Program Support Assistant

Program Support Assistant

The primary purpose of this position is to provide administrative information and assistance to the supervisor and staff, on the practical and technical aspects of office administration, to include budgeting and other administrative support services, and to perform staff support work. Facilitates coordination of master staffing schedules ensuring twenty-four-hour availability of clinical personnel. Assists the Chief of Medicine (Service Chief) and Administrative Officer (AO) in daily operation.

Major duties include but are not limited to the following :

• Advisory Services : Provided on the basis of personal knowledge or on the basis of personal research in the guidelines or contacts with the offices and individuals within the service.
• Budget and Financial Management : Collects data for the unit's operating budget, consolidates material into an annual service budget; sets up controls to monitor expenses during the year; and recommends budget adjustments including restructuring budget allocations or work plans to deal with changing situations such as varying costs for equipment parts, or services, and changes in the availability of funds. Alerts the Administrative Officer or other authority of significant issues / problems, such as overspending in assigned accounts.
• Serves as technical resource to unit personnel on travel policies and regulations, and provides information on travel allowances and requirements. Prepares travel authorizations and vouchers using automated systems and software for travel and voucher preparation.
• Researches accounting problems such as erroneous payments, object class errors, unobligated commitments, and late payments, and ensures corrections and / or adjustments documents are entered into the accounting systems.
• Office Program Work : Collect data, review, analyze and develop plan (if necessary), monitors signed / unsigned clinical notes, to improve access and in support of completing outpatient encounters. Provides data and proposals to the Chief of Medicine (Service Chief) and Administrative Officer (AO) for this same function.
• Assists with identification of staffing shortages and deficiencies assuring efficient allocation of clinical personnel needed to maintain safe unit staffing levels as needed. Ensures data validation from (Gains and Loss [G&L], inpatient rosters and Cost Data Reports [CDR]). Compiles data, produces trends and makes recommendations based on the data and requirements, to assist the Sub-Specialty Chief with VA, national and local regulatory compliance.
• Participates in the development and review of clinical staffing and scheduling policies / procedures. Provides staffing and clinical outcomes data to interdisciplinary team members to establish and effectively trend staffing and clinical care outcomes metrics.
• Office Services : Assists Administrative Officer (AO) with Credentialing and Privileging of Physicians, Mid-Level Providers, and Dependent Providers.
• Conducts extensive research and compilation of data from diverse sources. Extracts and assembles information, conducts analysis and develops reports. Demonstrates proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and program management software.
• Responsible for data collection, analysis, and reporting for the assigned Sub-Specialty Section. Pulls data from systems such as VHA Support Service Center (VSSC), Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning (SAIL), and Specialty Productivity Access Report and Quadrant Tool (SPARQ), including those reports built using Pyramid Analytics, and VISTA for Budget reports. Analyzes this data and prepares reports for Sub-Specialty Chief and Medicine leadership. Assist Sub-Specialty section staff in understanding and utilizing data gathered from these sources.
• Serves as Sub-Specialty section expert on Managerial Cost Accounting (MCA) reports. Reviews and updates labor mapping for section staff, works with MCA staff to address concerns with cost outliers, and ensure person class code assignments are accurate and reviewed on a regular basis.

Work Schedule : Monday through Friday 8 : 00am - 4 : 30pm Virtual : This is not a virtual position. Position Description / PD# : Program Support Assistant / PD11873A

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this 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. 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 or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02 / 10 / 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position :

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration / Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA / OSP) .

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.