Health System Specialist

Summary

Readjustment Counseling Service (RCS) consists of direct counseling services, outreach (face to face connection), and referral (Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA available services) for Veterans, Service members, and their families through Vet Centers, Mobile Vet Centers, 24/7 Vet Center Call Center, various Outstations and Community Access Points, and the RCS Contract for Fee program.

Duties

The position works toward the resolution of complex and sensitive issues which impact the effectiveness of RCS services and VHA organizations in general. Such assignments require a high degree of sensitivity and confidentiality by the position. The position provides guidance to staff regarding programmatic and administrative issues, hears and resolves staff complaints, settles minor complaints, and provides status brief and unresolved concerns to the attention of the District Director. The position works with District Leadership preparing both short- and long-range strategic plans for the District to align with the goals of RCS, VHA, and VA. Other duties include but are not limited to: Collects, interprets, and analyzes quantitative and qualitative data relevant to programs being evaluated. Resolves audit and inspection activities, ensuring accuracy and timely completion. Prepares and presents reports, analysis, findings and recommendations. Ensures appropriate allocation and distribution of available awards, providing guidance to meet the required timelines. Performs organizational analysis for agency-wide organizations or programs or a major national mission or function. Analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of programs or operations in meeting established goals and objectives. Participates in substantive reviews of executive correspondence to ensure accurate and timely responses to sensitive inquiries. Acts as liaison to various organizational elements and to external groups to include veterans and their family members, members of Congress and their staffers, both local and national veteran service organization representatives, and any other stakeholder. Develops and oversees agency-wide productivity programs, plans, procedures, and methods. Ensures appropriate allocation and distribution of available awards, providing guidance to meet the required timelines. Other duties assigned per the position description Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm; some evenings and weekends may be required. Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Ad-hoc may be available at supervisor discretion. Per agency guidelines, remote work is NOT available. Virtual: This is a NOT virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD49767A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required NOTE: Selected employee must be located within 50 miles of a VA facility within the District 2 catchment area and have space available for assignment. (Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands) Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial 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 trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/21/2026. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks as a GS-12. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): The 0671 Occupational series has an IOR that must be met: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study - hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. -OR- 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, candidates must also meet the following specialized experience for the grade level. GS-13 Specialized Experience: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: (1) Performs program analysis, including the development of life cycle, cost analysis, performance cost benefit, or economic evaluations of programs; or (2) Develops procedures and systems for establishing, operating, and assessing the effectiveness of administrative control systems or operating programs; or (3) Develops tools and templates, identifies resources and memorializes administrative activities and controls; or (4) Develops and utilizes spreadsheets and tracking tools to monitor assignments; or (5) Prepares and presents reports, analysis, findings and recommendations. Resume must reflect at least 3 of 5 items. 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be 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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. How You Will Be Evaluated

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 for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. 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. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. Other Information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. 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 current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. 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/. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.