer phone calls and visitors to staff members; knowledge of a range of common clerical practices and procedures sufficient to file materials and obtain requested information; ability to coordinate the work of the office with work of other offices; knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation and required formats sufficient to recognize and correct errors in correspondence and reports. Preferred Experience: Secretarial support and administrative duties, office coordination and management, public contact work (answering telephones and screening calls referring visitors receiving inquiries), processing incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memorandums, and other forms of written communication, electronically scheduling and maintaining appointments, time keeping, and purchasing office supplies and equipment. 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/.
Before you apply
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