Summary

The Health Systems Specialist reports to a senior member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). Incumbent utilizes specialized knowledge of the fundamentals of healthcare management and serves as a management representative of the ELT . He/she/they participate in the stewardship and responsibility for operations of the organization as a whole, executing the Director's vision for the framework of healthcare delivery and direction of services and programs across the enterprise.

Duties

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• Negotiates complex issues (e.g. multi-party negotiations with concerns that affect a broad scope and range of interests) with individuals/groups with diverse backgrounds and various levels of education and competence both internal and external to the organization (e.g.; employees, labor organizations, VSO, Community groups, congressional offices, VISN/VACO staff, etc.).
• Integrates administrative services (Finance, Human Resource Management, Acquisition, Contracting, Facility Management, Environment of Care, Health
• Administration, etc.) in support of meeting goals of organization.
• Responds to changing priorities in a complex multi-faceted health care organization by reallocating resources and/or modifying policies and procedures that have demonstrated results (e.g., staffing changes, budget modifications, implementation of new polices and/or mandates, increased workload).
• Applies principles, methods, or tools for developing, scheduling, coordinating, monitoring, evaluating, and managing projects and resources, including technical performance.
• Determines objectives and strategies; coordinates with other parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors and evaluates the progress and outcomes of operational plans; anticipates potential threats or opportunities.
• Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes.
• Breaks down barriers and silos in the workplace in favor of high performance work systems.
• Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
• Knowledge of the principles of organizational development and change management theories, and their applications.
• Develops a thorough, administrative and strategic operational initiatives of the organization that enables the specialist to identify problems, analyze data, and recommend resolutions based on specific knowledge of the organization's objectives and priorities, resources, and catchment area.
• Plans, organizes, trends and reviews requests for resources within their assigned executive's chain of command and makes recommendations, based upon the relative needs while considering their ability to utilize the resources requested.
• Assist the Executive Leadership Team in assessing needs in a realistic fashion, documenting them effectively, and presenting them to a diverse audience of internal and external stakeholders.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm

Telework: Adhoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD07334A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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.
• 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 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)

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, 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, 07/06/2026.

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.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. General Adjustment SF-50's do not provide the information to reflect time-in-grade requirement has been met and therefore cannot be the only SF-50. If you are currently serving in a Hybrid Title 38 position, your SF-50's must reflect you have been in the position longer than one year.

Individual Occupational Requirement

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study Hospital Administration, Public Health Administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.

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Specialized Experience: 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.

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Special Provision for In-service Placement: 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.

Preferred experience- Previous administrative support of operation based services. You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: : Develops administrative and strategic operational initiatives of the organization. Identify problems, analyze data, and recommend resolutions based on specific knowledge of the organization's objectives and priorities, resources, and catchment area. Plans, organizes, trends and reviews requests for resources within their assigned executive's chain of command and makes recommendations. Assist in prioritizing resource allocations throughout the healthcare system in conjunction within the Director's authority. Reviews resources requests for FTEE, Equipment, Overtime, and Space. Provides guidance and advice on program legislative issues, development and implementation of policy or program initiatives, protocol issues, and other correspondence or VISN/VACO related matters. Obtains data and prepares replies to correspondence for the signature of the Medical Center Director, Network Director, or for the appropriate VA Central Office. Participates and leads fact-finding and administrative board of investigations for useful, effective evidence-gathering and reliable, efficient fact-finding in a wide array of circumstances. Conducts analytical studies on particular operational processes, issue topics, or related special projects.

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

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

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: : No special physical demands such as above average ability, dexterity, or strength are required to perform the work. Work is sedentary, and the employee may sit comfortably. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, driving of an automobile, etc. Fieldwork may involve traveling to other facility sites of care, interviews, meetings, and sources of information. 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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.