Program Specialist

Summary

The Program Specialist works directly under the Assistant Hospital Housekeeping Officer of the Environmental Management Services (EMS) in the Northern California Health Care System (NCHCS) and is responsible for providing guidance and/or advice to achieve effective overall objectives, goals, and policies when dealing with unusual situation in the Quality Assurance Programs(s).

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Duties

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• Works and communicates with clients and customers (e.g., any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit provides, including individuals who work in your agency or in other agencies or organizations outside the Government) to satisfy their expectations.
• Conducts quality services reports.
• Develops training for all supervisors and leaders using the Talent Management System (TMS), keeping abreast of new courses, new technology, updated training modules, and other training requirements that are required in person and uploaded into TMS (N95, or current CDC approved, mask for yearly fit testing).
• Presents information, creates training materials, and training of employees on a repeated basis in their respective positions; the presentation must be at the level in which the respective employees can comprehend the in-formation and be able to distinguish between differences in procedures followed, products used, and reporting of injury/exposure.
• Seeks to cost- effectively meet or exceed compliance with applicable Federal, state and local environmental, public health, and resource protection laws, regulations, and VA requirements.
• Familiarizes themselves with how their activities, including purchasing, consumption, and recycling decisions impact VA's goal to implement sound stewardship practices that are protective of the air, water, land, and other natural and cultural resources.
• Knows of the concepts, principles, theories, and methods to protect and improve the quality of the environment and its resources; and to monitor, control, abate, and prevent pollutants. Uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills; uses training, feedback, or other opportunities for self-learning and development.
• Provides formal and on-the-job training and instruction for managers and supervisors within the Environmental Management Service (EMS).
• Provides acquisition support from the acquisition planning stage to the contract administration, contract implementation, and activation stages.
• Completes the procurement and administration of contracts for non-personal services, supplies, and equipment for housekeeping or textile services.
• Establishes and maintains a master file of all inter/intra-service support agreements, memorandums of understanding, and memorandums of agreement involving the department and/or Northern California Health Care System (NCHCS).
• Evaluates performance against contractual requirements and/or performance standards. Inspects completed services and notifies internal leadership, Contracting Officer, and contractor of violations or deficiencies found during inspections or reported and verified, particularly in the areas of critical technical performance (inpatient care, critical care, and other areas that patients are frequently cared for).
• Identifies actual or potential slippages in contract schedules and recommends appropriate action to the Contracting Officer such as withholding payment, re-negotiations of certain clauses, new equipment, products, or cleaning techniques.
• Develops contract surveillance plans in accordance with the Quality Assurance Performance Standards (QAPS) and quality assurance policy requirements.
• Performs systematic evaluations and verifications for all elements including contract review, inspection system evaluation, evaluation, and validation of all operations for assigned items.
• Ensures contractor is provided copies of any written deficiencies for same or next day corrections and re-inspection. Responsible for ensuring that the contractor maintains accurate inspection data for the VA auto-mated system (SOARD/MAXIMO) for contracted services.
• Ensures the contractor adheres to the terms set forth in the contract and meets stringent Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards for prevention of infectious diseases.
• Advises on the administrative and technical aspects of the hospital's Environmental Sanitation Program, leaving the planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and evaluation of the program to the supervisors and/or respective housekeeping contractors.
• Coordinates the housekeeping program activities with housekeeping supervisors and/or respective contractors.
• Understands and interprets written material, including technical material, rules, regulations, instructions, reports, charts, graphs, or tables; applies what is learned from written material to specific situations.

Work Schedule: Varies

Compressed/Flexible: Not available

Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist / PD01127O

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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 or 2-year trial 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 or trial 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, 10/08/2026.

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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Develops and implements quality assurance plans to evaluate the in-house and contractor's conformance to contractual and quality assurance performance standard requirements.
• Establishes techniques, procedures, and requirements concerning methods to implement surveillance techniques for evaluations of contractor's performance, perform surveillance, investigate customer complaints, and prepare deficiency reports.
• Knows about hospital regulated medical waste to include the collection transportation, destruction requirements, government regulatory requirements, and disposal procedures.

OR,

Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 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 (unofficial transcripts required).

OR,

Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience as described above, and graduate education as described above which totals at least one year. [To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.].

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Hazardous Materials
• Quality Management

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.

This position will close once the applicant of 30 is reached on that day at 11:59pm EST or on the closing date.

Physical Requirements: Duties involves walking, bending, and climbing to inspect facilities throughout NCHCS, standing while monitoring in-house and/or contractor operations as well as lifting and carrying items for inspection purposes. The work is mostly sedentary but involves walking and minor lifting of office equipment and supplies, Environment of Care (EOC) rounds, conducting internal inspections, and traveling from site to site.

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

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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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.

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.