Secretary
What you'd do
The incumbent serves as the Executive Secretary for the Medical Center Director located at the Cincinnati, OH VA Medical Center.
Major duties
The Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC) is a two-division campus located in Cincinnati, OH and Fort Thomas, KY serving 15 counties in Southwest OH, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana with 6 Community Based Outpatient Clinics located in Bellevue, KY; Florence, KY; Lawrenceburg, IN; Hamilton, OH; Clermont County, OH, and Georgetown, OH. The CVAMC also supports two off main campus locations in the Cincinnati area via an Eye Center and Mental Health Outreach Community Division. Major Duties: The incumbent provides comprehensive executive secretarial and administrative support, expertly managing the Director's calendar, correspondence, travel arrangements, and meeting logistics to ensure efficient operations. Responsibilities include screening telephone calls and visitors, handling inquiries, and independently addressing matters not requiring the Director's direct involvement. The incumbent prepares agendas, minutes, presentations, and official documents, as well as proofreads and edits all outgoing correspondence for accuracy and compliance with agency standards. Additionally, support is extended to the Associate Director, Chief of Staff, and Nurse Executive as needed, facilitating seamless communication and coordination across executive leadership. The incumbent is responsible for records and information management within the Director's Office, serving as the designated Records Liaison. This includes maintaining an accurate inventory and ensuring compliance of all records, conducting regular reviews, and coordinating vital records management activities. The incumbent ensures records retention and proper disposition in accordance with all relevant policies and regulations and oversees compliance with six-part folder management for all Director's Office personnel. Additionally, the incumbent supports staff training to maintain best practices in records management and assures that all documentation standards are consistently met. The incumbent is responsible for office administration and process improvement, including the development, implementation, and oversight of office procedures to enhance efficiency and consistency within the Director's Office. This role involves training and advising secretarial and clerical staff to ensure adherence to established practices and policies. The incumbent manages essential resource information, oversees manual and policy updates, maintains suspense files for tracking action items, and coordinates administrative communications to ensure clear and timely dissemination of information throughout the organization. This position serves as the central point of contact for the Cincinnati Medical Center, with primary responsibility for tracking, responding to, and analyzing Congressional and patient complaints and requests. The incumbent manages a wide range of complex tasks that include monitoring numerous active suspense, handling Congressional inquiries, and tracking VISN requests. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary/PD935440 Physical Demands: The incumbent's work is mostly sedentary; however, some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light to medium-weight items are required.
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/17/2026. 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-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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-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: Knowledge of the management processes used to oversee office functions and address emergencies is also required-for example, the emergency preparedness plan, office contingency plans and call-back lists, and reporting requirements to the Network and VA Central Office. This knowledge enables the incumbent to assist the Medical Center Director without needing to involve him/her directly. Knowledge of the substantive programs of the Cincinnati VA Health Care System as they relate to the system's clerical and administrative functions is essential. The incumbent must possess skills in advising and instructing secretaries and other administrative staff in subordinate organizational elements regarding directives, reports, correspondence, telephone procedures, and etiquette. Proficiency in the use of automated data processing equipment and associated software for word processing, data processing (charts, graphs, illustrations, etc.), PowerPoint presentations, controlled correspondence (PATS-R), and virtual meetings (e.g., Teams, Zoom, Webex) is necessary. A strong knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and required formats is vital, as well as the ability to edit documents to produce final products that are grammatically, technically, and stylistically correct. Skill in formulating appropriate responses to inquiries from congressional representatives and community leaders on complex issues involving VA policies or patient care subjects is also required. 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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