Program Analyst (Informatics) TCF Trainee

Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs ONLY. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

The VA has adopted Core Values and Characteristics that apply universally across the Department. The five Core Values define "who we are," our culture, and how we care for Veterans, their families and other beneficiaries. The Values are Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence ("I CARE"). That's why we created the Technical Career Field (TCF) Program - one of the largest training programs at VA. TCF positions equip professionals (including veterans) with the specialized knowledge they need to support the delivery of quality health care for our Nation's veterans.

The TCF career fields represent those technical fields where VA-specific knowledge and experience is desirable for success in the field. Individuals selected follow a formal training plan for two years during which they are trained, coached, and supervised by a preceptor. Preceptors are selected annually, through an extensive application process, for their technical expertise, their commitment to training and the suitability of their facility as a training location. *Selectees will be required to sign Mobility, Training, and Continued Service Agreements.

This is a developmental position leading to a GS-11, performing assignments intended to broaden skills and provide practical experience leading to progressively more complex assignments performed under progressively less supervision. 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.

The Technical Career Field (TCF) Trainee is an integral member of a Quality Management service line that uses communication, education, and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates; leveraging project management principles and environmental assessment to drive adoption of change. Duties include but are not limited to:

• Routine dialog to enable the sustainment and optimization of our health information technology (IT) solutions and workflows, for the benefit of all staff and Veterans.
• Cultivates a healthy collaboration between enterprise and facility level clinical / biomedical engineering staff and health informatics, ensuring that patient care technology is effectively and efficiently integrated into the clinical process.
• Supports the thorough analysis of a workflow to consider opportunities for the potential improvement or optimization of the behavior of people, systems, information, and tools.
• Ensures the VHA EHR operates in a way that improves patient care, ensures patient safety, and meets the needs of providers through continuous evaluation, testing, and improvement of the system.
• Applies a true end-to-end process to evaluate workflows, identify issues, develop solutions based on best practice guidelines, and resolves and communicates changes.
• Studies how people interact with devices, products, and systems.
• Utilizes an applied field where behavioral science, engineering, and other disciplines come together to develop the principles that help assure that devices and systems are optimized for the people meant to use them.
• Evaluates, documents, analyzes, prioritizes, and recognizes requirements for the improvement of the EHR and other systems in collaboration with the end-user.
• Supports the initial phase of requirements analysis where information is gathered on what an IT system needs to perform by engaging with business owners, subject matter experts (SME).
• Uses communication, education, and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates.
• Provides communication channels to clinical and business teams to support deployment, sustainment, and optimization efforts.
• Performs activities that support the management and delivery of educational experiences using information solutions and technology in all areas of healthcare.
• Utilizes innovative practice patterns and specializations to continuously develop the informatics role and associated competencies, aligning it with the strategic needs of the organization.
• Develops and provides formal and informal education and in-services to facility staff as required to facilitate program success.

Work schedule: Monday - Friday | 7:00 AM CST - 3:30 PM CST
Telework: Ad Hoc Available
Position Description Title/PD#: Program Analyst (Informatics) TCF Trainee/PD99346S

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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Training-Service Agreement and Mobility Agreement required
• 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 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, 08/17/2026.

NOTE: While this position is in an interim process to be converted to a Hybrid position, the position still follows Title 5 qualification standards per the office of personnel management (OPM). You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

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-5. 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.

• Examples of appropriate SF-50s include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

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 education and/or experience as described below:

• SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as:
  • Knowledge and use of clinical software packages.
  • Prepares reports and presents information effectively.
  • Performs data analysis, to include collecting, evaluating, and synthesizing data.
  • Assisting with evaluating and recommending operational process changes.

OR

• EDUCATION: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 full year of successfully completed graduate level education.

OR

• SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT (SAA): SAA at the baccalaureate level in the coursework detailed above is fully qualifying. Applicants who wish to apply under this provision must submit proof from their educational institution that they meet one of the criteria listed below. To qualify for Special Advancement for Achievement (SAA), applicants must have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled and meet one of the following:
  • Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university, or major subdivision.
  • A grade point average of "B" (a GPA of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
  • A grade point average of "B+" (a GPA of 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
  • Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. For a list of recognized honor societies please visit http://www.achsnatl.org/quick_link.asp.
• For more information regarding SAA please visit http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e5.asp#e4f

OR

• COMBINATION: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position and education beyond a bachelor's degree may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-07 level. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.

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

Data Management
Technical Competence
Analytical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Communication

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.

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/.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: The work is usually sedentary, but it requires periods of walking, standing, bending, or climbing, and employees may carry light items such as books, instruments, laptops, and other similar materials.

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-50s (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
• Other (1)
• 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 50s do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50s include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Next steps