Program Specialist

Summary

The Program Specialist is in the Education department and is responsible for a wide range of supportive and administrative tasks for program within the department.

Duties

• Program Support: Provides support to programmatic matters related to the daily successful operation of Education services in the Medical Center. Participates collaboratively in developing strategies for the service to meet its goals and mandates in efficient and effective ways, ensuring alignment with Medical Center strategic initiatives. The PS has a primary responsibility to a required education program such as the PMDB Program. The PS will fulfill the duties outlined in the program directive or guidelines. The PMDB Coordinator supports the Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior (PMDB) program by helping implement policies, training, and procedures that promote safety for our Veterans, staff, and visitors. The coordinator works with facility leadership and interdisciplinary teams to assess risks, respond to disruptive behavior concerns, track program activities, and ensure staff are prepared to prevent and manage workplace violence or behavioral incidents. The incumbent drives the program and provides training for the staff at the medical center and the five Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) on the assessed PMDB training needs. Training Affiliation Agreements: Facility expert in all facets of negotiating, initiating, developing, coordinating, reviewing and follows to completion, all inter-service and intra-service federal and nonfederal Training Affiliation Agreements/Memorandum of Understanding (TAA/MOU). Negotiates, initiates, develops and follows to completion, renewals of these agreements and develops amendments thereto as needed. Manages the process from the Education Department perspective for scholarships and tuition reimbursement, which includes completion of appropriate documentation requesting payment; ensuring presence of appropriate supporting documents from requesting staff; submitting for leadership approval and signature; submission to Finance Department for payment; and recording/tracking amount paid and impact on the budget; and providing process education to the applicants each semester. Administrative Management: Manages the proficiency process for the registered nurses in the department. Tracks proficiency due dates, notifies staff of pending due date, provides appropriate forms for staff utilization, and ensures data is correct (Grade/Step). Provides communication reminders to staff to ensure leadership has adequate time to contribute/approve before the due date. Creates end of year performance award tracking for reporting to Human Resources. Creates and maintains tracking/reporting system for other human resource utilization reports. Resource Management: Serves as the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for programs within the Education Department. Serves as the technical liaison between contractors and the Contracting Officer. Monitors, reviews, and determines whether the contractor's performance follows terms and conditions of the contract specifications and inspects all work for full compliance with contract requirements. Notifies the Contracting Officer of violations of labor standard provisions, work that does not comply with contract requirements, and if contractor fails to remove, correct, or replace rejected work. Assists the contracting officer and Education Chief in matters related to contract requirements and contract administration (i.e., coordinates with the contracting officer on proposals for contractor work not specified in the basic request for negotiations) and provides cost estimates for breakdown to determine the most economical methods to provide services. Resolves disputes, implements changes and interprets regulations and contract specifications. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: 7:30 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD094450 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, 09/08/2026. Current Title 38 Hybrid employees: To qualify for a Title 5 position based on the Interchange agreement, you must meet the following: 1. Be currently serving under a permanent appointment. 2. Served continuously for at least 1 year in the other merit system prior to appointment under the interchange agreement. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7 or 8. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 or 10. 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. GS-09 Specialized Experience: You must possess one-year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. Your resume must clearly reflect your experience. No assumptions can be made. Specialized experience includes, providing day-to-day operational support to a department. This includes but not limited to supporting Program Managers within the department to ensure compliance with directives and regulatory agencies; maintaining affiliation agreements with schools and universities; managing inventory and simulation resources; maintaining budget with four control points that support the department and the facility. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. A transcript must be uploaded to support your answer. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree OR Two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B. or J.D. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must possess one-year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. Your resume must clearly reflect your experience. No assumptions can be made. Specialized experience includes, providing day-to-day operational support to a department. This includes but not limited to supporting Program Managers within the department to ensure compliance with directives and regulatory agencies; maintaining affiliation agreements with schools and universities; managing inventory and simulation resources; maintaining budget with four control points that support the department and the facility. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. A transcript must be uploaded to support your answer. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR Three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M if related OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Education Information: One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. 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, but occasional standing, walking, stooping, bending and carrying items weighing 25 pounds maybe required. Assignments may occasionally involve longer periods of standing, bending and stooping to observe and facilitate group projects or activities. 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. 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 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

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. 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/.

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/13051340. 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, 09/08/2026. 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