Program Specialist

Summary

This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network (Veterans Integrated Service Network 6, VISN 6), Durham, North Carolina Health Care System (HCS), Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS) at the Durham VA Medical Center, this position serves as a Program Specialist providing administrative support to the Service Chief, PM&RS, and Administrative Officer (AO).

Duties

• Duties Include but not limited too: This position supports the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS) in improving clinic missed opportunities by monitoring patient cancellations and no-shows daily and initiating appropriate follow-up actions. This position also monitors clinic access, availability, and capacity issues to ensure timely scheduling and to identify barriers impacting patient flow. This position facilitates and troubleshoots patient and administrative issues related to the specialty-care consult process within the service and supports administrative functions associated with interfacility consults to other Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers. This position also distributes compliance-generated reports related to unsigned and co-signed notes, notifies providers of required documentation actions, and ensures that outstanding items are addressed in a timely manner to maintain compliance and documentation accuracy. This position assists the Chief, PM&RS, and the Administrative Officer (AO) by compiling and organizing data for Rehab Peer Review activities to be presented quarterly to the Medical Subcommittee. Duties include gathering, validating, and preparing provider-level information to support timely completion of required peer review processes in accordance with Medical Center and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) standards This position serves as a point of contact for patient concerns and issues, meeting with Veterans to discuss their needs and entering all reported concerns into the Patient Advocate Tracking System (PATS). This position consistently communicates with customers including Veterans, caregivers, vendors, visitors, and Medical Center staff in a courteous, professional, tactful, and respectful manner. This position provides accurate and consistent information in accordance with established policies and procedures, managing conflicts or customer concerns constructively and appropriately. This position collaborates with the Durham VA Medical Center Telehealth Coordinator to identify and support the implementation and continuous improvement of telehealth services for PM&RS, including Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) telehealth and Amputee telehealth clinic needs. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Authorized Telework: 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#: Program Specialist/PD068040 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/08/2026. 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-09 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Basic Requirements: You must have one year of 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: Extensive and practical knowledge and skill in applying basic analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to issues or studies concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of the Service area. Knowledge of an array specialized duties and responsibilities involving a wide variety of problems or situations, including developing information, identifying interrelationships, and taking action consistent with program objectives. The work requires knowledge of the mission and functions of Medicine Service. The employee understands how the office's various administrative services relate to one another and how they relate to the Service's mission. The work also requires broad understanding and detailed procedural knowledge of budget, data management, personnel, and information processing functions of the office. OR, Specialized Experience: You must have one year of 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: Knowledge and skill in applying analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to issues or studies concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of program operations; (2) Knowledge of pertinent laws, regulations, policies and precedents which affect the use of program and related support resources in the area studied; (3) Knowledge of the major issues, program goals and objectives, work processes, and administrative operations of the organization; (4) Knowledge and skill in adapting analytical techniques and evaluation criteria to the measurement and improvement of program effectiveness and/or organizational productivity; (5) Skill in conducting detailed analyses of complex functions and work processes; and (6) Interpersonal skills in presenting staffing recommendations and negotiating solutions to disputed recommendations. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Master's or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college or university; OR, two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR, an LL.B. or J.D., if related. NOTE: A transcript or course listing must be submitted if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Unofficial transcripts required. Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade level GS-09. Required Experience: Scheduling Clinic Billing Profile Management Data Management Preferred Experience: Timekeeping 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 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.

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/13047711. 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