Health System Specialist

Summary

This position is in the Office of Quality, Safety, Value & High Reliability at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VASLCHCS) in Salt Lake City, Utah. The duties and responsibilities assigned to this position are prohibited from being performed below the executive team organizational level within a service line because of the facility wide impact the duties and responsibilities performed have on the functioning of the health care delivery system as a whole.

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Duties

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The primary purpose of these positions are to implement Performance Improvement programs independently but linked within the Health Care System level. These positions are responsible for delivering Performance Improvement techniques to a broad array of programs and services throughout the Medical Center, including Lean, Six Sigma, Coaching, Program and/or Project Management, and Training. Some duties associated with this position include, but are not limited to the following:

• Advising leadership in the formulation of planning complex facility wide Strategic Plans and facility wide projects in the execution phase of supporting of Strategic Planning.
• Participates in and facilitates transformative quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency improvement efforts.
• Act as performance improvement leads for healthcare, operational and performance improvements impacting patient care delivery systems and functions throughout the medical center.
• Facilitates, coaches, and trains audiences at all levels of the organizations throughout the lifecycle of a performance improvement plans and/or projects.
• Pull, isolate and manipulate data to identify root causes of a performance issue. Develops statistical models to measure success of performance improvement actions.
• Convert data into numerous formats using advanced statistical models including statistical process control charts, histograms, Pareto charts, and many more.
• Lead a team of subject matter experts, front line staff and leadership through a rigorous and defined project management process utilizing multiple tools from Lean Six Sigma, Lean, VATAMCCS, and other performance improvement disciplines to further define the current state of the process.
• Identify various solutions approaches and when necessary, further leads them through prioritizing exercises with tools like affinity diagrams, PICK Charts and multi-voting.
• Create designs of experiments that align to project goals and team developed solutions. The designs of experiments are hypotheses which are monitored through data for effectiveness or failure. Designs of experiments are often iterative and will involve multiple solutions in random or sequential order.
• Direct the team towards sustainable solutions that are mistake proof. Mistake proofing is designing processes that cannot be performed in error and thus improve the product experience for customers.
• Identify metrics performing below benchmarked standards or falling below the upper or lower control limits of a statistically controlled models such as SAIL.
• Plan and conduct studies directed at reducing errors due to cognitive overloading and human computer interaction failure.
• Collect baseline information, identifies limitations in current systems, and discovers potential improvements.
• Develop benchmarks and assigns a schedule or priority level to a potential process improvement plan and/or project based on the needs of the organization and direct consultation with executive leadership.
• Assess (in terms of degrees) the success or failure in attaining program operational goals/objectives.
• Incorporate recommendations for the resolution of problems identified in studies such as eliminating, adding, changing, or rearranging specific procedures, products or services or making other changes to more efficiently and effectively utilize resources.
• Provide instruction to others on Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Systems Redesign or other improvement methodologies principles and tools through formal classroom instruction or small group mentoring.
• Deliver classroom instruction about Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Systems Redesign or other improvement methodologies tools and techniques to all levels of the organization.
• Deliver training materials and curriculum consisting of advanced practices of project management, statistics, coaching, facilitation and leadership.
• Responsible for leading the team through development of control strategies, to ensure process improvement plan/project solutions are sustained after the process improvement plan/project lifecycle.
• Other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: 7:30am-4:00pm Monday- Friday

Position Description Title/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD12935A

Physical Requirements : The work requires some physical exertion, such as periods of standing when teaching; some walking, bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, or similar activities when visiting work sites; and some moderate lifting and carrying. At other times the work is sedentary, requiring the use of a computer.

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.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work requires some physical exertion, such as periods of standing when teaching; some walking, bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, or similar activities when visiting work sites; and some moderate lifting and carrying. At other times the work is sedentary, requiring the use of a computer.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/02/2026.

Health System Administration Series, 0671 Individual Occupational Requirements:

Undergraduateand 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

Specialized Experience Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management, or supervisory experience. Work must also have involved some form of the following:

• Teaching, training, or instructional experience
• Coaching or mentoring experience
• Project Management or Project Facilitation experience
• Data collection and data analysis and/or data interpretation experience

Work must have involved experience working with stakeholders and/or customers/clients, requiring ability to communicate effectively.

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 IOR you must also meet the following grade and Specialized Experience requirements:

For GS-11 :

• Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-09) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Health System Specialist. Qualifying specialized experience would typically include but not limited to the following: analytical skills, project management, administrative skills, ability to communicate verbally and in writing, ability to manage competing priorities.
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.M., if related . OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and graduate level education as described above, beyond the first year (18 semester hours) to be creditable. To determine if you met these requirements, total your qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determine your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. For example, an applicant has 9 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS-9 and 2 1/2 years of creditable graduate level education in music. The applicant meets 75 percent of the required experience and 50 percent of the required education, i.e., the applicant has 1/2 year of graduate study beyond that required for GS-9. Therefore, the applicant exceeds the total requirement and is qualified for the position. (The applicant's first 2 years of graduate study are not qualifying for GS-11.)
• NOTE : Copies of transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

For GS-12 :

• Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-11) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Health System Specialist. Qualifying specialized experience would typically include but not limited to the following: advanced analytical skills, project management, administrative skills, ability to communicate verbally and in writing, ability to manage competing priorities. Teaching or instructional experience and/or knowledge of coaching and mentoring.

There is no educational substitution for the GS-12 level.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave : Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.