Secretary (OA)

Summary

This position is located in the Executive Office at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS), a two division facility providing primary (including mental health care), specialty and tertiary referral care for Veterans.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

This position provides secretarial support to the medical center Director. Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provides telephone and receptionist services. Receives schedules, refers and/or contacts members of the medical center V20 and VA Central Office staff and persons outside the agency including other government agencies, Veterans and their families, and the general public.
• Screens all calls and visitors answering most questions and completing most business involving established policy or routine matters without referring people to the supervisor.
• Maintains records of leave and attendance.
• Requisitions office supplies, repairs for office equipment and printing services.
• Maintains the office filing systems.
• Serves as a liaison to other managers and staff within the medical center providing advice on procedures, reports, requirements, and other matters necessary to implement the facility's policies directives and instructions.
• Responds to administrative problems brought to the supervisor attention by members of the medical center staff or management officials outside the organization and/or the agency. Notifies the appropriate subordinate management officials of the need for information or recommendations and either prepares the response or follow up to ensure timely response by others.
• Plans and arranges for the preparation of information needed for budget reports.
• Makes arrangements for travel and large conferences including developing information for use in the conferences.
• Performs office duties such as electronic mail, desktop publishing, calendar, spreadsheet, database, and or graphic software.
• Provides general clerical services such as maintaining electronic files, solving operating or user problems, or utilizing advanced software functions. Uses MS word or comparable word processing software to execute several office functions such as storing and retrieving electronic documents and files, activating printers, inserting and deleting texts, formatting letters, reports and memoranda, and transmitting and receiving e-mail and MS Excel or other comparable spreadsheet software to develop and change spreadsheets in order to graphically display data.
• Schedules appointments coordinates meetings and/or schedules conferences including general calendar maintenance, recording appointments, arranging meetings and small conference administrative details and following up on action items with appropriate staff members independently.

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.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm

Telework: This position may be authorized for telework on an as needed (ad hoc) basis, determined by the needs of the service.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/ PD410180 and PD410190

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Requirements

Help

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 07/06/2026.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7.

For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8.

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.

Please note: In addition to meeting experience requirements, applicants for this position must show possession of the following proficiency: Ability to type 40 words per minute. Applicants may meet this requirement by passing the appropriate performance test, presenting a certificate of proficiency from a school or other organization authorized to issue such certificates by the Office of Personnel Management local office, or by self-certifying their proficiency. Performance test results and certificates of proficiency are acceptable for 3 years.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

GS-8 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: With significant oversight, knowledge of the administrative concepts, principles and practices sufficient to independently eliminate conflict and duplication in extensive office procedures; knowledge of the supervisors policies and views on all significant matters affecting the organization in order to develop materials for the supervisor use in public speaking engagements and brief or advise staff members or persons outside the organization on the supervisor's views on current issues; knowledge of office routines and procedures sufficient to receive and refer phone calls and visitors to staff members; knowledge of a range of common clerical practices and procedures sufficient to file materials and obtain requested information; ability to coordinate the work of the office with work of other offices; knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation and required formats sufficient to recognize and correct errors in correspondence and reports.

GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-8 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of the administrative concepts, principles and practices sufficient to independently eliminate conflict and duplication in extensive office procedures; knowledge of the supervisors policies and views on all significant matters affecting the organization in order to develop materials for the supervisor use in public speaking engagements and brief or advise staff members or persons outside the organization on the supervisor's views on current issues; knowledge of office routines and procedures sufficient to receive and refer phone calls and visitors to staff members; knowledge of a range of common clerical practices and procedures sufficient to file materials and obtain requested information; ability to coordinate the work of the office with work of other offices; knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation and required formats sufficient to recognize and correct errors in correspondence and reports.

Preferred Experience: Secretarial support and administrative duties, office coordination and management, public contact work (answering telephones and screening calls referring visitors receiving inquiries), processing incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memorandums, and other forms of written communication, electronically scheduling and maintaining appointments, time keeping, and purchasing office supplies and equipment.

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.

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.

Help

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.

Review our benefits

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.