Clarification from the agency

Open to current Career/Career Conditional or Excepted Service employees of the Veterans Affairs and CTAP eligibles (i.e. Canteen, Hybrid, Title 38, etc. and meets interchange agreement requirements). This does not include temporary, term or temporary intermittent employees.

The duties related to this position include but are not limited to the following:

• Facility Planning/ Special Projects:
  • Develops, collects, analyzes, prepares, and delivers planning documents and presentations to support space and capital planning. Is the subject matter expert for the VAPIHCS Space Committee. Analyzes information in meaningful, relevant and impactful ways. Develops, modifies, or provides input to project plans and recommendations. Skilled at communicating insights and understanding of issues or problems.
  • Knowledgeable and a member of the VAPIHCS Strategic Capital Investment Program (SCIP) team, and responsible for input and content to the SCIP program related to VAPIHCS Capital Asset and Lease projects.
  • Researches, engages, and collaborates with public and private community health care providers and organizations to expand VHA's health care delivery network.
  • Coordinates and integrates project activities and summarizes interactions in a clear and succinct manner. The incumbent is expected to be creative and use their background and technical knowledge to problem-solve.
  • Represents VAPIHCS in activities related to community, regional, and state planning activities which may impact the delivery of healthcare
• Strategic Planning:
  • The incumbent performs strategic analyses and formulates recommended actions and tactics contributing to both the VAPIHCS Operational as well as Strategic Plan. Requires the ability to apply specialized principles, techniques and formulation of well articulated and measurable content/actions all reflecting solid practices of health care management, and knowledge of healthcare delivery systems
  • Engages the Executive Leadership Team in all aspects of strategic planning with an emphasis on establishment of strategic initiatives or actions to support VHA goals and objectives.
  • Collaborates with subject matter experts, neighboring markets and VISNs to align planning efforts and optimize resources in support of current priorities. Possesses a deep understanding of the technical aspects of the healthcare business that are critical for success.
  • Gathers data and collaborates with service chiefs and top management to develop an annual strategic/operational healthcare system plan, including well developed tactics and actions, all to support VHA goal attainment.
  • Reviews and makes periodic updates to databases related to capital asset inventory and activation
• Long-Range Capital Planning:
  • Represents VAPIHCS in activities related to community, regional, and state planning activities which may impact the delivery of healthcare.
  • Advises the Executive Leadership Team on planning issues associated with program development and expansion initiatives related to VA/DoD Sharing Initiatives, VHA Site Tracking (VAST), Clinical Inventory, Rural Health, and Tele-health
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 7:30am- 4:00pm
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD02830-O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification 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, 05/18/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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.

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-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: providing strategic, facility/space planning, and supportive analyses and recommendations identify and employ strategies to effectively fulfill the health care systems, operational and space planning needs, planning for healthcare and operational improvement projects impacting patient care delivery systems and functions throughout the medical center, conducting studies and organizational analyses of diverse functions and work processes, and experience with Health Systems Strategic Planning methods to gather, analyze, and evaluate information concerning the health care delivery system.

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

• Information Management
• Organizational Awareness
• Planning and Evaluating
• Strategic Thinking

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: Work is mainly sedentary. Travel to other VAPIHCS sites is necessary. There will be walking, standing, bending, carrying/traveling with items such as, drawings, files, and at times a laptop.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Next steps