Clarification from the agency

Current permanent employees of VAMC Lebanon, NECPAC, and employees of VISN4 Contracting, OI&T, CBOPC and Veterans Canteen Service located in Lebanon, PA.

The Telephone Operator provides a welcoming and positive first impression of the Lebanon VAMC Healthcare System by processing incoming, outgoing, networked, and interoffice calls regarding hospital services, patient information and providing emergency notification information. The incumbent of this position performs work in the Lebanon VAMC Center for Development & Civic Engagement (CDCE), which encompasses a variety of different duties and responsibilities relating to provision of telecommunications and office clerical services to all facilities within Lebanon VAMC as well as performs telecommunications support assignments which involves a significant amount of customer service in recognizing and routing patient and other inquiries to the correct Lebanon VAMC location and program.
Major duties include but are not limited to:

• Operate centralized telephone system to receive and connect incoming and outgoing calls;
• Utilize complex computerized equipment and telecommunications software;
• Interview incoming callers to route calls to appropriate destination;
• Operate internal and external paging system;
• Respond to alarms and acts as key member for various emergency situations;
• Organize CDCE correspondence to include memorandums, spreadsheets, word documents;
• Maintain department records management;
• Troubleshoot telephone and computer related problems.

Work schedule: 8hr shift, Days/Evenings and Weekends possible.
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not available
Telework: . Telework is not available for this position.
Position Description Title/PD#: Telephone Operator/PD02797A

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.
• 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 1-year probationary 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, 11/29/2025.

• General Experience: You must have one year of general experience to include progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates the ability to complete the indicated competencies of the position.. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have two years of education above high school. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of general experience and education beyond the one year of education above high school.

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

• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Information Management
• Technical Competence
• Telecommunications

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 sedentary. The employee sits comfortably to do the work. There is some moving around to adjust equipment; carrying of light items such as papers, books. Monthly/Quarterly, the operator must ambulate throughout the campus to conduct power fail phone checks, nurse call alarm checks, and other alarm monitoring checks as established by department policy. This may require being away from the regular work station for several hours.

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
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action is required

• 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 applicable). 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