Health System Specialist

Health System Specialist

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): West Haven, Connecticut

Salary Range: $59465 - $94563 Per Year

Job Summary: The Health System Specialist - is assigned to the Executive Director's Office, at VA Connecticut HCS West Haven, functioning as a liaison to multiple staff offices and serves as the conduit for information flow and management of assignments between such offices. Monitors and manages incoming actions and requests from initial receipt to completion and closeout. Analyzes the subject matter of incoming information that is generally procedural and factual in nature for appropriate distribution

Major Duties:

• Major duties include, but are not limited to: Conducts routine studies on particular operational processes, issue topics, or related special projects where successive steps in fact-finding are utilized. Serves as the responsible contact for leading these projects from initiation to completion. Uses standard reference materials to develop straightforward position papers that touch on sensitive issues such as the quality or timeliness of veteran care issues. Works in coordination with other internal reviewing services regarding routine audits and internal/external reviews of a national concern; i. e, fiscal efficiencies and organizational structure that are reviewed by prominent parties such as the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) or the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Communicates with responsible staff agency members to ensure completion of all requested actions and appropriately closes out all requests. Works closely with senior management and others in implementing and evaluating policies, plans, and internal operational systems such as correspondence management, information tracking among pertinent offices and stakeholders, and internal/external communication flows. Functions in myriad roles by contacting and engaging with various administrative program officials within Headquarters and in the field to manage, coordinate, and complete various routine assignments or projects that involve or are initiated by these officials. Manages and coordinates all online communication tools such as assigned intranet websites, internal SharePoint website collection, and other related informational tools in consultation with communication specialists. Assures compliance with all applicable policies, and development and maintenance of internal management processes related to these online tools. Coordinates routine events hosted by officials, including town hall meetings with internal staff, with assistance from continuing educational staff and initiatives when warranted. Completes all steps required within an event management process, including facilitating selection of the event time, developing a formal agenda, managing any required contracts and all logistical items, disseminating information to attendees, and ensuring smooth execution of the event. Works with various boards to coordinate regular committee meetings, ensuring all event management steps are completed. Coordinates with the appropriate individuals or offices to develop proposals and supporting materials for presentation at conferences, meetings, hearings and other external activities and meetings. Briefs and advises senior management on agenda issues in preparation for activities and meetings and may represent the office on very routine issues at internal or external activities or meetings. 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 to Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Ad-Hoc Telework is Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD03608-A and PD03607-A This position is not a Bargaining Unit position. May be required to attend conference at other facilities or other VA sites on occasion. Current Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is in the Competitive Service. Time-in-Grade Restriction: 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. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment. Veterans' preference does not apply for other current permanent Federal agency employees

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/13/2026 Individual Occupational Requirements: 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. AND 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5 grade level and For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7 grade level. 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 must qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-7 Level Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Qualifying specialized experience is defined as 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: (1) Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; (2) Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and (3) Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must one (1) full year of graduate education. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration). Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position; OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position (i.e. hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as course work in health care administration). Only education beyond a bachelors degree may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-07 level. GS-9 Level 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. Qualifying specialized experience would be defined as coordinating routine events hosted by officials, including town hall meetings with internal staff, with assistance from continuing educational staff and initiatives when warranted. Completing all steps required within an event management process, including facilitating selection of the event time, developing a formal agenda, managing any required contracts and all logistical items, disseminating information to attendees, and ensuring smooth execution of the event. Working with various boards to coordinate regular committee meetings, ensuring all event management steps are completed. Coordinating with the appropriate individuals or offices to develop proposals and supporting materials for presentation at conferences, meetings, hearings and other external activities and meetings. Briefing and advising senior management on agenda issues in preparation for activities and meetings and may represent the office on very routine issues at internal or external activities or meetings. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a masters or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR a related LL.M or J.D to the work of the position; 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 one (1) year of graduate education. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first year of graduate education). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Information Management Interpersonal Skills 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 sedentary. Some travel is required. No other special physical demands are required of this work. 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 03/13/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12898252. 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/ 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 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: 2026-03-13