Secretary

Summary

The Secretary serves as an executive secretary for the Chief of Staff. This position works at a comprehensive healthcare facility serving the needs of veterans in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. The office is an administrative/clinical service responsible for assessing, planning, implementing, evaluating, and managing the patient care using collaborative strategies with others within the medical center, community, VISN and VA Central Office.

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Duties

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Major duties will include but may not be limited to the following:

SECRETARIAL SUPPORT

• Serve as the initial point of contact for high-level visitors and callers to office, establishing the nature and importance of the contact
• Prioritize and determine which administrative issues need to be brought to the attention of the Chief Of Staff (COS) in order of their importance
• Serve as the principal administrative support for the COS, responsible for carrying out and coordinating all the clerical and daily administrative support activities of the office.
• H a good working knowledge of programs under the supervisor's jurisdiction, have an intimate knowledge of his/her policies, views and special interest, including his/her official social obligations.
• Greet visitors and patients to the office, referring any inquiries or complaints to the appropriate offices when indicated
• Receive and screen telephone calls and visitors, using self-initiative to determine the nature of the business and either manage it independently or refer to the proper individual to expedite all requests to that office.
• Contact others to gather information needed by the executive and assemble all background data prior to presenting problems or paperwork to him/her.
• Arrange for meetings, make reservations for meeting room, and notifies participants
• Reminds the management staff in the office of appointments and briefs them on important matters scheduled to be discussed

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

• Based on knowledge of purpose of conferences and the topics to be discussed, determines which staff members are to attend and informs them of data to be presented.
  Organizes conference calls for other supervisory staff, arranges for interviews with applicants etc.
  Checks on progress of projects or required actions and keeps Executive informed.
• Act as liaison between the Executive and subordinate staff offices
• Answer inquiries from Services on such topics as policies, publications, directives, circulars, and regulations
• Initiate implementation of new policies established by the Executive
• Prepares for the upcoming meetings and conferences based upon knowledge of current issues of importance and workload, presenting material/data to be discussed at the meeting
• Reschedules appointments/discussions with personnel when it becomes apparent that the Executive will not be able to meet the previous scheduled date
• Receive and listen to complaints and grievances from patient or from individuals on behalf of patients (family members, congressional aides, etc.)
• Investigate the complaint, initiate action or changes necessary to rectify the situation, and reports corrective action taken to patient and/or representative
• Assist administrative personnel by not only screening and obtaining information from patients, families, medical staff members and visitors, but also resolve many of these concerns without further referral to supervisors
• Obtain all information possible, determine the operating official concerned, and suggest a conference to resolve the problem. Makes written summarization of all official calls or visitors received and provides other with information as necessary
• Act as Veteran's advocate using seasoned judgment to resolve problems, including referring cases to the Medical Center Patient Advocates as warranted
• Prepare Reports of Contact of such action, if necessary, to notify the Director, Associate Directors, facility patient advocates, and Chief of Staff
• Take and transcribe dictation from the Executive as required for meetings which he/she chairs and prepares minutes within five days after the meeting is held for distribution
• Type in correct format Service Memorandums, Medical Center Memorandums and Clinical Memorandum published by the Office via Outlook and the Intranet
• Type various forms of correspondence which include replies to congressional inquiries, White House correspondence, VA headquarters referrals, letters from patients, visitors, vendors, etc.
• Type confidential reports, counseling's, evaluations, and confidential administrative and professional matters pertaining to the administration of the services reporting to the Executive
• Handle faxes and overnight priority mail from the Executive to members of Nationwide Task Force and Headquarters members, VISN Office, various community hospitals, community colleges, Universities, and VA Hospitals and for supervisory staff
• Coordinate VANTS, VTEL and other teleconference calls and type minutes of the proceedings and correspondence for various Task Force and Board of Directors projects that the Executive is involved with.

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

Telework: Ad-hoc as determined by Agency policy

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Secretary/ PD20217O

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

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: Work is primarily sedentary. The work places no special physical demands on the employee other than some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as folders, reports, books, files; etc. However, there is a high level of stress due to demanding deadlines and the need for a high degree of accuracy.
• 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, 07/30/2026.

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-08 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: Serving as the initial point of contact for high-level visitors and callers to an office, establishing the nature and importance of the contact. On your own initiative, prioritize and determine which administrative issues need to be brought to the attention of the Chief Of Staff (COS) or similar Leadership/ Senior Management Official in order of their importance. Serve as the principal administrative support for the COS or other Management and is responsible for carrying out and coordinating all the clerical and daily administrative support activities of the office. In addition to having a good working knowledge of programs under the supervisor's jurisdiction, must have an intimate knowledge of his/her policies, views and special interest, including his/her official social obligations.

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.

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.

Whole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest. The VA is committed to Whole Health and values Veteran and Employee health and wellbeing. As a VA employee, you will practice Whole Health in an environment that supports personalized and proactive care.

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.