Program Support Assistant

Summary

This position is located in the Support Services Division (SSD) of the Houston RO, where the incumbent provides program, technical and administrative assistance to the Administrative Officer and SSD Chief and other subordinate management within the division.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

Specific duties include:

• Prepares, assembles, and correlates information in connection with surveys and one-time reports required by the Regional Office (RO), or Division management regarding administrative support functions from other divisions and outside sources of data.
• Processes incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communications.
• Reviews and analyzes these materials, determines action necessary, researches and assembles background information, and refers said materials to the appropriate section when necessary.
• Edits documents, composes letters and reports, reviews correspondence for accuracy and completeness, prepares public presentation outlines, and develops standard for form letters and replies to inquiries.
• Liaises with the customer and identifies requirements for equipment purchase, lease, trade-in, excess, move to another location, warranty periods, etc. and then passes those requirements on to the appropriate Administrative Section staff for action.
• The incumbent maintains the official station control log / history file for circulars, bulletins, and memoranda and assigns numbers and dates and recession / retention folders on these as required.
• Reviews and makes changes/ corrections to the RO's controlled publications (circulars, bulletins, memoranda) to ensure proper format is used. Updates and revises publications issued by SSD and prepares "Justification for Proposed Field Station Issue" for appropriate concurrence.
• Maintains the confidential records for SSD, including records concerning individual performance, disciplinary actions, awards, and similar information for all employees of the Division.
• As a purchase card holder, always secures purchase card, identifies correct accounting string or budget object codes (BOCs) for appropriate transactions as required within VA 's credit card system.
• Maintains receipts or other necessary documentation for reconciliation purposes. Reconciles statements and forwards to approving officials within required time frames.
• Serves as the principal timekeeper for SSD and may support other division timekeeper needs by serving as an alternate timekeeper. May have duties in the PIV issuance process and may serve as one of the facility's PIV Card issuers.
• Receives all SSD visitors and callers. Screens telephone calls for the Administrative Officer and or the SSD Chief and forwards only those calls requiring the Administrative Officer or SSD Chiefs attention.

Work Schedule : Full time, Monday through Friday, 07:30 A.M. to 04:00 P.M.

Compressed/Flexible: Available

Telework : Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD# : Program Support Assistant; PD37329A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

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 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.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• 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 I-9 Acceptable Documents.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by 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.

• For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level.
• If you are a current VBA employee outside of the commuting area seeking reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-06 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least None.

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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

GS-06 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least to the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to performing the following duties: composing, reviewing, and editing correspondence, auditing statistical data, assessing organizational workflow, providing budgetary recommendations, and serving as the principal timekeeper..

Volunteer Experience: 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.

Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week.

Physical Requirements: Work requires some physical exertion such as extended periods of standing frequent bending, reaching or similar activities necessary to set up, operate, adjust and monitor operation of the equipment. The employee lifts a variety of moderately heavy materials and supplies such as mailbags or large quantities of paper stock.

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

Education

There is no education substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the VA prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. Visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness, va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.

The 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 (copy of the agency notice, most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

Placement Policy: Posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy by promotion. Position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement.

Policy of the VA is to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

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

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members : Visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions.

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.

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.

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.