Program Specialist (Deputy Executive Assistant)
What you'd do
These Program Specialist (Deputy Executive Assistant) positions are located within the Facility Executive Leadership Team at the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. These positions are full time, 40 hours a week.
Major duties
The incumbent serves as a fully functional member of the senior staff to the Nursing Service line, reporting directly to the Deputy ADPCS. The incumbent assists management officials of clinical services in overseeing their specific health care delivery system within the White River Junction Medical Center. Duties include, but are not limited to: Plan and conduct analytical studies of health care delivery system and organizational elements and work to identify problems and approve resource utilization, administrative support, and management effectiveness. Monthly tracking of Delegations of Authority (DoA) memos ensures extensions and new appointments are processed timely, requiring direct coordination with and follow-through from service-level managers. Interprets findings, develops constructive recommendations for solving significant problems, and persuades management officials to adopt substantial changes pertaining to the potential for combining units, work methods and procedures to increase production, workflow between units, human resources utilization, delegations of authority, management controls, and related areas of management analysis. Data collection and analysis occur on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, dependent on reporting needs across performance management, staffing, overtime use, leave utilization, staffing methodology, billet management, fiscal/budget oversight, and policy compliance and expiration date tracking. Refines and develops more specific guidelines within the context of broad regulatory guidelines. Analyzes ratios of professional to technical employees and supervisors to non-supervisory employees and recommends actions to meet staffing plans based on projected workload. Performs daily billet management in coordination with the ELT Executive Assistant, administrative staff, and HR, monitoring position status, vacancies, and personnel actions to ensure alignment with approved staffing plans. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am-4:30 pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist (Deputy Executive Assistant)/PD405-04193-0 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, 08/14/2026. 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-09 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: GS-09: 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 regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups and ability to reconcile contradictory requirements in preparing staff recommendations and/or in coordinating clinical and administrative services; knowledge of organizational structure, human resources staffing and utilization, position management, work methods, and related requirements to analyze and advise on managerial approaches and problems. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such degree or masters or equivalent graduate degree or, LL.B. or J.D., if related. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 6 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS-07 and 1 year of graduate level education. The applicant meets 50 percent of the required experience but none of the required education, since he or she does not have any graduate study beyond that which is required for GS-07. Therefore, the applicant meets only 50 percent of the total requirement and is not qualified for the position. (The applicant's first year of graduate study is not qualifying for GS-09). GS-11: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience planning and conducting analytical studies of health care delivery system and organizational elements; experience using work distribution and workflow charting, task analysis, statistical analysis, observation, interviews, and other techniques; specialized knowledge of VHA and VAMC health care delivery systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as financial management, budget administration, accounts management, and procurement supporting the Service's health care delivery systems and the ability to research and assemble data; analyze financial and human resources needs, evaluate the utilization and management of financial, material, and human resources; evaluate changes in program plans and funding and their effect on financial and budget program milestones; and define conflicts between technical requirements and administrative limitations, present recommendations and coordinate services, and provide substantiating and convincing advice and assistance to management. Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; OR three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR an LL.M., if related. Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond the master's degree level. Note: a copy of your transcripts is required. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Your resume must indicate clearly the nature of your duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. 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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