Clinical Administrative Specialist

Summary

The Clinical Administrative Specialist for Surgical Service at the VA St. Louis Health Care System (VASTLHCS) provides administrative support essential to the effective operation of Surgical Service across two campuses and associated Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). Duties include resource and equipment management, procurement and contract coordination, workflow and process improvement, and support of Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) activities.

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Duties

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The Clinical Administrative Specialist serves as the principal administrative specialist for Surgical Service, supporting operations across the John Cochran and Jefferson Barracks campuses and associated Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). Major duties include, but are not limited to:

Serves as the primary resource and asset manager for Surgical Service, providing oversight of surgical and perioperative equipment, supplies, and operational resources. Manages Equipment Inventory Lists (EIL), conducting lifecycle planning, replacement scheduling, asset verification, maintenance coordination, and risk mitigation for high-value clinical assets. Prepares Clinical Product Review Committee (CPRC) and Strategic Equipment Planning Guide/Enterprise Equipment Request (SEPG/EER) submissions, capital justifications, technical specifications, and cost analyses. Coordinates standard operating procedure (SOP) development, training, and clinical in-service for High-Cost High-Tech (HCHT) equipment with vendors and Biomedical Engineering prior to deployment.

Serves as the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for Surgical Service, establishing and managing equipment procurement, service contracts, consignment contracts, and clinical staffing contracts. Conducts market research to identify products, vendors, and sources supporting procurement actions. Certifies invoices and coordinates corrective actions with contracting officials. Manages the onboarding lifecycle for contracted staff, tracking background clearances, Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentialing, privileging actions, and system access provisioning.

Performs process improvement, workflow optimization, documentation compliance monitoring, and systems transition activities. Reviews operational workflows related to clinics, consults, perioperative support, scheduling, and documentation timeliness, and identifies inefficiencies and bottlenecks. Collects, compiles, and analyzes operational data and develops dashboards, reports, and management tools for leadership. Conducts root-cause reviews and maps current and proposed workflows. Monitors service-level compliance with clinical documentation and administrative requirements, issues deficiency notifications, tracks resolution, and produces compliance summary reports. Designs and maintains SharePoint sites, document libraries, automated workflows, tracking tools, and reporting dashboards, and trains staff on their use. Serves as the primary administrative point of coordination for Surgical Service Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) readiness, supporting workflow mapping, gap identification, data validation, training, milestone tracking, and post-go-live stabilization.

Provides administrative coordination and program support for clinical operations, personnel actions, correspondence, records management, and systems support. Manages clinic grids, appointment types, and provider templates; monitors utilization, consult timeliness, and encounter completion; and leads implementation of corrective actions.

Work Schedule: to be negotiated.

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#: Clinical Administrative Specialist/ PD105440

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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 required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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, 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, 08/11/2026.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience serving as a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) administering service, consignment, and clinical staffing contracts.
• Experience preparing acquisition documents such as PWS, SOW, IGCE, QASP, and J&A in accordance with the FAR and VA acquisition policy.
• Experience managing equipment inventory, lifecycle planning, and procurement in a clinical or healthcare setting.
• Experience with SharePoint and Power Automate to build and maintain administrative workflow and tracking tools.
• Experience serving as an Automated Data Processing Application Coordinator (ADPAC) or supporting VA information systems access management.

Quality Ranking Factors are knowledge, skills, and abilities that could enhance performance in the position but are not required for qualification. Applicants who possess these will be ranked higher; however, failure to meet these factors will not eliminate an applicant from consideration.

• COR Level II certification with experience working HCHT (High-Cost High-Tech) contracts.
• COR Level I certification with two or more years of experience managing equipment and contracts.
• COR Level I certification with one or more years of experience managing HCHT equipment procurement.

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-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience in contracting as it relates to clinical staffing contracts and preparing acquisition document. Experience managing equipment inventory and procurement in a clinical or healthcare setting. Proficient with SharePoint and other document management platforms to build and maintain admin workflow. Experience as an ADPAC (Automated data processing application coordinator) OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral Degree or 3 years 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 an combination of specialized experience and education beyond.

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

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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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