What are the responsibilities and job description for the Supervisory Program Specialist position at Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center?
Position is located at the Jesse Brown VA Hospital, Chicago IL. (537)) - a Level 1B Complexity VHA Facility and is organizationally aligned under the Surgery Service. The purpose of this position, provide administrative oversight for the coordination of activities in Surgery Service to include outpatient components of surgery staffed clinics and management of operating room. Includes Inpatient Services, Outpatient Services, Employee Services, Specialty Surgery Services and Administrative Office.
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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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:
Specialized Experience:
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 mostly sedentary. Occasionally, light physical effort may be required, such as that involved with walking, stair climbing, and carrying of light office items.
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/.
Operations Management/DirectingDuties and programs under the purview of this position include activities involving services at the main facility and community based outpatient clinics (CBOC) :
Administration, Operating Room - Equipment management, purchase, and preventive maintenance, Vascular, Orthopedic Surgery, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Optometry, Residency Training Program, Otolaryngology, Podiatry, Plastic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Urology, Cystoscopy suite, Outpatient Surgery Service and Staffed Specialty Clinics.
Serves as the coordinator, and preceptor for the sections (shown above) and all other clinical programs within Surgery Service. Such coordination will require intercommunication with multiple Medical Center Service Chiefs and other specialty medical staff members in order to implement changes and establish new clinical activities. Responsible for oversight of high-volume functions within the Surgery Service, such as new process roll out, trainings, hospital-wide safety drills and rollout of new technology. Incumbent disseminates information in order to be able to troubleshoot and be ahead of questions from the rest of the staff. Position is responsible for oversight of high-volume functions that occur within the Operation Room, over 4,000 procedures annually.
Supervisory:
Responsible for supervision of all Surgery Service administrative staff both directly and indirectly.
Budgeting/ Administrative Management/ Procurement/Contracting:Surgery Service budget manager for all Service Control Points and is responsible to the Chief, Fiscal Service and Chief of Staff for the various finances of Surgery Service Coordinates all service level budget planning and projecting with Fiscal and the Chief of Staff regarding budget projections and fiscal needs of the service.
Monitors resource utilization, advising Fiscal service of significant variances as compared with projected allocations; prioritizes the needs of the various sections, effecting increases/decreases in view of available resources. Responsible for overseeing all Cost Control Points and General Post Funds within Surgery Service and will direct post additions to service records. Develops specifications and assists in the preparation and development of contracts and sharing agreements for specialized medical services with other facilities and clinicians for effective, maximum utilization of medical center resources at minimal cost expendituresResponsible for all matters and acts as an advisor to the Acting Chief in the absence of the Chief, Surgery Service.
Responsible for dissemination and coordination of Surgery Service program requirements and functions with the representatives of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern Medical school. Coordination and required interaction with clinical department chairmen at the University of Illinois at Chicago & Northwestern School of Medicine, and the medical staff, house staff, and students practicing at this facility.
Oversees all Surgery Service pay administration for all full-time, part-time, intermittent, fee-basis and WOC assignments, FMLA requests, name changes, tour/schedule changes, alternative work schedules, random drug testing, pay panels, awards, performance pay, telework, recruitment, retention, and separation from the Surgery Service.
Manages all personnel actions within the service, and is responsible for evaluation and implementation of personnel management for the service including assessing staffing needs, preparing requests and justifying these needs, and reviews and modifies organizational and functional charts as required.
Provides support as the Customer Service Representative for Surgery Service to contribute high quality customer service while investigating reports of patient complaints, Congressional inquiries, OIG hotline, VA hotline, unusual incidents, or those incidents which might result in unfavorable public relations for the medical center.
Interprets VA regulations, rules, directives and professional standards to implement policies and procedures governing these programs and ensures that all employees involved are educated for the implementation of these publications, and is responsible for analyzing medical center policies, directives and guidelines, and the priorities of the Chief, Surgery Service, Chief of Staff, Director, other top management and outside organizations, and for communicating this information to medical staff and Surgery Service personnel.
Provides the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedure.
Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday, 7:30am to 4:00pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Program Specialist/PD19087O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Qualifications:
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/11/2026.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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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:
Specialized Experience:
You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to:
- Managing administrative and operational activities for a healthcare or program office;
- Monitoring budgets, expenditures, contracts, equipment, or procurement activities;
- Reviewing staffing needs and coordinating personnel actions;
- Analyzing workload, productivity, or operational data and preparing reports or recommendations;
- Applying policies and procedures related to program administration and healthcare operations;
- Resolving administrative, customer service, or personnel-related issues; and
- Leading or overseeing administrative support staff and coordinating day-to-day office operations.
- Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, obtained in an accredited college or university, or LL.M., if related, may be substituted for specialized experience to qualify for this grade 11, Supervisory Program Specialist position. Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. NOTE: TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED.
- Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the Supervisory Program Specialist position that may be used to meet the experience requirements for this position. For example, nine (9) months of appropriate specialized experience equivalent to GS-09 (75 percent of the experience requirement for GS-11) and 2 years of successfully completed graduate level education. (50 percent of the required education, i.e., the applicant has year of graduate study beyond that required for the GS-09), would exceed the total requirement and be qualified for the GS-11 position. NOTE: Only education in excess of 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education may be used to qualify at the grade 11 level. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED.
- Customer Service
- Leadership
- Manages Resources
- Organizational Awareness
- Planning and Evaluating
- Self Management
- Strategic 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 mostly sedentary. Occasionally, light physical effort may be required, such as that involved with walking, stair climbing, and carrying of light office items.
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:
Duties:Operations Management/DirectingDuties and programs under the purview of this position include activities involving services at the main facility and community based outpatient clinics (CBOC) :
Administration, Operating Room - Equipment management, purchase, and preventive maintenance, Vascular, Orthopedic Surgery, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Optometry, Residency Training Program, Otolaryngology, Podiatry, Plastic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Urology, Cystoscopy suite, Outpatient Surgery Service and Staffed Specialty Clinics.
Serves as the coordinator, and preceptor for the sections (shown above) and all other clinical programs within Surgery Service. Such coordination will require intercommunication with multiple Medical Center Service Chiefs and other specialty medical staff members in order to implement changes and establish new clinical activities. Responsible for oversight of high-volume functions within the Surgery Service, such as new process roll out, trainings, hospital-wide safety drills and rollout of new technology. Incumbent disseminates information in order to be able to troubleshoot and be ahead of questions from the rest of the staff. Position is responsible for oversight of high-volume functions that occur within the Operation Room, over 4,000 procedures annually.
Supervisory:
Responsible for supervision of all Surgery Service administrative staff both directly and indirectly.
Budgeting/ Administrative Management/ Procurement/Contracting:Surgery Service budget manager for all Service Control Points and is responsible to the Chief, Fiscal Service and Chief of Staff for the various finances of Surgery Service Coordinates all service level budget planning and projecting with Fiscal and the Chief of Staff regarding budget projections and fiscal needs of the service.
Monitors resource utilization, advising Fiscal service of significant variances as compared with projected allocations; prioritizes the needs of the various sections, effecting increases/decreases in view of available resources. Responsible for overseeing all Cost Control Points and General Post Funds within Surgery Service and will direct post additions to service records. Develops specifications and assists in the preparation and development of contracts and sharing agreements for specialized medical services with other facilities and clinicians for effective, maximum utilization of medical center resources at minimal cost expendituresResponsible for all matters and acts as an advisor to the Acting Chief in the absence of the Chief, Surgery Service.
Responsible for dissemination and coordination of Surgery Service program requirements and functions with the representatives of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern Medical school. Coordination and required interaction with clinical department chairmen at the University of Illinois at Chicago & Northwestern School of Medicine, and the medical staff, house staff, and students practicing at this facility.
Oversees all Surgery Service pay administration for all full-time, part-time, intermittent, fee-basis and WOC assignments, FMLA requests, name changes, tour/schedule changes, alternative work schedules, random drug testing, pay panels, awards, performance pay, telework, recruitment, retention, and separation from the Surgery Service.
Manages all personnel actions within the service, and is responsible for evaluation and implementation of personnel management for the service including assessing staffing needs, preparing requests and justifying these needs, and reviews and modifies organizational and functional charts as required.
Provides support as the Customer Service Representative for Surgery Service to contribute high quality customer service while investigating reports of patient complaints, Congressional inquiries, OIG hotline, VA hotline, unusual incidents, or those incidents which might result in unfavorable public relations for the medical center.
Interprets VA regulations, rules, directives and professional standards to implement policies and procedures governing these programs and ensures that all employees involved are educated for the implementation of these publications, and is responsible for analyzing medical center policies, directives and guidelines, and the priorities of the Chief, Surgery Service, Chief of Staff, Director, other top management and outside organizations, and for communicating this information to medical staff and Surgery Service personnel.
Provides the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedure.
Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday, 7:30am to 4:00pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Program Specialist/PD19087O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Salary : $83,482