Secretary
What you'd do
The Secretary serves as an executive secretary for the Chief of Staff. This position works at a comprehensive healthcare facility serving the needs of veterans in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. The office is an administrative/clinical service responsible for assessing, planning, implementing, evaluating, and managing the patient care using collaborative strategies with others within the medical center, community, VISN and VA Central Office.
Major duties
Major duties will include but may not be limited to the following: SECRETARIAL SUPPORT Serve as the initial point of contact for high-level visitors and callers to office, establishing the nature and importance of the contact Prioritize and determine which administrative issues need to be brought to the attention of the Chief Of Staff (COS) in order of their importance Serve as the principal administrative support for the COS, responsible for carrying out and coordinating all the clerical and daily administrative support activities of the office. H a good working knowledge of programs under the supervisor's jurisdiction, have an intimate knowledge of his/her policies, views and special interest, including his/her official social obligations. Greet visitors and patients to the office, referring any inquiries or complaints to the appropriate offices when indicated Receive and screen telephone calls and visitors, using self-initiative to determine the nature of the business and either manage it independently or refer to the proper individual to expedite all requests to that office. Contact others to gather information needed by the executive and assemble all background data prior to presenting problems or paperwork to him/her. Arrange for meetings, make reservations for meeting room, and notifies participants Reminds the management staff in the office of appointments and briefs them on important matters scheduled to be discussed ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT Based on knowledge of purpose of conferences and the topics to be discussed, determines which staff members are to attend and informs them of data to be presented. Organizes conference calls for other supervisory staff, arranges for interviews with applicants etc. Checks on progress of projects or required actions and keeps Executive informed. Act as liaison between the Executive and subordinate staff offices Answer inquiries from Services on such topics as policies, publications, directives, circulars, and regulations Initiate implementation of new policies established by the Executive Prepares for the upcoming meetings and conferences based upon knowledge of current issues of importance and workload, presenting material/data to be discussed at the meeting Reschedules appointments/discussions with personnel when it becomes apparent that the Executive will not be able to meet the previous scheduled date Receive and listen to complaints and grievances from patient or from individuals on behalf of patients (family members, congressional aides, etc.) Investigate the complaint, initiate action or changes necessary to rectify the situation, and reports corrective action taken to patient and/or representative Assist administrative personnel by not only screening and obtaining information from patients, families, medical staff members and visitors, but also resolve many of these concerns without further referral to supervisors Obtain all information possible, determine the operating official concerned, and suggest a conference to resolve the problem. Makes written summarization of all official calls or visitors received and provides other with information as necessary Act as Veteran's advocate using seasoned judgment to resolve problems, including referring cases to the Medical Center Patient Advocates as warranted Prepare Reports of Contact of such action, if necessary, to notify the Director, Associate Directors, facility patient advocates, and Chief of Staff Take and transcribe dictation from the Executive as required for meetings which he/she chairs and prepares minutes within five days after the meeting is held for distribution Type in correct format Service Memorandums, Medical Center Memorandums and Clinical Memorandum published by the Office via Outlook and the Intranet Type various forms of correspondence which include replies to congressional inquiries, White House correspondence, VA headquarters referrals, letters from patients, visitors, vendors, etc. Type confidential reports, counseling's, evaluations, and confidential administrative and professional matters pertaining to the administration of the services reporting to the Executive Handle faxes and overnight priority mail from the Executive to members of Nationwide Task Force and Headquarters members, VISN Office, various community hospitals, community colleges, Universities, and VA Hospitals and for supervisory staff Coordinate VANTS, VTEL and other teleconference calls and type minutes of the proceedings and correspondence for various Task Force and Board of Directors projects that the Executive is involved with. Work Schedule: Full-time, 8:00am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday Telework: Ad-hoc as determined by Agency policy Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary/PD20217O 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 by the closing date of this announcement, 07/30/2026. 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-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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 as 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Serving as the initial point of contact for high-level visitors and callers to an office, establishing the nature and importance of the contact. On your own initiative, prioritize and determine which administrative issues need to be brought to the attention of the Chief Of Staff (COS) or similar Leadership/ Senior Management Official in order of their importance. Serve as the principal administrative support for the COS or other Management and is responsible for carrying out and coordinating all the clerical and daily administrative support activities of the office. In addition to having a good working knowledge of programs under the supervisor's jurisdiction, must have an intimate knowledge of his/her policies, views and special interest, including his/her official social obligations. 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.