Program Specialist – Veterans Experience Officer

Summary The Dayton VA Medical Center is recruiting for a Supervisory Program Specialist (Veteran Experience Officer), GS-301-12, who directly maintains a work liaison relationship with Veterans service organizations, community groups, and others whose interest is in helping and protecting Veterans, their families, and their representatives. Responsibilities Duties include but are not limited to: Oversees the daily operation of the Office of Veterans Experience, ensures that agency policies and priorities are being followed; develops performance standards; and evaluates work performance of subordinates. Contributes to the development of the overall Dayton VAMC budget, and manages his or her service-level funds within the scope of the financial plan, budgetary consideration and constraints. Serves as the liaison between the Medical center, Veterans, and staff of the facility, and the community it services regarding patients rights and advocacy. Assists Veterans in understanding their rights in addition to their responsibilities Maintains a strong relationship with Veteran Service Organizations, Veterans Stakeholder Committees, county Veteran Service Offices, Dayton VA Service Representatives, and others whose interests are in helping and protecting Veterans, their families, and their representatives Responds to Congressional Veteran inquiry letters with program officials or staff members assigned to this responsibility. Often personally investigates inquiry and prepares response. Assists with public relations involving Veterans to increase community and Veteran awareness of VA healthcare resources through outreach activities and other avenues. Participate in Medical Center committees, functions as a chair, member, or consultant. Many of these committees review patient care and issues of quality improvement. Performs other related duties as assigned by Chief, Community and Public Relations Service. These special activities may be complex in nature requiring immediate attention, rapid coordination and planning, compiling data, from various sources preparing routine and specialized reports, and summarizing various surveys, including survey of healthcare experience of patients (SHEP) for staff and stakeholder review. Identifies the elements of clinical or administrative practices which contribute to , or create, an atmosphere for patient dissatisfaction, and recommends changes to appropriate officials which will reduce or eliminate justified complaints. Play key role in the development and implementation of internal review systems to assure that Service activities are in compliance with regulations, policies, directives, and accreditation standards. Ensures that services provided are within acceptable standards set by internal and external review bodies, which contributes to the high quality of care to the patient population. Also, responsible for ensuring that internal reviews are implemented and completed within the area of responsibility; interfacing with external reviewers; and for developing and completing improvement projects. A one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period may be required. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00 am – 4:30 pm Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Ad-hoc only. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist – Veterans Experience Officer/PD130980 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) – See “Additional Information” below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/21/2024. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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. Note: 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Tracking data to identify trends of problem areas Patient Experience or Patient Advocacy Analyzing data, preparing reports, and leading process improvement teams. Leadership teams, workgroups, subcommittees or committees Preparing written reports and communicating orally to ELT, Service Chiefs, VISN Leadership to share patient experience data and to collaborate on the need for patient experience based design initiatives. Strong computer skills (TEAMS, Sharepoint management, Microsoft Word/Excel/Database Management) Experience supervising a team, section or department Experience conducting customer and stakeholder-focused special projects Experience presenting findings and proposals to large groups of people, executive leaders and stakeholders Experience managing a budget to include financial planning for a department or section You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Conflict Management Creative Thinking Customer Service Data Management Information Technology Performance Assessment Analysis and Problem Solving Strategic Thinking Stakeholder Management Flexibility 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 primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may berequired such as walking, bending, standing, carrying items such as medical records and assisting personnel in wheelchairs. Most work can be done while seated, at a desk and computer keyboard. Frequent walking may be required for frequent and routine point of care rounding. Incumbent may travel to all sites of care within the LVAHCS for employee education and training programs, as well as employee and community Town Hall meetings. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. 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 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.