Program Specialist

Program Specialist

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Columbus, Ohio

Salary Range: $52654 - $83733 Per Year

Job Summary: The position serves as a Program Specialist assigned to the Survivors Assistance and Memorial Support (SAMS) Program under the Chief, Social Work, and Integrated Care as a primary person responsible for the SAMS Program facility - Columbus VA Medical Center. SAMS's focus is to provide personalized, supportive services to families, caregivers, and survivors at the end of a Veteran's life and ensure Veterans without identified family receive dignified burials to honor their service.

Major Duties:

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** This position involves a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-9. At the GS-7 grade level, you will perform assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-9. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of higher-level work, and availability of funds. Major Duties and Responsibilities: Provides management and oversight of all aspects of the decedent care program at our facility and works from the decedent care directive to develop standard operating procedures. Reviews eligibility and entitlement of burial and death allowances and advises on the process for applying for those benefits. Requests any clinical staff involved with care prior to death contact the survivor within 24 hours of the pronouncement of death. Records and transcribes providers' requests for permission from the legal next of kin or other designee by law to conduct an autopsy. Coordinates release of remains with appropriate services/outside agencies in the event of autopsy, or organ/tissue/body donation. Coordinates with Pathology Services to complete all forms and paperwork required to release the deceased remains to selected funeral home. Investigates and analyzes adverse quality trends or conditions and initiates corrective action. Consults with staff and managers to identify opportunities for quality improvement. Collaborates with palliative care to promote quality end-of-life care by assisting in developing action plans and process improvements related to quantitative and qualitative reporting from the Bereaved Family Survey. Implements information systems to track service activities including visits, referrals, demographics, and outcomes. Evaluates program progress and outcomes using data to modify and improve the facility program and processes. Maintains proficiency in using local, regional, and national databases and conducts appropriate queries to answer questions about trends in patient care. Collects and manages new data about current practices in the department and across sites of care. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: To be discussed if selected for an interview Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Qualifications: For GS-7: Possess at least (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-5 grade level in federal service that equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position to be filled. Specialized experience is possessing of administrative and program principles and concepts in related programs; performing analytical studies and interpretation of results to coordinate the evaluation of medical or scientific programs and policies to recommend improvements. OR Possess at least (1) full year of graduate education. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this. Education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR Possess an equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate level of education and experience as described above to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels. To be computed by first determining the total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR Superior Academic Achievement at the GS-7 level: (SAA) at the baccalaureate level in the coursework detailed above is fully qualifying. Applicants who wish to apply under this provision must submit proof from their educational institution that they meet one of the criteria listed below. To qualify for SAA, applicants must have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled and meet one of the following: Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university or major subdivision. A grade-point average of "B" (a GPA of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. A grade point average of "B+" (a GPA of 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. For a list of recognized honor societies please visit http://www.achsnatl.org/quick_link.asp. For more information regarding SAA please visit http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e5.asp#e4f. OR For GS-9: Possess at least (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service that equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position to be filled. Specialized experience is possessing of administrative and program principles and concepts in related programs; performing analytical studies and interpretation of results to coordinate the evaluation of medical or scientific programs and policies to recommend improvements; understanding of budget, purchasing, personnel, or standard processes and procedures for evaluating program efficiency to implement processes to improve programs. OR Possess a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR Possess a combination of successfully completed graduate level of education and experience to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels. To be computed by first determining the total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-9. (TRANSCRIPTS 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/.

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 assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. 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 questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12954424. 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, 05/13/2026. After submitting the online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder. IMPORTANT: If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements. 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 at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found in your USAJOBS account under the "Track my application" link for the corresponding application. 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 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: 2026-05-13