Health System Specialist

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Tuskegee, Alabama

Salary Range: $88621 - $115213 Per Year

Job Summary: The incumbent will serve as a Health Systems Specialist (HSS) in the Office of the Director for the VA Central Alabama Health Care System (CAVHCS), supporting the executive functions of the medical center. The HSS will assist in strategic planning and performing a variety of administrative management support functions, providing coordinating support, and guidance for Director's Executive Office.

Major Duties:

Incumbent is involved in joint planning, coordination, and negotiation with respect to policy analysis, management decisions, financial data, and the conduct of highly sensitive policy matters affecting CAVHCS. Coordinates with other services and VISN to ensure that obligations are met (i.e., minutes, agendas, scorecards, monthly reports, website management, data book reports, business plan submissions budget submissions) and coordinates and leads special projects for the Assistant Director. Develops and coordinates action plans. Incumbent participates in strategic planning conferences to include agenda development, preparation of conference materials, planning for conferences, and sending out conference information. The incumbent is responsible for identifying problems that may involve new or revised policies and procedures and bringing them to the attention of CAVHCS management for appropriate action. Participate in site visits to include pulling data, preparing reports, and conducting the site visits. He/she performs his/her duties independently or in conjunction with other facility and/or VISN staff. Assembles and analyzes program data regarding the Network, region, and the agency as a whole. He/she develops, evaluates, and recommends adjustments to organizational structures and management systems working closely with the Assistant Director. Incumbent contributes to the development of structures, systems, and processes for the overall health care delivery system. The incumbent develops and coordinates internal review systems to assure that administrative activities are in line with standards set by various accrediting and regulatory groups and higher agency authorities. Incumbent gathers information and prepares reports in response to various regulatory groups resolving deficiencies noted by initiating corrective actions The incumbent manages special projects for major office or program issues of broad impact. Considers and implements new initiatives and projects to strengthen, facilitate, and integrate programs. Undertakes or participates in special projects, ongoing analyses, investigations, and initiatives that have high priority for high level management. This may involve producing complex analyses and written reports; organizing special committees, workshops, or other gatherings; initiating program reviews; developing or fostering cross-agency activities. Identifies and determines training priorities, conducts, and administers training programs, develops, and improves training guidance. May conduct classroom or other group-setting instruction. The incumbent serves as medical center liaison for the Assistant Director as needed. He/she works closely with counterparts to develop and foster working relationships with other medical centers, and DOD agencies. The incumbent has primary responsibility to develop and enhance opportunities for non-VA care (NVCC) and other inter-governmental sharing opportunities. Works with the Chief of Community Relations and Stakeholders Relations Service personnel for special events throughout the year. Assist with programs for employee recognition and appreciation are regularly scheduled. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. Work schedule subject to change based on agency needs. Telework: Ad-Hoc telework may be available on a case by case basis Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Qualifications: 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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. Individual Occupational Requirement: Applicants who meet the IOR described below are fully qualified for the entry grade but must also meet the specialized experience requirements below. Undergraduate and Graduate Education: In a major study of hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR, Specialized Experience: 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. OR, 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 meeting the above Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) requirements, applicants must also meet the below specialized experience directly related to this position. Specialized Experience: For the GS-12, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: strong analytical skills and background knowledge of administrative principles and healthcare management within the operation of a VA medical center; assessing and evaluating issues on medical center committees, and providing positions on various matters; using VA data systems, locating relevant program data, and analyzing and presenting results effectively; evaluating medical facility programs, identifying and addressing potential problems, and advising on budget formulation and financial implications; and exhibiting effective leadership qualities to manage and coordinate multi-disciplinary professionals. NOTE: One (1) 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 and Work Environment: The work is primarily sedentary although some slight physical effort may be required, walking, and sitting are common parts of the job. The position does not have any physical demands, the incumbent will be required to travel throughout the Medical Center. Most work will take place in an office setting. Although driving to locations in the community and neighboring cities and states are necessary on a routine basis. Work is performed primarily indoors in lighted heated/airconditioned offices. Some events are held outdoors in warm or cool temperatures. Normal risks and requirements of an office in a medical facility. 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: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 11/18/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12828470. 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 and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. 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 https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ 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/. 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.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-18