Program Support Assistant-OA
What you'd do
The purpose of the Program Support Assistant within the Environmental Management Service (EMS) is to support two primary functions. First, to provide high-level administrative and analytical support to the Chief of EMS, facilitating daily operations through complex project management and executive coordination. Second, to serve as the service's primary technical expert for timekeeping and fiscal oversight, ensuring compliance with federal payroll procedures and budgetary regulations.
Major duties
Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Program Analysis and Administrative Operations - 35% Administrative Management: Independently manages the administrative nerve center of the Environmental Management Service, coordinating complex workflows across a 24/7 hospital environment to ensure continuity of operations. Process Improvement: Analyzes internal administrative procedures and develops Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to resolve systemic bottlenecks in document tracking and project suspense dates. Regulatory Compliance: Conducts internal audits of departmental files and instructional documents to ensure 100% compliance with VA Regulations, local policies, and The Joint Commission standards. Executive Support: Manages the Chief's complex calendar and prioritizes high-level committee meetings, exercising significant judgment in coordinating travel and high-priority correspondence. Technical Subject Matter Expert - Timekeeping and Payroll - 35% Primary Expert Authority: Serves as the primary Technical Subject Matter Expert (SME) for VATAS and payroll for the entire department. Complex Resolution: Independently interprets and applies complex OPM and VA-specific pay regulations to resolve intricate pay issues involving night differentials, weekend premiums, and hazardous duty pay for 24/7 staff. Policy Guidance: Provides authoritative guidance and technical advice to supervisors and staff regarding leave administration, payroll discrepancies, and regulatory changes in pay plans. Record Integrity: Maintains employee hours and ensures accurate payroll processing, verifying the accuracy of the various hours charged on T&A reports. Budget Analysis and Financial Management - 20% Expenditure Forecasting: Performs detailed budget tracking and expenditure analysis for the service's multi-million-dollar annual budget, identifying trends and potential funding gaps. Financial Reporting: Independently monitors execution rates and prepares monthly forecasting reports, providing data-driven recommendations to the Program Manager for resource realignments. Procurement Authority: Serves as the primary Government Purchase Card (GPC) holder; independently conducts market research and ensures all acquisitions align with the annual fiscal budget and Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Personnel and Reporting Compliance - 10% Strategic Liaison: Coordinates with Human Resources to manage the full lifecycle of personnel actions, from initiating recruitment and on-boarding to tracking disciplinary actions and retirements. Metric Analysis: Analyzes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics, identifying trends in departmental performance and drafting executive summaries for hospital leadership. Credentialing Oversight: Manages and tracks regulatory certifications and licenses (e.g., pest control), ensuring zero lapses in service-wide legal compliance. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:00am - 3:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant-OA/PD688-260084-0 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 all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/27/2026. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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 described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-6) in the Federal service. Specialized experience includes experience where you were responsible for providing administrative support functions within a healthcare facility; experienced with procurement processes necessary to obtain goods and services for an office; performing automation duties using such software applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, electronic mail, desktop publishing, calendar, database and/or graphics; assisting in the formulation and execution of budget estimates to include updating budget spreadsheets which are used in briefings; collecting, compiling and tracking data and information; and researching reference materials, regulations, and standards to identify appropriate action necessary to correct problems or issues. Best qualified Criteria: Verifies accuracy of time cards and leave submissions using established procedures. Audits program records to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Acts as primary point of contact for inquiries by veterans and staff. Resolves scheduling conflicts for meetings and service appointments. De-escalates and addresses concerns from stakeholders regarding service delays. Highly qualified Criteria: Reviews draft reports to identify formatting and grammatical errors. Briefs supervisors or management on program status during staff meetings. Provides instructions to staff regarding new administrative procedures. Coordinates activities or exchanges between clinical and administrative units. Well Qualified: Prepares formal memorandums following established formatting standards. Composes written responses to internal and external inquiries. Summarizes meeting discussions into concise and actionable minutes. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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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