Medical Administration Specialist

Summary

The Health Administrative Specialist on Duty (HOD) is a facility-wide position, located in the Office of the Chief, Health Administration Service (HAS), or Business Office (BO), or Medical Administration Service (MAS), or similarly named and organized service; with established guidelines, the position has both the authority and responsibility to represent both the Medical Center Director and the Chief, HAS on all administrative matters occurring when assigned to other than a normal tour of duty.

Duties

• With established guidelines, the HOD may be delegated the authority and responsibility to exercise the Medical Center Director's prerogative in medical administrative matters and issues that may arise. Duties include but are not limited to: Represents management in (non-policy making) administrative matters and matters pertaining to the lawful retention of veterans in the VAMC Maintains continuity of functions and provides full medical administrative support during other than normal ours of duty to clinical and administrative medical center staff Interprets VA rules and regulations relating to determining legal entitlement to benefits relating to hospital admission; nursing home, dental, domiciliary, Community Care (outside VA), and outpatient care; dental treatment; prosthetic appliances; patient transfer; and beneficiary travel Coordinates the resolution of medical legal problems concerning the medical center Ensures that appropriate legal, regulatory, and policy requirements are met Processes administrative issues surrounding beneficiary death, seriously ill cases, elopements, suicides, assaults, deaths on arrival (DOAs), homicides, code blue, cost recovery matters, and facility or community disasters Provides administrative authority, guidance, and decision making to Medical Officer of the Day (MOD), Nursing Officer of the Day (NOD), and other similarly named Nurse and Medical positions in charge after hours Provides orientation and situational technical advice to physicians regarding VA policies and procedures Assists in responding to emergencies, determines priorities and nature o faction to be taken Coordinates non-routine contacts received at the medical center after regular operating hours Establishes and maintains liaison with Public Affairs Officer, whenever applicable Acts as an advisory resource to all personnel assigned to other than normal tours of duty, such as medical clerks, telephone operators, file room personnel, admitting and clinic clerks and Contact Representatives Work Schedule: Varies (day, night, evening, weekend, & holidays) Position Description/PD#: Medical Administration Specialist/PD99368S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized 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-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 s described below: 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: Knowledge of a wide range of administrative concepts, principles, and practices such as Bed Management, Emergency management and incident command, Public Affairs media management; Knowledge of general principles of management and of the practices, techniques, and objectives of supervision; general knowledge of Federal and department personnel management policies and practices; knowledge of medical resources in surrounding community; Knowledge of medical and technical terminology; Knowledge of applicable public laws, policy, and regulations, dealing with care and treatment of veterans and beneficiaries; Ability to locate and interpret all applicable regulations; Knowledge of public laws governing VA and states served by medical center in matters of judicial hospitalization, issuing warrants, Workman's Compensation, reimbursable hospital insurance, liability of third parties, and other medico-legal matters; Knowledge of commitment laws and proceedings in the state and other neighboring jurisdictions so that required actions are taken without violating patient's rights; Ability to deal with variety of individuals with tact and diplomacy; Knowledge of safety and fire prevention rules and regulations; Ability to assist during an emergency that may include weather, a toxic environment, major disruption of services, or an active threat; Ability to interpret rules, regulations, policies, and procedures to make sound decisions using good judgment; Ability to identify and analyze complex problems with a range of variables; Ability to complete assigned projects in a thorough, accurate, and timely manner; Ability to explain and organize complex issues in writing. (This experience must be well documented in your resume or application package.) Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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 or two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application with the conferral of degree present. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first year or 18 semester hours and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. Education cannot be credited without documentation. 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 requires much walking through the medical center with occasionally the requirement to lift objects such as suitcases, clothing, or medical charts. 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/13051892. 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