Transportation Assistant
What you'd do
VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) is a 303 consolidated bed facility, university affiliated, teaching, research and clinical center with a highly diverse patient care population in outpatient, inpatient and extended care settings. The Veterans Transportation Program (VTP)/Beneficiary Travel (BT) department administers beneficiary travel program benefits to Veterans who meet eligibility criteria.
Major duties
This is an open continuous announcement until 07/15/2026. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred after the closing date of the announcement. Major duties, include but are not limited to: Utilizing various software applications to accurately determine and/or verify Veteran eligibility and amount owed for travel reimbursement according to national and local rules, regulations and standard operating procedures. Assisting Veterans with waiver applications when Veteran has experienced a major change in income for the current year or is requesting deductible be waived due to financial hardship. Reviewing clinical request for transportation at VA expense utilizing CPRS and determines best mode of transportation i.e. VTS, common carrier or special mode based on cost effectiveness and patient medical needs. Arranging all modes of transportation via Veterans Transportation Service (VTS), air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus and/or independent transports. Corresponding with physician, traveler, and vendor to determine the most dependable and economical mode of transportation. Prepares appropriate documentation and/or scheduling for traveler according to government transportation availability, government rates or substantial rates. Reviewing requests for reimbursement of travel costs for the purpose of assuring compliance with regulations and procedures, completeness, accuracy, internal consistency, and agreement with basic authorization. Recognizing and understanding customers and providing information and/or services to Veterans, Veteran's families, Veteran's representatives and/or facility staff. Handling conflict and problems in dealing with customers constructively and appropriately. Collecting, organizing, tracking and counting all beneficiary travel reimbursement forms from various locations throughout the facility. Ordering office supplies for the section and responsible for tracking and organizing orders. Posting employee time cards as supervisor instructs, assisting supervisor with reconciling time card discrepancies and serving as the point of contact for time card related questions and actions. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm PST Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD21145A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade requirements and specialized experience within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 07/15/2026. 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-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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Arranging modes of transportation via air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus and/or independent transports; Determining eligibility for beneficiary travel; Preparing fund control reports; Reviewing invoices for payment of transportation services and submitting documents for payment; Determining methods of payment for authorized and unauthorized claims; Communicating effectively with internal and external customers. Note: 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: Work involves various physical demands requiring the employee to be versatile in the many functions performed. These include sedentary work performed at a desk with intermittent standing, walking, bending, and lifting of lightweight records or supplies. 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. 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
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
Don't miss the next one.
Get an email the moment a similar federal job opens — postings can close in as little as 5 days.