Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to current permanent employees with VHA, VBA and NCA.

The Health System Administrator - Associate Director provides general program direction and delegates authority to the subordinate Service Line managers in an atmosphere which leads to the fulfilment of the medical center health care mission.

• Responsible for taking an active leadership role in coordinating and developing customer and stakeholder support and resourcing to meet Medical
• Shares with the Executive Leadership Team a level of responsibility for the direction and management of the Medical Center and is directly responsible for all facilities operations.
• Direct line authority and leadership responsibility for all administrative operation support services.
• Participates on a day-to-day basis in top level Executive discussions, decisions, policy making and actions of all administrative functions and indirectly all clinical matters impacting patient care.
• Participates in policy-making and management decisions affecting the organization.
• May Serve as the Acting Deputy Medical Center Director with full responsibility and concomitant authority to carry out the duties and functions.
• Develops collaborative partnerships with stakeholders and makes program execution decisions that affect or determine long range courses of action of critical importance.
• Determines operational services and programs goals and objectives, develops short-and long-range plans for achieving them in conjunction with the overall plans of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) and consistent with the strategic planning process.
• Administers a management reporting system which provides appropriate data for decision making for facility operations, impacting organizational improvements.
• Leads the planning and development of current and proposed program objectives in conjunction with administrative and clinical managers; develops short and long range fiscal year plans that meet the objectives of current and proposed programs.
• Evaluates the needs of various work sites and establishes processes to improve delivery of Medical Center services.
• Participates as a full member of the medical center's senior management team and works in partnership with senior management.
• Works on the development of a balanced financial plan designed to meet realistic needs of the facility and the network; makes important decisions substantially affecting economy of facility operations by limiting operating expenses without impairing patient care activities, through management assessment, cost effective position management techniques, reorganization improvement methods .
• Completes and implements VA policies and regulations and governs administrative aspects of the Medical Center.
• Delegates authority as appropriate and holds managers under his/her oversight responsible and accountable for the performance of the product lines, programs, and services under their supervision and management.
• Shares with other ELT members the responsibility for establishing and maintaining stakeholder relationships with a wide variety of interested institutions and groups.
• Provides guidance to functional managers to facilitate the effective resolution of technical problems, conflicts, and controversial issues, ensuring that issues are quickly resolved.
• Organizes and controls facility operation evaluation activities.
• Develops plans (with target completion dates) to ensure that action has been taken to correct deficiencies cited by accrediting bodies or external reviews related to facility operations.
• Initiates corrective action on elements considered unacceptable from the standpoint of quality or facility service management, and ensures that patient or staff complaints related to the communication of administrative aspects of facility operations are promptly addressed.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm Monday- Friday
Compressed/Flexible: Not available
Telework: This position may be authorized for ad-hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Systems Administrator- Associate Director-Detail/ Temporary Promotion NTE 120 days/PD99902S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Required. Employees are required to file a Financial Disclosure within 90 days of receipt of a contracting authorization or VA employment, then annually.

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, 03/06/2026.

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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirement: Candidates must meet one of the following as well as the specialized experience in the next section.

• Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. -OR-
• Experience: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. Applicants must also possess: Management ability to delegate authority, evaluate and oversee people and programs, recognize and adapt to changing priorities; and Knowledge of the interrelationships and interdependencies among various medical and administrative services and programs.

In addition to the above Individual Occupational Requirement, you must meet the specialized experience as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:
  • Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
  • Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.
• Applicants must also possess:
  • Management ability to delegate authority, evaluate and oversee people and programs, recognize and adapt to changing priorities; and
  • Knowledge of the interrelationships and interdependencies among various medical and administrative services and programs.

At this level, applicants would identify and resolve problems which may inhibit accomplishing patient care mission and public policy objectives; exercise fiscal management responsibility by assisting in the preparation of the overall facility budget, in monitoring expenditures, and in recommending reallocation of funds based on shifting program needs; establish and maintain public relations with a variety of institutions and groups; apply performance standards to measure program performance and health care activities are meeting established goals and objectives; and develop, evaluate, and adjust organizational structures and management systems for the administrative and allied health services managed.

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

• Administration and Management
• Organizational Awareness
• Planning and Evaluating
• Stakeholder Management
• Strategic Thinking
• Systems 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: Most of the work performance is at a desk, in an office setting. The position does require touring of the medical center for direct supervision, survey and environment of care issues. The incumbent occasionally carries books and papers to and from meetings and conferences.

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.

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

• Service Chief Concurrence memo
• Performance Appraisal
• 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), or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Cover Letter
• Service Chief Concurrence memo
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• 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