Health System Specialist

Summary

This position is located at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network, Salisbury VA Medical Center, in the Associate Director, Operations Service. The Salisbury VA Health Care System, is a complexity level 1A health care system comprised of the W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center, Charlotte Health Care Center, Kernersville Health Care Center, and one Community-Based Outpatient Clinic.

Duties

• The position serves as an Executive Administrator and functions as a senior administrative advisor and management analyst to the Associate Director, Operations (AD) who oversees administrative and operational services across the health care system. In this capacity, the position operates with a high degree of independence to analyze, evaluate, and improve complex administrative and operational programs that directly impact facility-wide performance, resource utilization, access to care, and Veteran outcomes. Duties of the Health Systems Specialist includes but is not limited to: The position serves as a senior Health System Specialist and principal administrative advisor to the AD. Independently performs complex analytical, evaluative, and advisory functions that directly influence executive decision-making, organizational performance, and the effective delivery of healthcare services. The position independently plans, develops, and executes administrative management initiatives that affect multiple services and programs across the health care system. Serves as the lead analyst for evaluating the effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity of administrative and operational programs, including workload, staffing models, access, resource utilization, and service performance. Conducts complex management studies and organizational assessments involving multiple services, identifying systemic issues, operational risks, and performance gaps; develops and presents data-driven recommendations to Executive Leadership. Interprets and applies VHA, VISN, and facility policies, determining local impact and developing implementation strategies, business rules, and internal controls to ensure compliance and operational effectiveness. Functions as an extension of executive leadership, providing high-level analysis and coordination of issues requiring senior-level attention. Serves as a principal advisor to the AD on a wide range of administrative, operational, and programmatic issues, providing independent analysis, recommendations, and decision support. Reviews, analyzes, and synthesizes information from multiple sources to develop executive-level briefings, issue papers, decision memos, and correspondence for internal and external stakeholders, including VISN and VHA leadership. Represents the AD in meetings, committees, and workgroups, providing authoritative input and ensuring alignment with executive priorities. Coordinates high-visibility and time-sensitive requests (e.g., data calls, issue briefs, congressional inquiries, and external reviews), ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timely submission. The position serves as a subject matter expert in organizational analysis and performance improvement, applying advanced analytical methods to improve healthcare operations. Plans and conducts complex analytical studies related to workflow, workload distribution, staffing efficiency, access to care, and operational performance. Utilizes data from multiple systems (e.g., dashboards, databases, and reporting tools) to identify trends, evaluate program effectiveness, and support executive decision-making. Develops and implements performance monitoring systems and reporting mechanisms to track progress, measure outcomes, and identify opportunities for improvement. Applies process improvement methodologies and systems thinking to redesign workflows, reduce inefficiencies, and improve quality, safety, and access. Prepares comprehensive analytical reports and presentations for Executive Leadership, translating complex data into actionable insights. Provides leadership and guidance to workgroups and service lines on performance improvement initiatives and data-driven decision-making. The position performs independent financial and resource analysis to support effective allocation and utilization of organizational resources. Analyzes budget execution, funding requirements, and resource utilization, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities for improved efficiency. Conducts cost-benefit analyses and program evaluations to support decisions regarding staffing, equipment, contracts, and program investments. Advises leadership on resource allocation strategies, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and operational needs. Monitors and evaluates the financial impact of programs and initiatives, recommending adjustments as necessary to optimize outcomes. Collaborates with fiscal, contracting, and service line leadership to ensure sound financial management and compliance with applicable regulations. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8am - 4:30pm Telework: ADHOC - As Determined by Agency Policy Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD502670 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, 09/16/2026. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series, and it is something that can't be waived. The Individual Occupational Requirement for the Health System Specialist position is: Minimum Qualification Requirements: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Possess an undergraduate or graduate degree with a major in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED); OR Specialized Experience: Possess 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.; OR Special Provision for Inservice Placement: Successfully completed an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program which 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Solving problems/issues quickly and effectively, involving a methodical step-by-step approach to thinking; breaks down complex problems into single and manageable components and considering each part in detail; Makes a systematic comparison of various alternatives; Notices discrepancies and inconsistencies in available information; Identifies a set of features, parameters, or considerations to take into account. Develops new insights into situations and applies innovative solutions to make organizational improvements; designs and implements new or cutting-edge programs/processes. 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 presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately. Knowledge of the principles and practices of budget administration and analysis; including preparing, justifying, reporting on, and executing the budget; and the relationships among program, budget, accounting, and reporting systems. Knowledge of change management principles, strategies, and techniques required for effectively planning, implementing, and evaluating change in the organization. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, Or LL.M in the related field of the position to be filled (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration). The education portion must include courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Education must have been obtained in an accredited college, or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. . OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate level (beyond a master's degree) and specialized experience as described above to meet total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration). NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Experience must be clearly indicated in your resume. 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/13054550. 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, 09/16/2026. 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