Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent employees of the Veterans Health Administration and/or Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) eligibles.

The Supervisory Medical Administration Specialist is delegated full authority and responsibility to exercise the Medical Center Director's prerogative in medical administrative matters; represents management in matters (non-policy making) administrative matters; represents management in matters pertaining to the lawful retention of Veterans in the VAMC; maintains continuity of functions and provides full medical administrative support during other than normal tours of duty to clinical and administrative medical center staff. Duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• Interprets VA rules and regulations relating to determining legal entitlement to benefits relating to hospital admission; nursing home, dental, domiciliary, Community Care (outside VA), and outpatient care; dental treatment; prosthetic appliances; patient transfer; and beneficiary travel.
• Coordinates the resolution of medical legal problems concerning the medical center and ensures that appropriate legal, regulatory, and policy requirements are met.
• Processes administrative issues surrounding beneficiary death, seriously ill cases, elopements, suicides, assaults, deaths on arrival (DOA's), homicides, code blue, cost recovery matters, and facility or community disasters, etc. Determines the appropriateness of notifying the medical 2 examiner of unusual deaths and directs actions accordingly.
• Interprets complex regulations and laws relating to eligibility for medical benefits and processing of applications and communicates these to subordinates as well as to members of the clinical staff.
• Provides administrative authority, guidance, and advice to Medical Officer of the Day (MOD), Nursing Officer of the Day (NOD) and all other clinical staff concerning administrative matters necessary for operation of the medical center as appropriate to include other than normal tours.
• Provides orientation, training and situational technical advice to new AODs, physicians and ED staff regarding VA policies and procedures.
• Performs reviews for administrative matters as the MOD does for clinical matters, working as a team to carry out top management responsibilities during other than regular working hours.
• Promotes harmonious working relationship among the AODs/PSAs, patients, public, and staff; directly intervenes when problems regarding patient activity occurs, advising subordinates and clinical staff of appropriate administrative action.
• Develops written operating procedures and schedules to guide employees in their work, provides training, assigns and coordinates the work.
• Conducts independent studies to determine workload, production, quality control requirements and training needs.
• Coordinates non-routine contacts received at the medical center after regular operating hours; receives and responds to non-routine patient condition inquiries and other administrative inquiries from concerned veterans, families, visitors, law enforcement officials, representatives from private hospitals, veterans service organization representatives, VA Central Office, Congressional offices, military personnel, private physicians, media, and the general public.
• Oversees determination of applicants' eligibility; obtaining income and insurance information for appropriate nonservice- connected applicants; counseling nonservice-connected veterans to determine ability to defray costs of medical care elsewhere.
• Establishes and maintains liaison with Public Affairs Officer, whenever applicable; coordinates appropriate information with the facility Public Affairs Office for possible release to news media and public in accordance with VA regulations, VAMC policy, and Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act requirements.
• Coordinates patient referrals and transfers to and from the medical center including the necessary transportation arrangements.
• Responds to requests under Beneficiary Travel authorities and directs appropriate staff to make arrangements as needed.
• Conducts analytical studies on operational processes, issue topics, or related special projects as assigned, to include access, consultations, travel, enrollment management, Medical Center Memoranda or Policies or other topics related to the flow of patient care related to Health Administration processes.
• Reviews data and information for trends, problem areas, and makes recommendations to management to resolve issues.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, Varied
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Medical Administration Specialist/PD131130
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
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, 01/20/2026.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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 and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: analyzes and resolves problems in the staffing, effectiveness, and efficiency of administrative support and staff activities within their area of responsibility; establishing criteria to measure and/or predict the attainment of Health Administration goals and objectives; evaluation of the section's effectiveness focusing on the delivery of Veteran benefits or services at the operating level; good working knowledge and understanding of the entire Medical Administration program, as well as a comprehensive knowledge of the overall mission and goals of the Ambulatory Care program and the VA systems; exercise a high degree of coordinating ability, and utilize the utmost tact, poise, and diplomacy in dealing with professional and administrative personnel within the health care facility, as well as contacts with the public, both within and outside the hospital; maintains close liaison with other VA facilities, military hospitals, and civilian hospitals for the purpose of coordinating transfers and/or accepting patients for follow-up care; shares in the responsibility for public relations between health care facility and the community through direct personal contact with veterans and their dependents, Veterans and civic organizations, and local, state, and federal government agencies; assignment of work, leave approval, developing performance standards, rating employees, planning, scheduling, resolving complaints, program direction, coordination of work, and recommending disciplinary actions for employees; recognizing problems and patterns and quickly developing training plans and proposed solutions to prevent repetition or financial loss to the facility. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., in a related field. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate level education as stated above to meet total experience requirements. (To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond two years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.)

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

• Conflict Management
• Critical Thinking
• Information Management
• Interpersonal Skills
• Leadership
• Organizational Awareness

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: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required such as walking through the medical center with occasionally the requirement to lift objects such as suitcases, clothing, or medical charts. Work is typically performed in an adequately lighted and climate-controlled office. Work may require the incumbent to walk through the building to areas including offices, clinics, wards, laboratories and the morgue.

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
• Performance Appraisal
• 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