Health System Specialist

Summary

The Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System (RHJHCS) in Charleston, SC, is seeking a Health System Specialist to serve within the Office of the Assistant Director, Community Based and Outpatient Operations. The primary function of this position is serving as the system's Space Planner. This position offers the opportunity to play an active role in the management of a major tertiary care teaching hospital and its extensive outpatient network serving Veterans across South Carolina and Georgia.

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Duties

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DUTIES:

Operational Management of a Complex Health Care Delivery System

• Conduct management and program analytics, including quantitative and qualitative analysis of Specialty Care, Mental Health, and Primary Care data, such as access and clinical infrastructure metrics.
• Develop goals and objectives integrating national directives with facility requirements; interpret and apply VA, VISN, and VHA policies across strategic planning, financial management, infrastructure, safety, legal, and quality assurance domains.
• Review resource levels, recommend allocation distributions, and brief executive leadership on findings, including sensitive or controversial matters.
• Collaborate on special studies, reviews, and program evaluations related to leasing and VA-DoD sharing initiatives.
• Provide program, capital, and space planning support; oversee workload projections, space management, and allocation processes.
• Serve as Co-Chair of the Space Committee, coordinating space requests, communicating decisions to service lines, and presenting recommendations to the Resource Management Board and Governing Board.

Project Management

• Provide staff assistance to the Assistant Director and senior management on professional services matters.
• Interact with all levels of Medical Center personnel, the Network Director's Office, VA Central Office, and other federal/non-federal agencies.
• Help formulate health care management policies, programs, and operations; analyze program effectiveness against established goals.
• Develop procedures for administrative control systems and support audits, inspections, and management reviews.
• Prepare reports and briefings on study results.

Work Schedule: 7:30am - 4:00pm; Monday - Friday

Telework: Ad-hoc only

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/ PD115070

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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 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, 10/01/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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:

• Individual Occupation Requirements:
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR
  • Specialized Experience
    • Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:
      
      
      • Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
      • Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and
      • Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.
• Special Provision for Inservice Placement:
  • Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included:
    
    
    • Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements;
    • Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and
    • Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.
• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: collecting, analyzing and interpreting a wide variety of data and reporting results; using software to perform data analysis; leading communities and/or other groups in coordinating work efforts; interpreting and developing standards, policies, and/or regulations; measures and accesses clinical business activities with an emphasis on improving clinical product line performance.

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

Education

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.

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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