Program Support Assistant (OA)

Summary

The Program Support Assistant (OA) is aligned under the Chief Nurses, within the Nursing Service at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. The primary purpose of this position is to perform secretarial, administrative, and program support for the Chief Nurse. The Program Support Assistant (OA) has overall coordination responsibilities for the administrative, clerical, and general office work in the assigned Service.

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Duties

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Program Support:

Receives visitors and telephone calls and determines through own judgment those which can be handled routinely, referring calls that are appropriate to staff for action when more in- depth or privileged information is required, and triages all calls for urgency and/or assimilates all information messages and forwarding to appropriate staff in a timely manner.

Provide input in problem solving on operational issues or procedures.

Responsible for completing reports related to quality outcomes, productivity, time and leave, training compliance, and other relevant reports or data.

Manages reports through Excel worksheets, other Microsoft Office products, and other relevant data and word processing systems.

Provides meeting support, including creating meeting agendas and minutes, and manages the Chief Nurse's calendar and meeting schedules.

Clerical Duties:

Ensures office supplies are at periodic automatic replacement (PAR) levels and monitors office supplies and resources needed to keep the office workflow running smoothly.

Processes incoming and outgoing materials (i.e., correspondence, reports, memorandum, and other forms of written communication), screening publications, directives, correspondence, etc., and brings items of significance from those publications to the attention of service line staff as appropriate.

Prepares correspondence and reports from oral instructions or rough draft and Prepares program reports, policies, forms, schedules, pamphlets, and other administrative reports, and assists in its publication and distribution for a variety of areas.

Timekeeping:

Responsible for creating, processing, and maintaining attendance and leave records for assigned Time and Leave (T&L) Units for the assigned Service, as well as tracking the hours of service performed by staff.

Responsible for accurately setting up, posting, and maintaining assigned time and leave records on a biweekly pay cycle. This includes entry of all regular time, overtime (OT), compensatory time earned and used (CTE/CTU), as well as other types of leave (e.g., authorized absence, court leave, military leave, sick leave, annual leave, etc.).

Maintains current and accurate data within the computerized time and leave system, communicating changes to Finance and Human Resources Management Services on a timely basis.

Maintains an accurate, current, and approved computerized tour of duty/work schedule database for each T&L unit within the assigned Service.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00am to 3:30pm

Telework: Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant (OA)/ PD235470

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

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
• 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, 09/15/2026.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 . 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 as described below:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least 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: responsible for providing administrative support; collecting, compiling and tracking data and information; processing documents and reports; establishing, updating and maintaining office files and records; performing automation duties using such software applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, electronic mail, desktop publishing, calendar, database and/or graphics; answering telephones, referring visitors, and providing information.

**** NOTE: WORK PERFORMED MUST BE WELL DETAILED AND DOCUMENTED IN RESUME TO QUALIFY FOR THE POSITION. ****

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.

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.