Transportation Assistant

Summary This position is located at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System (VALLHCS) in the Financial Management Service at Loma Linda, California and reports directly to the Assistant Financial Officer (AFO). The incumbent serves as the facility's travel coordinator and assists Financial Management Accounting staff with various projects as assigned when the need arises. Responsibilities The Transportation Assistant will serve as the point of contact, expert, advisor of requirements, regulations, and procedures involving employee travel and the VA government travel charge card program. The incumbent manages and processes travel-related and accounting documents for temporary duty (TDY) travel, local travel authorization, etc. and vouchers concerning entitlements and reimbursements to employee travel expenses. Analyzes and classifies accounting information on TDY travel documents to determine accuracy and completeness of funding data and codes. Resolves all complex exceptions on TDY. Duties include, but are not limited to: Trains the facility's Federal Travel Arranger (FTA) and employees to create and prepare travel authorizations and vouchers which include making airline and hotel reservations, mileage, rental car requests, travel card program, etc. Assists the FTA with any questions or problems they may encounter while helping prepare employee's travel. Manages and is fully responsible for the facility's Employee Travel Program (ETP). Performs work in direct support of the administrative area of employee travel, travel budgeting, responding to VA Loma Linda, VISN and VACO travel-related suspense. Validates travel documentation/authorizations, help prepares and transfers employee travel profiles, authorizations and vouchers through the E-government Travel System (ETS) like Concur Government Edition (CGE), promotes/coordinates the issuance of US Bank Government Travel Cards, and establishes employee vendor files in the Financial Management System (FMS). Responsible for daily reconciliation of travel transactions against the Financial Management System (FMS) files to ensure that balances are accurate. Responsible for completing all employee travel claims and making appropriate payments electronically to these travel claims. Serves as the point of contact (POC) and subject matter expert for the Employee Travel Office (ETO) and is responsible for resolving all problems/issues associated with the ETP. Manages the day-to-day duties of the ETO and is responsible for advising the Chief Financial Officer (CFO)/Assistant Finance Officer (AFO) on potential operational travel issues in the VALLHCS Responsible for ensuring travel accounts are properly monitored for compliance to station policy and to prevent the occurrence of a deficient or excessive balance at the end of the fiscal year. Prepare request for travel advances, travel authorities, purchase airline tickets, analyze travel itineraries/tickets, prepare, audit, and process travel vouchers, clear travel advances, and analyze Transportation Management Center billing statements for accuracy. Provides training to program support personnel in performing travel plans and offers assistance and guidance in completing all requests. Analyses all unusual or irregular travel projects/problems and when such analysis discloses a reject/problem not covered entirely or insufficiently by existing travel financial procedures, the incumbent uses independent judgment to devise a satisfactory method to best meet the needs of the customer and existing policy. Work Schedule: 0800-1630, Monday - Friday Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD12579A 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 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, 07/06/2026. 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, but are not limited to: performing transportation support duties such as coordinating connections/scheduling, documenting travel information; collecting, compiling, and tracking data on a daily basis; Performs a basic analysis of data and generates a variety of reports; entering data into automated tracking data bases; and planning and directing a program that provides support services.. 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. 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