Executive Secretary

Executive Secretary

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Atlanta, Georgia

Salary Range: $65271 - $84857 Per Year

Job Summary: The primary responsibility is to perform as the principal office assistant to the Executive Deputy Director of the Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center (AVMC). The incumbent is the primary back-up to the Executive Secretary to the Director and assists the Executive Deputy Director in carrying out the mission of the Medical Center.

Major Duties:

• MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Administrative Assistance 30% The incumbent maintains liaison and communicates with persons and groups from both within and outside the office, speaking for the Deputy Director on administrative issues. They provide support functions to applicable committees as assigned by the Executive Deputy Director. The Executive Secretary instructs and assists AVMC secretaries in the administrative and clerical offices on correct correspondence procedures. The incumbent screens incoming directives, being situationally aware of changes in policies and procedures. They notify appropriate staff officials of the need for information and/or recommendations, either prepare the responses or follow up on procedural materials to ensure a timely response. The Executive Secretary attends meetings and conferences with the Executive Deputy Director, when requested, taking notes on the proceedings. The incumbent makes all necessary arrangements for the Deputy Director's travel, arranges schedule of visits, makes transportation and hotel reservations, and notifies organizations and officials to be visited. They prepare travel advances as necessary and ensure the Deputy Director has the advance prior to travel. The Executive Secretary prepares the final package the day before the Executive Deputy Director begins travel with ticket, itinerary, etc., if necessary, with directions. They make travel and hotel arrangements and varied accommodations for dignitaries, VACO personnel and other VIP's as necessary to ensure that their travel and visit are pleasant. Office Management 25% The incumbent receives, schedules, refers, and contacts members of the staff, agency, and persons outside the agency ranging from other government agencies to the general public. The individual responds to administrative problems brought to the supervisor's attention by members of the staff or management officials outside the organization or outside of the agency. They notify the appropriate subordinate management officials of the need for information or recommendation, and either prepare the response or follow up to ensure timely response by others. The Executive Secretary develops routine plans/schedules using standard references and existing information. Word Processing 25% The incumbent exercises exclusive control over the Executive Deputy Director's appointments/calendar, with complete authority to commit time. They set up priorities, shifting rescheduling or refusing appointments or invitations by utilizing intimate knowledge of the Deputy Director's wishes and availability. When necessary, they decline invitations to meetings, etc., arranges for representation by a subordinate official when that is desirable. The Executive Secretary follows up to make sure that the situations are taken care of in a timely manner. The incumbent informs the Deputy Director after the matter is taken care of so that he/she is aware of the situation. The incumbent serves as a back-up to the Congressional Liaison Officer assisting with the timely closeout of congressional inquiries by reviewing the information and assigning the applicable service line within the Patient Advocate Tracking System for response. Office Automation 20% The incumbent screens all visitors and telephone calls to the Deputy Director. They determine the nature of the call or business of the visitor. The individual uses their own judgement when answering most questions and completes most business involving established policy, provides information, refers to other members of the Health System Director's staff, or arranges for the Deputy Director to personally handle the matter if necessary. They route matters requiring action by other staff members and follows up to ensure timely completion. Of those requests requiring the Executive Deputy Director's personal attention, the individual suggests a course of action when possible. The incumbent screens all calls to the Executive Deputy Director from the VISN, Central Office, Congressional staff, Veteran Service Organizations, other Federal/State/local agencies/organizations answering questions, or referring them to the Deputy Director or as appropriate other staff members. The Executive Secretary trains all Medical Center secretaries in correspondence preparation. They direct the establishment and maintenance of the file and publications system of the Director's office, assuring compliance with governing regulations. The incumbent serves as the timekeeper for front office staff. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: Ad-hoc is available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Executive Secretary/ PD112110 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/27/2026. 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-8 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 independently performing or delegating routine and non-routine work based on the commitments, goals, policies, priorities, and responsibilities of an Executive Leadership Team. Experience researching and utilizing VA, VISN, and Medical Center-level policies, operations, and procedures to perform administrative and clerical functions. Experience utilizing proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling in the creation and dissemination of official VA correspondence. Experience reviewing and updating service level and facility level operating procedures and regulations related to administrative processes. Experience advising and instructing other secretarial staff on administrative operations and regulations. Experience operating office equipment to include (but not limited to) a computer and associated software programs, a multi-line telephone system, tele-video conferencing equipment, copy and facsimile machines, tape/digital recording devices, etc. 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/.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12913396. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 03/27/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit

Application Deadline: 2026-03-27