Program Support Assistant

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to those covered by the indicated hiring paths (status candidates) who live within the local commuting area of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Veterans eligible under the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) and current permanent VBA employees at the GS-05 grade or higher, whose positions have promotion potential to at least GS-06 and who are seeking non-competitive reassignment or change to lower grade, do not need to reside in the local commuting area to be considered.

Specific duties include:

1. Prepares, assembles, and correlates information in connection with surveys and one-time reports required by Central Office, the Area Office, the Regional Office (RO), or Division management regarding administrative support functions from other divisions and outside sources of data.
2. Processes incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communications.
3. Reviews and analyzes these materials, determines action necessary, researches and assembles background information, and refers said materials to the appropriate section when necessary.
4. Edits documents, composes letters and reports, reviews correspondence for accuracy and completeness, prepares public presentation outlines, and develops standard for form letters and replies to inquiries.
5. Liaises with the customer and identifies requirements for equipment purchase, lease, trade-in, excess, move to another location, warranty periods, etc. and then passes those requirements on to the appropriate Administrative Section staff for action.
6. The incumbent maintains the official station control log / history file for circulars, bulletins, and memoranda and assigns numbers and dates and recession / retention folders on these as required.
7. Reviews and makes changes/ corrections to the RO's controlled publications (circulars, bulletins, memoranda) to ensure proper format is used. Updates and revises publications issued by SSD and prepares "Justification for Proposed Field Station Issue" for appropriate concurrence.
8. Maintains the confidential records for SSD, including records concerning individual performance, disciplinary actions, awards, and similar information for all employees of the Division.
9. As a purchase card holder, always secures purchase card, identifies correct accounting string or budget object codes (BOCs) for appropriate transactions as required within VA 's credit card system.
10. Maintains receipts or other necessary documentation for reconciliation purposes; reconciles statements and forwards to approving officials within required time frames.
11. Serves as the principal timekeeper for SSD and may support other division timekeeper needs by serving as an alternate timekeeper; may have duties in the PIV issuance process and may serve as one of the facility's PIV Card issuers.
12. Receives all SSD visitors and callers; screens telephone calls for the SSD Chief and forwards only those calls requiring the Division Chiefs attention.

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. The grade progression for this position is GS-05, GS-06.

Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm.
Compressed/Flexible: Not available
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position. This is not a Remote position.
Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant; PD37337A and PD37329A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period (for competitive service), or a 1-year or 2-year trial period (for excepted service), as applicable. During this period, 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 or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Additional Conditions of Employment are as follows:

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary or trial period
• 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 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/04/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: As a current Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

• For a GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04 level.
• For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level.
• If you are a current VBA employee outside of the commuting area seeking reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-05 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-6.

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. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to current employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GS-05 Grade Level:

Specialized Experience: Applicants musthave at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-04) in the normal line of progression for the occupation. Specialized experience generally includes, but is not limited to, performing duties such as:

1. Preparing and proofreading routine correspondence;
2. Entering, tracking, and verifying data for accuracy; maintaining office files and records;
3. Assisting with basic workflow processes within the organization; providing routine administrative support in areas such as timekeeping, scheduling, and document collection; and
4. Communicating with internal and external customers to relay information or resolve straightforward administrative issues.

Education Substitution: Applicants must have successfully completed 4 years (120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours) of education above high school in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university. (Must submit transcripts.)

Combination: Applicants may also qualify based on a combination of specialized experience and education as described above. To determine qualification using this combination, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (that is, beyond the second year) may be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. Add the percentage of qualifying experience to the percentage of qualifying education; if the total equals at least 100%, you are considered qualified. (Must submit transcripts.)


GS-06 Grade Level:

Specialized Experience: Applicants must havehave at least 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 the following duties:

1. Composing, reviewing, and editing correspondence;
2. Auditing statistical data and assessing organizational workflow; and
3. Providing budgetary recommendations and serving as the principal timekeeper.

Education Substitution: Not applicable for the GS-06 grade level.


Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information.

Volunteer Experience: 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.

Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week.

Physical Requirements: Work requires some physical exertion such as extended periods of standing, frequent bending, reaching or similar activities necessary to set up, operate, adjust and monitor operation of the equipment. The employee lifts a variety of moderately heavy materials and supplies such as mailbags or large quantities of paper stock.

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

What is a local commuting area? Local commuting area means the geographic area that usually constitutes one area for employment purposes. It includes any population center (or two or more neighboring ones) and the surrounding localities in which people live and can reasonably be expected to travel back and forth daily to their usual employment.). This definition is from OPM's Reduction in Force (RIF) regulation at 5 CFR 351.203.

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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• • Accountability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork

Additional competencies to be assessed:

• Decisiveness
• Information Assurance
• Technology Application

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13018185

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 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.

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: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. (https://appsupport-usastaffing.opm.gov/hc/en-us/sections/45063131363475-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete application package to include the documents detailed below. Failure to submit the required documents may result in your application being considered incomplete and you being deemed ineligible. It is your responsibility to ensure your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. We will not request additional documentation or accept late or missing documents after the announcement has closed.

• Resume, limited to 2-pages, detailing specialized experience and competencies as they relate to this position
  • For each position in your resume, you must specify the start and end dates (month/year) and a description of duties. If the position was Federal, you must also indicate the grade level. Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications.
• Transcript if you are using education to qualify
• Veterans: Member-4 DD-214 and disability rating letter (if applicable)
  • If you are currently on active duty to be released within 120 days, you may submit an armed forces certification in lieu of a Member-4 DD-214.
• Current Federal Employees: A copy of your most recent NON-AWARD SF-50. The SF-50 must indicate proof of status (for example, you are a career or career-conditional employee) and should identify your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
  • To verify you meet Time-in-Grade requirements, also submit a SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade held (e.g. Promotion, Appointment, etc.).
• Current VBA Employees: If you are outside the commuting area and seeking a reassignment/change to lower grade, you must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (non-award) AND the SF-50 placing you into your current position.
• Military Spouse of Active-Duty Military Member: A copy of your marriage license AND your spouse's active duty orders
• Military Spouse of Separated Veteran: A copy of your marriage license, Member-4 DD-214 AND either your spouse's 1) 100% disability rating, or 2) documentation of death during active duty.
• Other Status Candidates: Evidence of eligibility to apply (e.g. Peace Corps verification letter, Schedule A letter, PS-50, etc.).

Please use this checklist to 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.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.

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx.

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