Program Specialist

Summary This position is located at the Nashville National Cemetery in S Madison, Tennessee. Responsibilities This is a bargaining unit position. This position is represented by AFGE. Please note that as provided for in the AFGE/VA Master Agreement the FIRST area of consideration for this position will be permanent employees of the local facility in which this position is being filled, the SECOND area of consideration will be employees at other VA facilities, and the THIRD area of consideration will be all other eligibles. Primary designated COR for the Grounds Maintenance, Headstone, Interment, and Janitorial Contracts of the Nashville National Cemetery and any additional contracts that are directly related to them. Works closely with the Contracting Officer, Cemetery Director, Financial Administrator and other cemetery team members to acquire the goods and services needed for the mission and goals of the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), Office of Field Programs and South East District Office. Administers contracts, procurements and acquisition segments to include review of statements of work, deliverable timetables and invoice payments. Conducts Quality Assurance checks daily on Grounds Maintenance work completed by contractors and other cemetery contracts. Required to be on-site to conduct Quality Assurance checks and verify proper placement of all interments and any headstones set. Acts as the Cemetery Representative for committal services when needed to include building BOSS cases, family packets and all Burial Accuracy procedures in the CNC SOP-1 Accountability of Remains. Completes all documentation required for Quality Assurance checks, processes all verification and compliance procedures. Incumbent assists Director/ AO/ Budget Analyst in fiscal tasks for Nashville National Cemetery which includes: budget formulation; utilizing past records; current estimates; and assists with daily input an electronic i.e. blotter record/Resource Management Tool/MADSS Reports/Contract Tracking Spreadsheet and associated excel spreadsheets. Assist in tracking and maintaining fiscal accounting records for all expenditures to assure fiscal integrity. Assists with contract development, communicates with contractors and central contracting, coordinates and monitors procurement activities in the Ifams program. Condition of employment is based on the incumbent successfully completing and maintaining all training requirements as necessary for COR level II certification to meet the Full Performance Level of this position. Work schedule: Required to work Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. 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 Specialist/PD1636654 The full performance level of this position is GS – 09. At the level GS-GS-7, you will perform similar duties but under closer supervision. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Relocation Expenses: Not Authorized Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications 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, 10/29/2024. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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 possess and maintain a valid state drivers license. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education, as described below: GS-7 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: administrative responsibilities including budget, correspondence, and work direction of lower grade employees; analyzes current and proposed program and budget operating programs to evaluate their actual or potential effectiveness in establishing and achieving goals and objectives; compiles and analyzes data, identifies trends, prepares reports, and recommends solutions for resolving problems and to ensure compliance with operational standards and measures. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for specialized experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successful completion of 1 full year of graduate level education from an accredited college or university. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work; OR a Bachelors degree with Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): SAA is defined as (1) cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher our of a possible 4.0 for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last 2 years of undergraduate study; (2) GPA of 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years; (3) Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university, or major subdivision or (4) Membership in a national honor society (other than freshmen honor societies). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond 4 years of undergraduate level education earned). GS-9 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: administrative responsibilities including budget, correspondence, and work direction of lower grade employees; analyzes current and proposed program and budget operating programs to evaluate their actual or potential effectiveness in establishing and achieving goals and objectives; compiles and analyzes data, identifies trends, prepares reports, and recommends solutions for resolving problems and to ensure compliance with operational standards and measures. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-09 level: masters or equivalent graduate degree OR two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B. or J.D., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 18 semester hours. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first year or 18 semester hours of graduate level education). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-09. For example, an applicant who has 1 year of graduate level education (18 semester hours) plus another 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required specialized experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Budget Administration Communication Computer Skills 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: The work is sedentary in nature but may require extended periods of standing or walking. Physical demands on the incumbent consist of walking, bending, standing. Must be able to lift 50 pounds. Incumbent is required to wear personal protective equipment when appropriate. When performing administrative functions, work is performed both indoors in an office setting and outdoors when attending committal services during any kind of weather conditions. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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. Additional Information 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 OPMs 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. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position. 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 applicants 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.