Staff Assistant

Staff Assistant

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Portland, Oregon

Salary Range: $53831 - $69984 Per Year

Job Summary: The Staff Assistant is located at the Portland VA Medical Center (PVAMC) in Research and Development (R&D). PVAMC is a large, complex hospital and one of two tertiary referral centers for VISN 20. The position reports directly to the Administrative Officer/Administrative Director of R&D, but often works directly with the Research Associate Chief of Staff (ACOS) and Deputy ACOS along with Principal Investigators (PI's), Administrative Officers (AO's) and Office of Research & Development (ORD).

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: Assists with the acquisition and inventory of resource materials and equipment including telephones, computers, printers, fax machines, filing cabinets, desks, archive boxes, etc. Performs administrative work, which includes management of research leadership schedules or day-to-day plans. Identifies schedule/time required, and estimates resources required and assists and updates office documents, standard operating procedures, and related materials. Establishes and maintains files of correspondence and other documents related to investigations, performance appraisals, competency folders and other sensitive matters. Independently responds to general inquiries from investigators, program participants, staff, and other stakeholders. Creates, maintains and updates without compensation process tracking spreadsheet for easy identification of where individuals are within the process. Provides continuous and ongoing monitoring of licensures, certifications, and privileges as required by positions. Works with admin staff to ensure security clearances and computer access prior to onboarding. Assists with the office set-up, ordering appropriate equipment, making sure appropriate folders are assigned and helping with requesting access to email groups, website access, etc. Assists with reviewing new content for compliance with all mandates, requirements, and best practices for VA program internet sites. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: M-F (8am - 4:30pm) Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized

Qualifications: For GS-7: 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. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) For more information regarding SAA please visit http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e5.asp#e4f. OR Graduate Education: Possess at least one full year of graduate level study, or possess a master's or higher degree in a field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR Specialized Experience: Possess at least one year of research experience in performing administrative work such as management of research leadership schedules or day-to-day plans; assisting with and updating office documents or related materials; establishing and maintaining files of correspondence and other documents related to investigations, competency folders, and/or other sensitive matters. OR Combining Education and Experience: Possess an equivalent combination of graduate education and experience to meet the total experience requirements for the GS-7 grade level. NOTE: To calculate the combination of education and experience, determine the amount of experience you have as a percentage for the grade level. Then determine the amount of education you have as a percentage for the grade level. Add the two percentages; the total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify for the grade level. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) Preferred Experience: Advanced knowledge in advanced databases and tracking mechanisms including ACCESS database management, Access to Power Bi conversion, as well as human resources experience for federal employees. 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/12853617. 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, 12/22/2025. 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. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. 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: 2025-12-22