Program Support Assistant

Summary

This position serves as a Program Support Assistant (PSA) for Environmental Management Service (EMS) in Salt Lake City, Utah. The employee independently establishes priorities for accomplishment of the various responsibilities inherent within a complex, multi-specialty organization, as well as handling multiple and varied interruptions and additional unpredictable work assignments arising on a day-to-day basis.

Duties

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Major duties and responsibilities include: Processes incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication; edits and/or composes letters and reports and reviews correspondence for accuracy and completeness. Prepares a variety of recurring reports, reviews outgoing correspondence for proper attachments, and consolidates/coordinating submittals of information. Maintains automated systems and program-specific data to track suspense items such as project milestones, progress reports, and compliance strategies. Schedules appointments, coordinates meetings and/or conferences, reminds staff members and invitees of subject matter prior to meetings, and makes administrative arrangements as required. Provides general clerical and public-contact support services, including answering the telephone, referring visitors, providing information to internal and external customers, screening calls and requests, and forwarding inquiries for timely resolution. Prepares, executes and/or tracks program-specific information, coordinates incoming data from a variety of sources, reviews documents, reports and/or applications for omissions and inconsistencies, and ensures data entry is complete and accurate. Collects, compiles and/or tracks data and statistical information in support of organizational operations and reviews and reports program data. Performs timekeeping and time-and-attendance duties, including submission and maintenance of appropriate documentation and arranging orientation schedules as required. Provides procurement support, including serving as liaison to the purchasing/procurement office, arranging for and monitoring equipment, services and products, obtaining and monitoring supplies/equipment, and performing purchase-card-related duties. Performs records-control duties, including maintaining office files, reviewing records and documents for completeness and accuracy, maintaining files in accordance with applicable rules and regulations, and supporting documentation of employee training and achievement. Performs duties as assigned. Promotion Potential: This position involves a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-07. At the GS-06 grade level, you will perform assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-07. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of higher level work, and availability of funds. Work Schedule: Full-Time; Monday through Friday; 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Telework: This position may be authorized for ad-hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position at the GS-6 grade level, you must meet the following requirement: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-05) in the Federal service that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes performing administrative and clerical support duties such as preparing correspondence and reports; maintaining records, files, or automated tracking systems; scheduling appointments or meetings; collecting, entering, and reviewing data for accuracy; and providing customer service to internal and external customers. To qualify for this position at the GS-7 grade level, you must meet the following requirement: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-06) in the Federal service that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes performing a variety of administrative program support functions such as preparing and reviewing correspondence and reports; collecting, analyzing, and tracking program data; maintaining records and automated systems; coordinating schedules, meetings, and administrative activities; and applying established policies and procedures to resolve administrative problems and support program operations. Physical Demands: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; lifting and carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; or driving an automobile, etc. Physical dexterity is required in the operation of the compute machine, and other required office equipment. Must be able to concentrate for long period of time. Incumbent must be able to maintain composure when others are upset. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. Work Environment: The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meeting and training rooms, or libraries. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. Occasionally,the employee has reason to deliver or go on errands to other buildings associated with the healthcare 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 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) - See "Required Documents" below for details. 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, 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 assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. 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 questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13060097. 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, 09/24/2026. After submitting the online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder. IMPORTANT: If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements. 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 at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found in your USAJOBS account under the "Track my application" link for the corresponding application. 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 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.