Program Specialist

Summary The Program Specialist is in the Education department and is responsible for a wide range of supportive and administrative tasks for program within the department. Responsibilities Program Support: Provides support to programmatic matters related to the daily successful operation of Education services in the Medical Center. Participates collaboratively in developing strategies for the service to meet its goals and mandates in efficient and effective ways, ensuring alignment with Medical Center strategic initiatives. The PS has a primary responsibility to a required education program such as the PMDB Program. The PS will fulfill the duties outlined in the program directive or guidelines. The PMDB Coordinator supports the Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior (PMDB) program by helping implement policies, training, and procedures that promote safety for our Veterans, staff, and visitors. The coordinator works with facility leadership and interdisciplinary teams to assess risks, respond to disruptive behavior concerns, track program activities, and ensure staff are prepared to prevent and manage workplace violence or behavioral incidents. The incumbent drives the program and provides training for the staff at the medical center and the five Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) on the assessed PMDB training needs. Training Affiliation Agreements: Facility expert in all facets of negotiating, initiating, developing, coordinating, reviewing and follows to completion, all inter-service and intra-service federal and nonfederal Training Affiliation Agreements/Memorandum of Understanding (TAA/MOU). Negotiates, initiates, develops and follows to completion, renewals of these agreements and develops amendments thereto as needed. Manages the process from the Education Department perspective for scholarships and tuition reimbursement, which includes completion of appropriate documentation requesting payment; ensuring presence of appropriate supporting documents from requesting staff; submitting for leadership approval and signature; submission to Finance Department for payment; and recording/tracking amount paid and impact on the budget; and providing process education to the applicants each semester. Administrative Management: Manages the proficiency process for the registered nurses in the department. Tracks proficiency due dates, notifies staff of pending due date, provides appropriate forms for staff utilization, and ensures data is correct (Grade/Step). Provides communication reminders to staff to ensure leadership has adequate time to contribute/approve before the due date. Creates end of year performance award tracking for reporting to Human Resources. Creates and maintains tracking/reporting system for other human resource utilization reports. Resource Management: Serves as the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for programs within the Education Department. Serves as the technical liaison between contractors and the Contracting Officer. Monitors, reviews, and determines whether the contractor's performance follows terms and conditions of the contract specifications and inspects all work for full compliance with contract requirements. Notifies the Contracting Officer of violations of labor standard provisions, work that does not comply with contract requirements, and if contractor fails to remove, correct, or replace rejected work. Assists the contracting officer and Education Chief in matters related to contract requirements and contract administration (i.e., coordinates with the contracting officer on proposals for contractor work not specified in the basic request for negotiations) and provides cost estimates for breakdown to determine the most economical methods to provide services. Resolves disputes, implements changes and interprets regulations and contract specifications. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: 7:30 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD094450 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements 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 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, 09/08/2026. Current Title 38 Hybrid employees: To qualify for a Title 5 position based on the Interchange agreement, you must meet the following: 1. Be currently serving under a permanent appointment. 2. Served continuously for at least 1 year in the other merit system prior to appointment under the interchange agreement. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7 or 8. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 or 10. 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. GS-09 Specialized Experience: You must possess one-year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the 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. Your resume must clearly reflect your experience. No assumptions can be made. Specialized experience includes, providing day-to-day operational support to a department. This includes but not limited to supporting Program Managers within the department to ensure compliance with directives and regulatory agencies; maintaining affiliation agreements with schools and universities; managing inventory and simulation resources; maintaining budget with four control points that support the department and the facility. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. A transcript must be uploaded to support your answer. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a 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. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must possess one-year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the 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. Your resume must clearly reflect your experience. No assumptions can be made. Specialized experience includes, providing day-to-day operational support to a department. This includes but not limited to supporting Program Managers within the department to ensure compliance with directives and regulatory agencies; maintaining affiliation agreements with schools and universities; managing inventory and simulation resources; maintaining budget with four control points that support the department and the facility. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. A transcript must be uploaded to support your answer. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR Three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M if related OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Education Information: One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. 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, but occasional standing, walking, stooping, bending and carrying items weighing 25 pounds maybe required. Assignments may occasionally involve longer periods of standing, bending and stooping to observe and facilitate group projects or activities. 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. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. The 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 CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at