Program Support Assistant

The position is at the full performance level located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), at the San Diego VA Medical Center (VAMC) in the Compensation and Pension Service. The primary purpose of this position is to provide administrative support to the Compensation and Pension program.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/24/2026.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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-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: ability to organize work and function independently and as part of a team; ability to communicate orally and in writing; ability to analyze organizational and operational problems to develop solutions and met deadlines; ability to maintain records and files accurately, collect and record data, strong word processing and computer skills, ability to type a variety of documents and prepare reports.

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: Work is primarily sedentary, but requires visits to warehouse and storage areas, loading docks and other facilities.

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:

The position is organizationally located in the Compensation and Pension Service. The incumbent completes varied assignments which are complex in nature, requiring coordination with self-directed team members, supervisor and clinical staff within the medical center and with fee for services clinical examiners of the clinic, and administrative staff of Veteran Benefits Administration (VBA). Incumbents are also responsible for coordination with the State and local law enforcement agencies when arranging examinations for incarcerated Veterans.

The incumbent is responsible for duties associated with receipt, determination, coordination of disability medical examinations, monitoring of completion of C&P examination reports. These examinations require completion by full time and fee for services examiners in the fields of medicine, orthopedics, psychiatry, neurology, ENT, optometry, and dental medicine.

The position is further complicated in that incumbent must operate as a team member of a self-directed work team to accomplish the program goals within mandated timeframes. The incumbent must have the ability to function in any of the various duties required from receipt to release of these highly critical examinations since the timely completion of these reports impact VBA's rating and adjudication of Veteran's disability and pension benefit claims. This requirement greatly expands the knowledge base necessary to accomplish daily the program goals. The programs are constantly under the scrutiny of the media, congressional offices, Veteran's representatives and the public.

The incumbent is often contacted in person or by telephone to respond to inquiries regarding program guidelines or status of examinations. With team members, incumbent assist with research, monitoring and preparation of weekly, monthly and quarterly reports to program officials, Medical Center Director, Chief of Staff, VHA VISN Director and VBA Director. The incumbent must prepare correspondence to Veterans daily to coordinate examinations and/or special diagnostic studies required to complete the examination.

Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday
Compressed/Flexible: No
Telework: No
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD10682A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: No
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): No
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): No
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): No

Salary : $51,871