Program Specialist

Summary This position is located at the Jacksonville National Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida. Responsibilities The incumbent reports to the Cemetery Director and has oversight of the administrative responsibilities including budget, correspondence, and work direction of lower grade General Schedule employees. Incumbent analyzes current and proposed program and budget operating programs to evaluate their actual or potential effectiveness in establishing and achieving goals and objectives set by the agency. The incumbent performs budget and program analysis duties and serves as the principal assistant to the Cemetery Director. Assures the coordination of the cemetery's Organization Assessment and National Shrine Standards as well as assists the Cemetery Director in accomplishing a variety of administrative functions. Incumbent compiles and analyzes data, identifies trends, prepares reports, and recommends solutions for resolving problems and to ensure compliance with operational standards and measures. Assignments involve special studies and investigations to promptly detect problem conditions in connect with operations through the cemetery. Resulting recommendations and advice may have impact on more than one interrelated activity and have strong impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of future cemetery program operations. Studies relate to the full scope of interment operations, grounds maintenance operations, headstone/marker/niche cover operations, and equipment maintenance operations, as well as to other topics such as facilities, personnel and security. Objective is to assess the productivity, effectiveness and efficiency of the programs of the cemetery operations and to recommend resolution of problems in a full range of administrative and field activities. Evaluates the overall effectiveness of the primary mission of the cemetery. Scope of work encompasses the evaluation of the effectiveness of the organizational mission and its component activities. Evaluates and monitors the eligibility process to assure that requests are handled timely and compassionately while meeting regulatory requirements. Administers the allocated budget for the Jacksonville VA National Cemetery, including monitoring and tracking of all expenditures in assigned fund control points, including contract maintenance operations. Ensures cemetery compliance with budget performance measures to avoid over-expenditures. Incumbent will assist with development of budget justifications for increases or new requirements. Budgetary procedures require planning for control of resources to support the National Cemetery Resource Management Tool and the local budget activities, both administrative and maintenance operations. The work contributes to complete resource control of funding for personnel, equipment, supplies and materials. Performs office administration manpower reviews to ensure FTEE levels are utilized and to meet allocation allotment from the Southeast District Memorial Service Network (MSN). Incumbent advises and assists on issues that are sensitive and serious in dealing with the public in operation of Jacksonville VA National Cemetery. Problems involve issues such as determining interment eligibility and timely scheduling of committal services of a high-profile nature that may positively or negatively impact the cemetery, NCA or DVA. Prepares necessary correspondence and documentation, including after action reports for significant events. May also be responsible for the collection and manipulation of data obtain through daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual and annual checklists in support of the NCA Organizational Assessment and Improvement (OAI) program. Incumbent may also act as an alternate Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) as needed to provide oversight of numerous contractors and to ensure the completion of those contracted tasks. Incumbent may be temporarily assigned as acting director during director's absence, may perform outreach activities or represent the cemetery at station events, and will perform other duties as assigned. Work schedule: Required to work Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available Telework: Not Available Position Description Title/PD#: Program Specialist/PD137650 Relocation Expenses: Not Authorized Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required If interested in applying for this position you ay preview the online application: Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all specialized experience and time in grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement, 09/21/2026. 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 45 days of 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 your most recent non-award 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 non-award SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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: Experience in Share-point familiarity, working knowledge of MPS operations which include eligibility and applications; experience in BOSS/ AMAS, Birls, VBMS, MPI, VIS, and Microsoft office applications; and quality customer service and data entry. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for the GS-09 grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree OR two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B. or J.D., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work. 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 18 semester hours. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first year or 18 semester hours of graduate level education). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Budget Administration Communications Computer Skills Planning and Evaluating Problem Solving 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. Must possess and maintain a REAL ID compliant valid state driver's license. Physical Requirements: The work is mentally exertive and mostly sedentary. The incumbent will spend a vast majority of the day on a computer, using a keyboard, and holding a telephone. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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. Additional Information Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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 (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: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please 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 document.