Program Support Assistant

Program Support Assistant

This position is located at the Fargo National Cemetery in Harwood, North Dakota. Responsibilities include maintaining fund control activity listings and monitoring daily availability of funds, forecasting anticipated expenditures, installing controls for cost accounting, and making necessary adjustments for changing funding requirements. The incumbent assists the Cemetery Director in the preparation of the quarterly operating budget and laying out the operations of the Cemetery program. The incumbent is responsible for calculating percentages and tabulation of financial data from daily activity files for budget execution. He / she initiates justifications for funds and personnel by analyzing past performances, selecting, and compiling information, and composing narrative statements for the Directors approval. Assists in the preparation of yearly budget estimate requirements by extracting and consolidating required information. Advises and recommends changes in operational budget plan. Takes necessary actions to fund for salary, payments of contracts, services, and purchases. Projects estimates of cost accounting for accounts, current, outstanding, or anticipated. Makes allotment changes or adjustments; programs distribution of funds to appropriate control points from TDA or as directed by supervisor; advises supervisors of new or changing trends in budgetary requirement. Makes changes and adjustments in compliance with regulatory requirement, budgetary limitations, reconciles balances of fund control points with financial reports and other printout to avoid an anti-deficiency of funds that would bring discredit upon the National Cemetery and Agency. Performs public outreach as needed.

Work schedule : Required to work Monday through Friday. May include occasional weekends. Due to the mission of the National Cemetery, the cemetery cannot be closed for more than 2 consecutive days at any given time. Additionally, when a Federal holiday falls on a Monday or Friday, staff may be required to work on that holiday or a Saturday. All staff is required to work Memorial Day and Veterans Day each year. Staff will be required to work overtime, weekends, and holidays when necessary to meet the needs of the cemetery. Occasionally staff may be called back to the facility to perform emergency overtime work. Compressed / Flexible Schedule : Not Available. Telework : Not Available. Remote / Virtual : This is not a virtual or remote position.

Position Description Title / PD# : Program Support Assistant / PD1726145. The full performance level of this position is GS-07. Relocation Expenses : Not Authorized. Relocation / Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report : Not Required.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all specialized experience and time in grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement, 02 / 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 within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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 your most recent non-award 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 non-award SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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.

Must have the ability to type at least 40 words per minute. Must possess and maintain a valid state drivers license.

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-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 : interacting with customers and staff, analyzing data; preparing graphs, charts, presentations, maintaining a database system; tracking and logging expense items; scheduling appointments; coordinating meetings and scheduling conferences; establishing and maintaining an efficient filing and reference system for all files; using automated data processing equipment to generate a variety of reports; typing letters, memos, reports, etc. in final form; processing incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication; establishing priorities and setting deadlines; providing an interpretation of policies; gathering data; preparing reports, and making recommendations; develop findings, recommendations, and justifications, coordinating budgets, performing work as a Contracting Officer representative, etc.

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

• Computer Skills
• Analytical Thinking
• Customer Service
• Interpersonal Skills
• Analytical Reasoning
• Information Management
• Critical Thinking

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.

Note : A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements : Work is conducted within an administrative office setting requiring bending, stopping, and sitting. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

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.

Special Employment Consideration : VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and / or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal / VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http : / / www.opm.gov / policy-data-oversight / workforce-restructuring / employee-guide-to-career-transition / .

Placement Policy : The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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) at The Fair Chance Act. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members : Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.