Secretary

Summary This secretary position is located in the Surgical Care department at the VA Boston Healthcare System - West Roxbury campus. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week. Responsibilities Manages and maintains calendars and schedules; coordinates meetings, conferences and appointments; ensures leadership is briefed in advance on the purpose, participants, and background materials required for each engagement. Receives, screens, and directs all incoming visitors; independently determines the nature and urgency of each contact; provides information or refers to appropriate staff based on knowledge of service operations, priorities, and personnel. Composes, prepares, reviews, and distributes correspondence, memoranda, reports, briefing materials, and other documents on behalf of the administrative officer and department leadership, ensuring accuracy, proper format, and conformance with agency correspondence standards. Arranges and manages travel for department leadership and staff, including preparing travel authorizations, booking transportation and lodging in the agency travel system, processing travel vouchers upon return, and ensuring compliance with agency travel policies and applicable per diem regulations. Collects, compiles, analyzes, and distributes reports daily, monthly, and quarterly regarding the planning, analyzing, and evaluating the effectiveness of patient and operating flows across department campuses and community based outpatient clinics. Oversees daily analysis of clinic scheduling, patient flow, and utilization of the scheduling system; identifies gaps or inefficiencies and brings findings to the attention of the administrative officer or appropriate administrative staff for action. Performs data retrieval and compilation for quality management improvement purposes; prepares and distributes analyses and supporting data to service leadership and relevant staff for review and action. Creates statistical diagrams, organizational charts, workflow charts, and other graphics to support presentations delivered to all levels of leadership. Reviews time and attendance records and other personnel documentation to ensure proper application and consistency of pay regulations across multiple appointment types within the department; flags discrepancies for review by the administrative officer. Maintains knowledge of supply and inventory policies and procedures; monitors stock levels, initiates supply orders as needed, and ensures compliance with agency supply chain policies to support uninterrupted administrative and clinical operations within the department. Confirms that vendors are following proper procedures with the billing of disposables and coordinates with administrative staff when there are new vendors or aggregate issues with invoice processing; escalates unresolved discrepancies to the administrative officer. Supports the administrative officer in tracking and coordinating documentation for all privileged clinical staff; maintains tracking logs for initiation, completion, and submission deadlines; follows up with section chiefs and credentialing staff to ensure timely completion in advance of medical executive committee review cycles. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, Day Shift Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary/PD523-00724-O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Notifications: This position is not a Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 7401(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment. Current and permanent Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and Community Based Outpatient Clinics. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 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 or trial 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, 09/21/2026. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-7 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience equips the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to: Manages and maintains calendars and schedules; coordinates meetings, conferences and appointments; ensures leadership is briefed in advance on the purpose, participants, and background materials required for each engagement. Receives, screens, and directs all incoming visitors; independently determines the nature and urgency of each contact; provides information or refers to appropriate staff based on knowledge of service operations, priorities, and personnel. Composes, prepares, reviews, and distributes correspondence, memoranda, reports, briefing materials, and other documents on behalf of the administrative officer and department leadership, ensuring accuracy, proper format, and conformance with agency correspondence standards. Arranges and manages travel for department leadership and staff, including preparing travel authorizations, booking transportation and lodging in the agency travel system, processing travel vouchers upon return, and ensuring compliance with agency travel policies and applicable per diem regulations. Collects, compiles, analyzes, and distributes reports daily, monthly, and quarterly regarding the planning, analyzing, and evaluating the effectiveness of patient and operating flows across department campuses and community based outpatient clinics. Responsible for daily analysis of clinic scheduling, patient flow, and utilization of the scheduling system; identifies gaps or inefficiencies and brings findings to the attention of the administrative officer or appropriate administrative staff for action. Performs data retrieval and compilation for quality management improvement purposes; prepares and distributes analyses and supporting data to service leadership and relevant staff for review and action. Creates statistical diagrams, organizational charts, workflow charts, and other graphics to support presentations delivered to all levels of leadership. Reviews time and attendance records and other personnel documentation to ensure proper application and consistency of pay regulations across multiple appointment types within the department; flags discrepancies for review by the administrative officer. Maintains knowledge of supply and inventory policies and procedures; monitors stock levels, initiates supply orders as needed, and ensures compliance with agency supply chain policies to support uninterrupted administrative and clinical operations within the department. Performs other duties as assigned. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork 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 primarily sedentary with some walking, bending, reaching, standing, and carrying of items such as files and reports. Work is performed in an office setting. Some travel to other office campuses/locations within the VA Boston Healthcare System as well as affiliated institutions is required in the deliverance of the duties of this 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 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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. 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. 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.