Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent employees of the Executive Director's Service at VA Western Central Massachusetts Health Care System

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

• Devises and installs office procedures and practices to be used by secretaries in subordinate offices.
• Provides procedural information and changes to secretarial staff at the Center.
• Attends and records the minutes of meetings which are later summarized and distributed.
• Checks to ensure that commitments made at the meetings are met and keeps the Director informed.
• Coordinates events hosted by officials, including town hall meetings with internal staff, with
  assistance from continuing educational staff and initiatives when warranted.
• Completes all steps required within an event management process, including facilitating selection
  of the event time, developing a formal agenda, managing any required contracts and all logistical
  items, disseminating information to attendees, and ensuring smooth execution of the event.
• Works with various boards to coordinate regular committee meetings, ensuring all event
  management steps are completed.
• Coordinates with the appropriate individuals or offices to develop proposals and supporting materials for presentation at conferences, meetings, hearings and other external activities and meetings.
• Coordinates events hosted by officials, including town hall meetings with internal staff, with
  assistance from continuing educational staff and initiatives when warranted.
• Completes all steps required within an event management process, including facilitating selection
  of the event time, developing a formal agenda, managing any required contracts and all logistical
  items, disseminating information to attendees, and ensuring smooth execution of the event.
  Works with various boards to coordinate regular committee meetings, ensuring all event
  management steps are completed.
• Coordinates with the appropriate individuals or offices to develop proposals and supporting materials for presentation at conferences, meetings, hearings and other external activities and meetings.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• This position is not a Bargaining Unit position.
• May be required to attend conference at other facilities or other VA sites on occasion.
• Current Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.
• This position is in the Competitive Service.
• Time-in-Grade Restriction: 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. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service.
• Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.
• Veterans' preference does not apply for other current permanent Federal agency employees

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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/07/2026.

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 as described below:

GS-11 Grade Requirements

• 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: Arranging conferences for management for meetings to be held locally. This includes preparing an agenda, notifying participants, and arranging luncheons and similar matters. Attending and recording the minutes of meetings which are later summarized and distributed. Checking to ensure that commitments made at the meetings are met and keeps supervisor informed. Coordinating events hosted by officials, including town hall meetings with internal staff, with assistance from continuing educational staff and initiatives when warranted. Completing all steps required within an event management process, including facilitating selection of the event time, developing a formal agenda, managing any required contracts and all logistical items, disseminating information to attendees, and ensuring smooth execution of the event. Working with various boards to coordinate regular committee meetings, ensuring all event management steps are completed. Coordinating with the appropriate individuals or offices to develop proposals and supporting materials for presentation at conferences, meetings, hearings and other external activities and meetings. OR,
• Education: completed three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree, LL.M., or equivalent doctoral degree in the related field of the position to be filled. The education portion must include courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Degree must be relevant to the position to be filled. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first 2 years) and specialized experience as described above to meet total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position. Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at this grade level. (When crediting education that requires specific course work, prorate the number of hours of related courses required as a proportion of the total education to be used.) The following are examples of how education and experience may be combined. They are examples only, and are not all-inclusive. The position to be filled is a Quality Assurance Specialist, GS-1910-5. An applicant has 2 years of general experience and 45 semester hours of college that included 9 semester hours in related course work as described in the individual occupational requirements. The applicant meets 67 percent of the required experience and 38 percent of the required education. Therefore, the applicant exceeds 100 percent of the total requirement and is qualified for the position. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

• Administration and Management
• Analysis and Problem Solving
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Information Management
• Performance Management

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

• Cover Letter
• Other (1)
• Other (2)
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

• 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