Program Analyst (Watch Officer)

Summary

This position is located in the Office of Mission Support. The incumbent is a Program Analyst reporting to the Supervisor, Watch Officers Team. The primary place of duty is the Veterans Affairs Integrated Operations Center (VA IOC) and alternate IOC sites as directed. The VA IOC provides direct support to the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs (SECVA), VA Administrations, and Staff Offices.

Duties

The VA IOC serves as Department's single office for data integration, fusion, and proactive analysis for the purpose of developing and presenting recommendations relative to developing and ongoing events and incidents that have the potential to impact VA. Specific duties include: All incumbents are authorized to initiate contact with personnel throughout VA and VBA in order to ensure timely situational awareness reporting in support of SECVA and Deputy Under Secretary of Benefits decision processes. Therefore, incumbent must be able to communicate both orally and in writing. Gathers, analyzes, and fuse data/information obtained from numerous sources in order to assess and communicate relevant information to VA leadership about actual or potential impact to VA's operational readiness (facilities, services, etc.) in the form of incident reports and situation reports (SITREPS). Reports must be prepared with complete accuracy of information, style, format, grammar, and spelling as these products are provided to senior executive management within the Department. Coordinates and is readily prepared in conjunction with the VA IOC for routine and unannounced Continuity of Operation Program (COOP) and major exercise. Coordinates in conjunction with VA IOC the development and publication of standing operating procedures, plans, detailing instructions, after-actions reports, and lesson-learned critiques. The incumbent receives, integrates, analyzes, disseminates, tracks, and archives information concerning continuous operations and emergent situations/incidents. Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret National Security Clearance. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday 8 AM to 4:30 PM. Compressed/Flexible: Not Available. Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Analyst (Watch Officer); 39164-A. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required. Requirements

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the Agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the Agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.Additional Conditions of Employment are as follows: You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary or trial period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents. Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:11/19/2026. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: As a current Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level. If you are a current VBA employee requesting reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS- 13 or higher. 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. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-13 Grade Level: Specialized experience is defined as at least 12 months of experience equivalent in scope and responsibility to the GS-12 level in the Federal service performing Program Analyst, Watch Officer, emergency operations, continuity, incident-management, or closely related duties that demonstrate all of the following: Continuity and emergency operations: Applying continuity of operations (COOP) and emergency-management principles to sustain operational readiness; support crisis response, continuity activations, and exercises; and coordinate with internal and external partners during emergent situations and incidents. Operational analysis and executive reporting: Applying analytical and evaluative techniques to collect, validate, integrate, and assess information from multiple sources; identify actual or potential impacts to operational readiness; improve emergency-response effectiveness; and prepare accurate, time-sensitive incident reports, situation reports, briefings, and predictive assessments for senior leadership. Emergency planning and program improvement: Applying emergency-planning and contingency-operations principles to develop, evaluate, and revise COOP and crisis-response policies, plans, standard operating procedures, notification and recall processes, exercise materials, after-action reports, and corrective actions that support continuity of operations and coordinated incident management. Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week. Physical Requirements: This work is primarily sedentary, with some walking, standing, and carrying of light objects required. The incumbent may participate in exercises or actual emergency situations, which could require adaption to unusual environmental conditions. The position may require extended hours to meet critical needs and deadlines, and to devise corrective actions and solutions to unexpected issues or events. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting your current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Education

There is no education substitute at this level. How You Will Be Evaluated

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork PROBLEM SOLVING: Analyzes problems, weighs relevance and accuracy of information; evaluates alternatives and implements solutions. ATTENTION TO DETAIL: Inspires, motivates and guides others towards goals accomplishment; coaches, mentors and challenges subordinates; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations; models high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness and respect for the individual by applying these values to daily behaviors. COMMUNICATION: Ability to establish and maintain effective communication (oral and written) with persons both at all organizational levels and with officials of other departments and agencies on policy, technical and administrative matters. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS: Treats others with respect. Considers and responds appropriately to the needs of of complex situations. TECHNICAL COMPETENCE: Understands and appropriately applies the principles, authorities, procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies governing continuity, emergency preparedness, incident management, and Watch Officer operations. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13111458 The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment. Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. Other Information

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), https://www.va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. (https://appsupport-usastaffing.opm.gov/hc/en-us/sections/45063131363475-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information) For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.