Secretary

Summary

The Surgery Services Secretary position provides expert administrative, technical, and clerical support to the various sections within Surgery Services, which include but are not limited to the Operating Room (OR) and all ten (10) Surgical Clinics (General Surgery, Peripheral Vascular, ENT/Head and Neck, Neurosurgery, Plastic Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic, and Urology (in both Ann Arbor and Toledo CBOC), Podiatry).

Duties

• Duties include but are not limited to: Answers telephones and provides technical and secretarial assistance to the above management staff as well as medical providers and others as requested. Plans and carries out the work, handling problems and deviations in the assignments in accordance with established policies. Orders office supplies, distributes all incoming and outgoing mail, and provides administrative coverage to any or all surgery sections. Assists in coordinating all non-MD employees through Credentialing, Human Resources (HR) and sections as appropriate; ensures that all OR staff maintain active radiology badges. This position also requires the highest standards of providing customer service to both internal and external stakeholders. Collaborates with the OR Manager to review daily surgery documentation logs to review previous days cases, and is well versed in utilizing software such as VISTA, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point, and Microsoft Outlook. Completes all aspects of timekeeping for Surgery Services (five (5) TL groups) according to facility policy and procedure. Enters employee work tours, accurately posts tours of duty, on-call time, annual, and sick leave in Veteran Affairs Time and Attendance System (VATAS) in a timely manner. Tracks part-time physicians and tracks and informs management of employee absenteeism and maintains staff schedules in Clairvia Provides additional ADPAC support for Surgery Services. They are responsible for providing guidance and assistance to clinical staff and request modifications or new account access, documentation keys and menus, T-drive access, and IT hardware requests through the ePAS system. They will also provide PIV sponsorship for the service and request required keys, departmental access, and scrub machine cards/codes through the Lock Shop, Police Department, and Linen Department respectively. The incumbent also assists with troubleshooting computer sign-in issues, updates electronic contact information for employees, and aids in editing signature blocks and person class codes. Physical Demands: The work is mainly sedentary; but may require, walking, stair climbing, bending, stooping and carrying lightweight documents, and repetitive use of the keyboard as part of daily activities. Stamina and concentration to meet crucial deadlines are required. Keen hearing and distinct speech are essential due to the extensive use of the telephone as a means of communication. There may be a certain amount of mental strain due to time constraints and frequent reviews and surveys. The employee must be able to handle stress of meeting deadlines and the time constraints placed on him/her. The work does not require any special physical effort or ability. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00 am-3:30 pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary/PD94409-0 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, 09/23/2026. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. The grade may have been in any occupation. 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. Specialized Experience: You must have one(1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level of GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of Specialized Experience: Expertise in computer operation procedures, computer programs for typing correspondence, creating spreadsheets and graphs, maintaining an on-line calendar, creating mail-merge documents, and utilizing the network server. Skill in analyzing processes, communication and workflow while identifying gaps and barriers and independently developing and implementing methods for improvement. Secretarial skills including ability in typing, records management, taking accurate and complete meeting minutes, and use of general office equipment. Skill in human relations appropriate for coordinating an office environment, resolving problems, conducting training, and acting liaison for personnel within and outside of the medical center, including Veterans and their families. Considerable experience and comprehensive work knowledge of special administrative and complex processes to support clinical operations. Skill in performing work that supports management and/or program functions in which knowledge of the purpose, operation, methodology, and technique characteristics of specific management/program function is needed. 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 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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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/13059347. 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, 09/23/2026. 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