Health System Specialist - Associate Director of Operations
What you'd do
This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (DCVAMC), Office of the Deputy Director. The incumbent serves as Health Systems Specialist (HSS)/Executive Assistant to the Associate Director of Operations (AD Operations). The incumbent exercises substantial independence in planning, analyzing, and integrating policies, programs, and resources.
Major duties
Duties include, but are not limited to: Executive Level Staff Assistant and Program Coordination - 35% Provides high-level coordination and administrative support for the service lines under the assigned AD's purview, which may include but are not limited to: Business Office, Logistics, Safety, Police Services, Healthcare Technology Management, Facilities Management Services, Environmental Services, Fiscal, Nutrition and Food Service, Prosthetics, Veterans Canteen Services, Center for Development and Civic Engagement, Privacy/FOIA, System Redesign, Office of Information and Technology, High Reliability Organization, Human Resources, Public Affairs, and Congressional Liaison. Coordinates assignments, tracks progress and ensures alignment with applicable policies and executive priorities. Facilitates team huddles and ensures consistent communication of executive priorities across assigned service lines. Ensures compliance with VA/VHA policy, privacy, and regulatory standards. Health System Operations, Management, and Planning - 20% Operational Integration & Readiness: Designs and coordinates enterprise operating rhythms (leadership huddles, governance councils, dashboards) that align service execution with AD Resources/AD Operations priorities and the DMCD's intent. Authority: Recommends reallocations within approved ceilings; drafts justifications for unfunded requirements (UFRs) and unfunded capital requests; coordinates with Fiscal/Budget to align proposals with financial policy. Issue Resolution: Triages and resolves complex patient, staff, and stakeholder escalations (congressional, VISN, VACO). Authors executive correspondence and position statements with data validation and legal/FOIA awareness. Investigations & Culture: Chairs or participates in fact-finding and Administrative Boards of Investigation as assigned. Serves as Employee Engagement Coordinator; administers AES activities, develops action plans, and conducts pulse checks. Health Care System Strategic Planning - 20% Strategy Development: Facilitates multiyear operational plans aligned to facility, VISN, and national priorities (access, quality/safety, equity, high reliability, modernization). Converts strategy into executable annual operating plans {AOPs) with key performance indicators (KPls) and accountable owners. Growth & Capital Projects: Coordinates business cases and stakeholder engagement for CBOC expansions, lease/space planning, equipment standardization, and replacement medical center planning. Communications, Information Coordination, and Data Analysis - 25% Performance Analytics: Develops integrated dashboards and analytic products using tools such as DSS, VSSC, Pyramid/ProClarity, Power Bl, SAIL, Symphony, EHCPM, IPEC, STOP codes, and workload/staffing models. Decision Support: Translates complex data into executive insights and options with operational, fiscal, and risk implications; crafts decision memoranda with courses of action (COA} analyses and recommendation rationales. Stand-In Authority: May be requested to stand in for the Associate Director(s} to which assigned, exercising delegated decision-making authority on operational, resource, and administrative matters within established guidelines and ceilings. Liaison Functions: Serves as the primary coordination point between the AD offices and VISNN ACO program offices on assigned matters. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist - Associate Director of Operations/PD266590 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, 08/03/2026. 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-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. Preferred Experience: Experience {3+ years} in health system administration or operations within a large, complex healthcare organization, preferably the VA or another integrated delivery system. Experience providing executive level support {e.g., chief of staff, senior analyst, executive assistant} to hospital or system leadership, involving coordination across multiple clinical and administrative service lines. Experience developing and using performance dashboards and analytics {Power Bl, DSS, VSSC, or comparable tools} to support executive decision making. Experience supporting accreditation, regulatory surveys, or inspections {The Joint Commission, OIG, GARF, OSHA, etc.}, including development and tracking of corrective action plans. Experience leading or contributing to health system strategic or operational planning, including multi year plans, annual operating plans, and business cases for capital or space projects Experience using structured process improvement and analytical methods {e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, demand capacity modeling, workflow redesign} to resolve complex operational issues. Experience functioning in an Incident Command System or similar emergency management structure in a healthcare environment. Experience handling sensitive or high visibility issues and stakeholder escalations, including interactions with senior leaders, unions, congressional offices, or community partners. This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement - for this series, the following Basic Requirement must be met in addition to the Specialized Experience. Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): 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. Special Provision for Inservice 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 (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); 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 you must meet the following specialized requirements: 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: exercising expertise in clinical operations; providing access related consultive services, to review and develop guidance and policies; reviewing and providing input on regulations and policies for local interpretation, utilizing local group practice management and communication strategies; and implementing established action plans. 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.