Health System Specialist

Summary

This position supports the planning, coordination and execution of administrative policies, programs, and operations of the Syracuse NY VAMC while assisting the Chief of Staff on Medical Center operations, serving as a member of the management team assessing current operations and the development of new programs and policies. He/she assists in evaluating diverse aspects of facility functions to redefine policies, establish facility practices, and reformulate organizational goals and objectives.

Duties

• Duties: Administrative Support to Clinical Care Lines The Health Systems Specialist (HSS) to the Chief of Staff provides comprehensive support and functions as a liaison to facilitate effective oversight of the Clinical Care Integrated Clinical Community (ICC) lines. The incumbent serves as the primary link between the organization's clinical and administrative operations, ensuring that clinical services adhere to sound business practices and operate at optimal efficiency. The HSS collaborates with the Chief of Staff and ICC leadership in the development and implementation of local administrative policies, including those governing clinical workflows, documentation standards, patient access requirements, and prioritization of clinical resources. The incumbent is also responsible for drafting, submitting, and monitoring requests for policy waivers to VHA Directives when required. Responsibilities include integrating ICC reports and projects to ensure alignment with Network and Medical Center Strategic Goals. Data may come from national databases such as the Inpatient Evaluation Center (IPEC) or from locally collected real time observations. Operational Improvement Evaluates management techniques, processes, and leadership styles to enhance organizational effectiveness. Identifies and implements improvements in administrative and clinical operations based on findings from internal audits, performing facility rounds, and both qualitative and quantitative analyses aligned with the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) methodology in the Lean Six Sigma framework. Reviews complex, high impact data from VHA sources such as the Inpatient Evaluation Center (IPEC), Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning (SAIL), the provider productivity report (VSSC) and the Surgery Metrics Dashboard. Additionally, the HSS develops internal reports and dashboards to monitor progress on key facility initiatives using tools such as Microsoft Power BI. The HSS uses a variety of improvement methodologies to analyze the pertinent data, summarize the problem and make recommendations for action to the Chief of Staff. The HSS serves as the facility's point of contact in national systems patient flow initiatives including serving as a national systems redesign point of contact and as a VISN Advanced Clinic Access coach in the national ACA coach's college. The candidate monitors and creates systems to ensure that all national, VISN, and local patient access directives and policies are being adhered to and works with care lines to develop corrective courses of action to bring programs back into compliance. The HSS provides direction and collaborative oversight of all ICC Administrative Officers in assessing Performance Monitors and Measures. The incumbent advises the Chief of Staff on specific courses of action and provides reports for both the Chief of Staff and Network, as required. The incumbent assists with planning functions, including the collection of required information and materials, works with the VSSC to create customized facility reports, and the establishment of specific strategies. Coordination of plans across the clinical Care Lines will be vital, as well as facilitating the prioritization of the planning elements. Supervision Serves as the immediate supervisor to the Chief of Staff's Secretary, providing technical and administrative oversight, including direction on work assignments, performance evaluations, and leave. Supports the Chief of Staff by setting and adjusting priorities, assessing staffing needs, planning and distributing work, and ensuring adequate coverage for all program functions. Develops and interprets performance standards, communicates expectations, assigns and reviews work based on priorities, complexity, and employee capability, and conducts quarterly evaluations with ongoing feedback. Provides guidance on work and administrative matters, approves leave, manages purchase card transactions, and conducts staff meetings and minutes. Identifies and addresses employee training needs, coordinates required development, and advocates for training resources. Handles employee concerns, resolves minor issues, administers minor disciplinary actions, and elevates more serious matters as needed. Interviews and selects candidates for vacancies, promotions, details, and reassignments while ensuring compliance with EEO and merit principles. Interprets policy objectives, anticipates downstream impacts of changes in healthcare delivery, financing, staffing, coding, and readiness, and communicates these impacts to community partners, VA staff, and Veterans. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD528E-141350 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, 09/25/2026. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Experience should be directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Health System Specialist. Qualifying specialized experience is defined as 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. Preferred Experience: Experience with demonstrating skills in applying analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to issues or studies concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of programs operations. Skill to plan, organize, and direct team study work and to negotiate effectively with management. 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 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/13052744. 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, 09/25/2026. 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.