Program Specialist

The incumbent functions as a Staff Assistant for Psychiatry at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, in Phoenix, AZ. This individual assists the Psychiatry service and Administrative Officer in the coordination of day to day operations to support the delivery of mental health care within the Phoenix VA Health Care System. The incumbent also provides backup coverage to other areas of Psychology as deemed appropriate by the Chief of Psychiatry and/or the Administrative Officer.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/21/2026.

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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05.
For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07.

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 as described below:

GS-07:

• 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:
    • Researches and analyzes problems, compiling data from diverse sources, extracts and assembles information for reports or presentations or for use in developing primary care program proposals. Managing and preparing draft responses to variety of correspondence. Analyzing issues and applying appropriate responses to questions and issues. Providing customer service to a variety of departments and agencies OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 full year of graduate level education or Superior academic achievement. (Transcripts are required) OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. (Transcripts are required)

GS-09:

• 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:
    • Researches and analyzes problems, compiling data from diverse sources, extracts and assembles information for reports or presentations or for use in developing primary care program proposals. Managing and preparing draft responses to variety of correspondence. Analyzing issues and applying appropriate responses to questions and issues. Providing customer service to a variety of departments and agencies. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related (Transcripts are required) OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9. (Transcripts are required)

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/.

Responsibilities:

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.

Duties may include, but are not limited to:

• Work closely with academic affiliates to ensure that residents, students, and interns complete the required documentation and training in a timely manner.
• Provides backup timekeeper coverage for Psychiatry and Psychology.
• Provides backup coverage for labor mapping for Psychiatry and Psychology. Provides backup coverage for Psychiatry suspense item tracking.
• Serve as the primary PIV sponsor for Psychiatry and as an alternate for Psychology.
• Assists with clinic profile setup and modification requests.
• Responsible for purchasing supplies and services using a Government Purchase Card and for the timely and accurate reconciliation of purchase card orders. Incumbent will also
• Functions as backup purchase card holder for other fund control points within Psychiatry and back up for the Psychology Service.
• Assists with clinic profile setup and modification requests.
• Coordinates meetings, and arranges for space, room configuration, completes minutes, agendas, and other administrative details.
• Assists with other administrative functions such as coping and faxing.
• Provides backup coverage for TMS administrative duties which includes monitoring completion of staff training.
• Provides backup coverage for travel and training requests for Psychiatry and Psychology.

Work Schedule: Schedule will be discussed during interview
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD11254A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Salary : $52,783