Program Applications Specialist

Summary

The position is in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System in Tucson, Arizona (SAVAHCS) in the Office of the Deputy Associate Director of Patient Care Services (DADPCS). The DADPCS provides nurse staffing, education, recognition/awards, transition to practice, and academic affiliation support to all facility services. The incumbent reports to the Chief DADPCS.

Duties

• Duties include but not limited to: The incumbent serves as the Program Application Specialist (PAS) that coordinates software implementation and data retrieving processes. The primary functions of this position will be to ensure a data retrieving process is in place to support the implementation of new and updated information technology systems. This position will ensure DADPCS has the support and services required to have an overall understanding of the integration of software applications, user interaction, and the data to support those functions. In order to ensure the success of this integration, an extensive knowledge of Veterans Integrated Systems Technology Architecture (VistA) packages that support the DADPCS processes is needed. The incumbent of this position provides analytical, planning, and oversight for a variety of software programs integral to the overall administration and operations of the service. The incumbent plays a significant role in DADPCS process re-engineering of administrative programs to integrate with existing and new software applications to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the current service programs. The incumbent conducts business process modeling, projects and studies that will impact on the overall functions of the services in such areas as, policy development and implementation, work methodology, processes, streamlining, program/service goals and objectives, staffing plans, etc. The incumbent is responsible for the planning, implementation, training and coordination for service and facility staff in DADPCS and functional areas for various information technology packages: VISTA packages, e.g. Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA), Discharge Data summary; Picis, surgical and critical care applications; Bed Management Solution portal; VetLink point of care kiosks; AMTIS business planning tool; Staffing Methodology calculators; and a multitude of other software modules. The incumbent serves as the functional "expert" for all matters relating to the AcuStaf Nursing Scheduling portal. Additionally, the incumbent provides training on other data analytic web portals, such as the VHA Support Service Center (VSSC), Nursing Unit Mapping Application (NUMA), and Labor Mapping. The incumbent provides assistance, training, and troubleshooting for clinical and administrative staff in the data processes and associated supporting software. Provides training for individual users on daily operational tasks and trains new users. Trains service employees and facility employees in the use of DADPCS programs, to ensure that data is entered correctly and optimizes clinic utilization. Training consists of development and presentation of both formal lectures and on-the-job sessions to those employees who will be entering, changing and extracting data. Trains users in resolving minor processing and equipment problems. The incumbent is the point of contact for OI&T for information technology planning initiative for hardware and software needs for the service. The incumbent is responsible for the development, preparation and implementation of the business contingency plans for system failure specifically addressing manual system backup plans addressing how day to day business will be conducted for long and short-term outages. Collects physical and data security needs for the service areas. The incumbent collaborates with the responsible office(s) for medical center workload to assure the accuracy of the data in VISTA. Incumbent is the business point of contact for all business implementation phrases of new software or devices. The incumbent is the problem solver with the special ability to integrate overall knowledge of the service system with VISTA applications and to be innovative in the process. Assists other services in the medical center to achieve workload studies. Provides testing of new options and software versions prior to implementation to gain familiarity with the new product features and confirm that software is working according to specifications. Provides staff support to OI&T by providing information and analysis of software functions within the service. Is responsible for designing and developing data management analyses, special studies, and reports for use by top management for budget preparation, workload projections, and quality assurance and utilization reviews. The incumbent requires an expert knowledge in business metadata that allows the ability to provide information related to continued business operations and external requests such as The Joint Commission (TJC), System-wide Ongoing Assessment and Review Strategy (SOARS), and other internal audits. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Applications Specialist/PD11764A 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, 09/18/2026. 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: 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: Planning, training, and coordination of various software packages; re-engineering of programs to integrate with existing and new software applications; providing assistance, training, and troubleshooting for staff on software and facility processes; supporting software updates; coordinating for equipment installation and replacement; and developing data management analyses, special studies, and reports for use by management. 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 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B. or J.D. in a related field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. (NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.). 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/13053696. 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, 09/18/2026. 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