Staff Assistant

This position is in the Veterans Health Administration Health Care Network (VISN 5), Hershel "Woody" Williams VA Medical Center, Huntington WV, in the Director's Office. The incumbent reports to the Medical Center Director (MCD), whose office manages multiple subordinate organizations with diverse and unrelated functions. The incumbent provides executive level administrative and support services to the MCD and provides direction to medical center clerical administrative and medical staff.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/04/2026.

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:

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 level, you must meet one of the following:

• Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-5) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Staff Assistant. Qualifying specialized experience includes Basic knowledge of medical center organization, functions, specialties, and programs; experience locating and interpreting regulations from a wide range of sources; reviewing data and information for trends, problem areas, and makes recommendations to management to resolve issues; ability to cope with wide variety of problems and to resolve them quickly and decisively; and explain and organize complex issues in writing. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week.

~OR~

• Education: One (1) full year of successfully completed graduate level education or superior academic achievement, that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation.
  • Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): SAA at the baccalaureate level in the coursework detailed above is fully qualifying. Applicants who wish to apply under this provision must submit proof from their educational institution that they meet one of the criteria listed below. To qualify for SAA, applicants must have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled and meet one of the following:
    • Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university or major subdivision.
    • A grade-point average of "B" (a GPA of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study.
    • A grade point average of "B " (a GPA of 3.45 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 of undergraduate study.
    • Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. For a list of recognized honor societies please visit http://www.achsnatl.org/quick_link.asp.
  • For more information regarding SAA please visit http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e5.asp#e4f.

~OR~

• Combination: equivalent combination of successfully completed education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position. Only education beyond a bachelor's degree may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-07 level. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 level, you must meet one of the following:

• Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-7) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Staff Assistant. Qualifying specialized experience includes experience using a wide range of medical center administrative concepts, principles, and practices; preparing a variety of reports utilizing various databases and automated systems; compiling and preparing administrative information/documentation for management; ensuring established priorities and deadlines are met; providing administrative support, such as the coordination of calendars, meetings, recording minutes, preparing correspondence, reports and presentations; and making logistical arrangements for meetings and conferences; reviewing data and information for trends, problem areas, and makes recommendations to management to resolve issues; interpreting rules, regulations, policies, and procedures to make sound decisions; and identify and analyze complex problems or situations with a range of variables.

~OR~

• Education: Successfully completed two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education or masters or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D., in a related field of the position to be filled. Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

~OR~

• Combination: equivalent combination of successfully completed education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position. Only education in excess of the first year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-09 level. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is 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/.

Preferred Experience:
Experience leveraging virtual work flows and ability to provide sound attention to detail with strong team and customer service communication in a highly dynamic, fast paced, and confidential administration environment.

Responsibilities:

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Receives and processes all correspondence and documents transmitted through the Medical Center Director's Office and the Executive Office for review, approval, and signature, establishing controls on certain items, including suspense items, recurring and non-recurring reports, medical center correspondence, etc.
• Tracks Medical Center memoranda timeliness and reviews incoming memoranda prior to Quad review to ensure proper format and inclusion of necessary information.
• Determines the appropriate staff activity for action, forwards correspondence; uses tracking system, follows up to assure action is taken; enforces rigid timelines; and assures receipt of pertinent information.
• Prepares special reports, data, or correspondence using a personal computer with a wide variety of software.
• Serves as liaison between the management staff and MCD by providing accurate, timely information and guidance on procedures, reports, requirements, and other matters necessary to implement policies, directives, and instruction for the VAMC.
• This position serves in an analytical capacity, supporting the full range of functions within the administrative realm of the service lines that report to the Medical Center Director.
• The incumbent exercises control over supervisor's appointments with complete authority for commitments of time, establishing priorities at own discretion, setting up, rearranging, and when necessary, coordinating meetings with staff offices.
• Makes arrangements for travel, meetings, and community activities. Arranges schedules of visits and transportation, prepares orders, arranges hotel reservations, equipment requirements, speaking topics, notifies organizations and officials to be visited, and submits travel paperwork, as required.
• The incumbent is recognized as a subject matter expert on administrative, management and HR policies, programs, and procedures. Incumbent reviews draft regulations, standards, and other guides and makes recommendations to the Director.
• Maintains timecards, initiates personnel actions and overtime actions, and ensures appropriate personnel actions are done on a timely basis for the supervisor's subordinate staff.
• The incumbent is responsible for ensuring that service level and medical center policies and procedures are responsive, timely and consistent with agency polices, VA/HR guidance or established appropriate precedents.
• The incumbent secures, assembles, and summarizes information from files, documents, and memoranda, organizes the information develops reports and highlights the most important points when briefing the MCD.
• Serves as the PIV sponsor for the office of the Director and as a backup for the service lines that fall under this office, enters access requests for VA computer systems ensuring all requirements are met prior to issuance, requests logistical support on behalf of the office of the Director and for the service lines that report to that office.
• Gathers complaints and associated documentation regarding labor relations issues and supplies the Director with all necessary information in a brief and concise format so that complete situational awareness is maintained by the Director.
• Records, transcribes, and edits the minutes of various meetings following the medical center standard format, preparing the minutes for distribution, singling out the action items, establishing deadlines and following up as required.
• Supports MCD and the service lines that report to the office of the Director in preparation for VISN Council/committee/work group meetings, establishes the agenda ensures the accuracy of data and prepares minutes when supervisor chairs a VISN council/committee/workgroup and when otherwise assigned.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

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.

Work Schedule: FT, Monday-Friday, 7:30am to 4pm
Telework: This position may be authorized for AD-Hoc telework as per VA policy and at Supervisor discretion.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Staff Assistant/PD220070 and PD220010
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Salary : $50,460