Secretary (OA)

Summary

The position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), VA Medical Center, Salisbury, North Carolina in the Executive Offices. The incumbent serves as the primary administrative support to the Chief of Staff (COS), performing clerical and administrative duties to the work of the Office of the Director, Salisbury VA Medical Center.

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Duties

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Duties include, but may not be limited to the following:

• Processes incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication.
• Edits letters, composes letters and reports, reviews correspondence for accuracy and completeness, establishes and monitors suspense dates, prepares public presentation outlines, and develops standard or form letters and replies to inquiries.
• Develops background information and prepares outlines for the supervisor's public speaking engagements, papers, and correspondence/reports.
• Screens material prior to distribution for suspense dates, establishing controls and following up for supervisor. Ensures correspondence conforms to regulations and special policies of the Medical Center and is in proper format, contains correct grammar, and if applicable, that staff coordination has been completed.
• Reviews correspondence prepared for the supervisor; attaches previous correspondence and background information to incoming correspondence.
• Returns inadequate transmissions to the sender.
• Provides training and/or coaching to subordinate clerical staff who submit incomplete or inadequate correspondence.
• Maintains subject matter files and records that relate to the facility, administrative services that report to the Chief of Staff, and VISN-level and national activities for which the COS is responsible.
• Ensures that files include all required documents and that all documents are properly signed.
• Develops internal routing and flow patterns for communications through the Chief of Staffs office to and from subordinate offices.

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

Telework: Ad-hoc, at supervisory discretion.

Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/ PD1821

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: 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 by the closing date of this announcement, 07/09/2026.

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-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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: Knowledge of the substantive programs of the Medical Center as they relate to the clerical and administrative support functions of clinical services and programs to perform independently assembling of information to be used for reports or responses to inquiries, composing correspondence not requiring technical knowledge, and to independently note and follow up on action items made in meetings by staff members; Knowledge of the duties, priorities, commitments, and program goals of the Chief of Staff's (COS) office in order to advise administrative support staff on preparing correspondence, identifying requirements of various reports, and interpreting new instructions and procedures; Familiarity with the duties and responsibilities of the credentialing and privileging requirements, proficiency evaluation process, Professional Standards Board (PSS) and Peer Review obligations in order to provide guidance to service chiefs, administrative officers and program support personnel in the administrative duties to fulfill these processes; Familiarity with outside accrediting agencies in order to assist in the preparation of reports for Joint Commission, Office of Inspector General, and other accrediting and review bodies. Knowledge of the organization, policies and procedures and the COS's membership on facility, VISN and National councils and committees in order to prepare minutes, schedule meetings, and prepare background information; Knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation, medical and administrative terminology, and required formats in order to respond personally to telephone calls, refer inquiries to the appropriate resource person, and gather background information. Skill in operation and knowledge of the computer system and office software to include PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Outlook and others. A fully qualified typist is required. Skill in transcribing taped dictation. Skill in the operation of a variety of office equipment in order to perform administrative and clerical day-to-day activities. Knowledge of regular and recurring application of pay and leave laws, rules, regulations and agency policy regarding entitlements to overtime, differential, hazardous duty, holiday and special rates, and premium pay in order to perform timekeeping duties.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Accountability
• Administration and Management
• Attention to Detail
• Compliance Inspection
• Computer Skills
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Organizational Stewardship
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork
• Writing

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.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items like papers or books. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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.

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.