Supervisory Health System Specialist

Clarification from the agency

Current permanent Veterans Canteen Service employees may apply and will be considered in the same manner as a current VA Agency/Central Iowa Health Care System Facility employee.

Duties will include, but may not be limited to the following:

Administrative: (20%)

• Provides administrative program direction to command and staff in the areas of human resource support, security, operations, logistics, manpower and financial management, information technology, and public affairs/strategic communications.
• Exercises broad delegated authority for planning, directing, and evaluating the Executive Leadership Teams support staff.
• Determines organizational goals, develops plans, formulates, defends, and justifies personnel and other resources, and approves distribution of resources to support the VACIHCS health enterprise.
• Leads the establishment and reviews performance objectives and metrics in support of organizational strategic plans.
• Reviews work efforts within the staff to ensure continued support to mission elements of the organization as well as progress and timeliness of taskers and products.
• Identifies problem areas, coordinates corrective action, and directs changes to implement improvements, as necessary.

Staff Supervision and Direction: (30%)

• Directly and through subordinate supervisors, manages civilian engaged in performing administrative support in the areas of, security, operations, logistics management, procurement, information management, and public affairs functions.
• Supervises all staff and staff elements. Supervises approximately 6 employees. Exercises both administrative and technical supervision.
• Acts as direct rater and senior rater of employees in the grade ranges GS-08/9 through GS-11, Provides technical guidance and oversight to other personnel in the organization.
• Plans and prioritizes work to be accomplished by subordinates to respond to internal and external requirements.
• Assigns work to subordinates based on priorities, difficulty of the work and capabilities of employees.
• Provides advice, counsel, and guidance, hears and resolves group grievances and serious employee complaints, approves comp time and overtime, training, and travel for employees.
• Assures that job descriptions are current, accurate, and designed to ensure optimum efficiency and effectiveness. Ensures equity of performance standards and rating by subordinate supervisors, makes decisions on issues presented by facility supervisors, develops or directs the development of new or changed operating procedures and/or policies.
• Makes recommendations on non-routine, costly, or controversial training needs and training requests related to employees of the organization. Demonstrates consistent emphasis on Sexual Harassment / Assault Response Prevention Equal Employment Opportunity (EO), and avoidance of discrimination regarding prohibitive personnel management practices.

Higher Headquarters Communication and Coordination: (20%)

• Confers with staff, program managers, department and division chiefs, and subordinate supervisors in coordination of facility policies and directives.
• Informs the Director and Executive Leadership Team on the status of the facility with respect to trends in the utilization of personnel, problem areas and sources of trouble.
• Maintains frequent contact with members of the administrative, special, technical staff and higher headquarters. Coordinates and monitors the completion of action items, Congressional responses and other Veteran related follow up requirements.
• Works closely with VISN, and other organizations as well as Department of Veterans Affairs leaders to provide continuity of leadership in assessing mission and work requirements and developing plans, goals, and objectives.
• Responsible for overseeing and assure unity of the organizational high visibility, dynamic and diverse business and planning programs, functions, and processes into a single strategy.

Policies and Procedures: (10%)

• Serves as central point of contact for authoritative information on administrative policies, procedures and requirements. Responsible for the review and oversight of organizational administrative programs to include: VACIHCS policies, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), and procedural reviews along with the posting, internal controls, publications and organizational forms management.
• Conducts organization inspections and staff assistance visits to provide advice and guidance regarding program deficiencies in areas that do not comply with regulatory requirements.

Performs other related duties as assigned: (20%)

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Health System Specialist/PD636D-304830
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
• 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.
• 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. This position requires the application, assessment, and questionnaire to be fully completed. The assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

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, 07/16/2026.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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:

You must meet one of the Individual Occupational Requirement as stated below:

You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-12) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Supervisory Health System Specialist? Qualifying specialized experience is defined as: 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. OR,

Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included:

• Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements;
• Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and
• Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.

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/.

How you will be evaluated

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

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 for this position:

• Conflict Management
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Manages Resources
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating

Supervisory Situational Judgment Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment and decision-making skills that align with relevant competencies, organizational values, and best practices. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete. The assessment for this application does not include a cut score for a minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. However, you must answer each item in the assessment.

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:

• 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 CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

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

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
• Excepted Service employees under a VA Interchange Agreement must provide an SF-50 that shows how long and/or when you were first appointed under an Excepted service appointment. 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