Secretary (OA)

Summary

The incumbent serves as the Executive Secretary to the Deputy Chief of Staff. This position is located in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS), which has 11 community based outpatient clinics, a research program, two affiliations - Vanderbilt University and Meharry Medical College, and other educational institutions and sharing agreements with various DOD facilities.

Duties

• The incumbent will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the office functions and information to and from the Deputy Chief of Staff. Responds to administrative problems brought to the supervisor's attention by members of the staff or management officials outside the organization or outside the agency. Notifies the appropriate subordinate management officials of the need for information or recommendation, and either prepares the response or follows up to ensure a timely response by others. Performs administrative work for the Deputy Chief of Staff, which includes management of the office's schedule or day-to-day plans. Develops routine plans or schedules using standard references and existing information. Based on defined objectives, determines specific steps, input required, and/or milestones. Identifies schedule/time required, and estimates resources required. Acts as a liaison or handles the communication with persons and/or groups within and outside of an organization or office. Maintains liaison and communications with persons from a wide variety of backgrounds within the facility, the VISN office, and other VHA and VA officials as requested by the Deputy Chief of Staff. Provides administrative support functions and serves as recorder for all assigned TVHS committees, boards, and councils as requested by the Chief of Staff or Deputy Chief of Staff. The incumbent will also coordinate projects or compile information as requested by the Deputy Chief of Staff. This will require knowledge of the clinical services offered by TVHS. Maintains and updates as necessary a Desk Guide that describes the tasks to be performed by the executive secretary in sufficient detail to guide staff providing temporary coverage the secretary is absent and that will facilitate orientation to the position in the event permanent replacement is required. Provides backup coverage for other Director's Office secretary/administrative assistants at the York Campus as needed. Instructs and assists secretaries/administrative assistants in the clinical service/service line offices on correct correspondence procedures. Serves as timekeeper for employees under assigned Time and Leave units. Time keeping for these units is complicated by the fact that the units cover with various types of employees (e.g. Title 5, Title 38, etc) that may be located off site. May be assigned as an alternate timekeeper for other sections within the Office of the Director or the Office of the Chief of Staff. Works with Meharry Medical College to reconcile hours for contract physicians working with the Preventive Medicine contract. As a team member in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, participates in discussions of mutual expectations and necessary follow-up. In this way, cooperation and collaboration are assured. Serves the coordinator for control of keys for employees under the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: ADHOC This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD700770 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/10/2026. 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-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Required specialized experience is as follows: GS-08 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assembles, summarizes, and tabulates data and statistics from multiple sources, ensuring their accuracy before submission. Processing and editing incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, and memoranda; reviewing documents for grammatical errors. Compiles and summarizes statistics and material from files or other sources as required for reports or presentations. Coordinates and prepares Deputy Chief of Staff's evaluations and performance appraisals Maintaining files of correspondence and events Preferred Experience: The ideal candidate should have extensive experience providing high-level administrative and secretarial support in a complex and fast-paced healthcare, academic, or similar organization. Experience must include managing executive schedules and calendars, coordinating meetings, handling sensitive correspondence, compiling and preparing reports, and maintaining office files and records. The candidate must demonstrate proficiency in independently prioritizing and completing multiple tasks with strict deadlines and minimal supervision. Familiarity with general office procedures, correspondence rules (including grammar, spelling, punctuation), and use of office automation/computer systems is required. Experience interacting effectively with senior officials, a wide range of internal and external contacts, and the public is essential. The candidate should have a track record of exercising sound judgment and maintaining confidentiality, as well as skill in handling a variety of complex or non-routine administrative issues. Prior experience coordinating administrative procedures involving multiple offices and personnel, and supporting executive staff or committees is highly desirable. Knowledge of VA and/or large healthcare system administrative policies and programs is preferred. 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/.

Requirements

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. Physical Requirements: The work primarily sedentary. Work requires walking, standing, bending, and carrying light items such as books, files, and papers. The work is performed in an office setting that involves everyday risks or discomforts and requires normal safety precautious typical of such places as meeting and training room, libraries, or commercial vehicles. The work area is adequately lighted, heated and ventilated. 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.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13056777. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/10/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit