What are the responsibilities and job description for the Secretary position at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs?
Summary
The Secretary serves as executive secretary to the Director - who is responsible for the activities of VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS) - an integrated health care delivery system - offering a comprehensive array of medical - surgical - rehabilitative - primary - mental health - and extended care to Veterans throughout the pacific islands. This position is currently under consistency review and may result in a downgrade/change to lower grade once determination is made
Qualifications
To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 05/22/2026. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-8) 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 Secretary. Specialized experience includes: performing clerical/administrative duties in an office environment; answering and directing phone calls; receiving visitors; preparing correspondence; maintaining files/records; and using a computer to perform a variety of support tasks; scheduling and managing a calendar of appointments. At this grade level - applicants should have good verbal and written communication skills and the ability to perform assignments independently with minimal oversight You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Interpersonal Skills Technical Competence 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 incumbents work is mostly sedentary - however - some walking - standing - bending - and carrying of light to medium weight items 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/.
Duties
The Secretary serves as executive secretary to the Director - who is responsible for the activities of VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS) - an integrated health care delivery system - offering a comprehensive array of medical - surgical - rehabilitative - primary - mental health - and extended care to Veterans throughout the pacific islands. This position is currently under consistency review and may result in a downgrade/change to lower grade once determination is made
Qualifications
To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 05/22/2026. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-8) 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 Secretary. Specialized experience includes: performing clerical/administrative duties in an office environment; answering and directing phone calls; receiving visitors; preparing correspondence; maintaining files/records; and using a computer to perform a variety of support tasks; scheduling and managing a calendar of appointments. At this grade level - applicants should have good verbal and written communication skills and the ability to perform assignments independently with minimal oversight You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Interpersonal Skills Technical Competence 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 incumbents work is mostly sedentary - however - some walking - standing - bending - and carrying of light to medium weight items 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/.
Duties
- Duties include - but may not be limited to the following: Manages the Director's calendar to include resolving scheduling conflicts - rescheduling appointments - and printing documents needed for the day- Manages correspondence to the center which includes coordinating responses on behalf of its Director and finalizes and generates correspondence as needed Prepares high-level memoranda - letters and other documents - routes for approval - and tracks to completion for the leadership team- Reviews final responses related to patient issues - Congressional correspondence - and patient advocate issues- Notifies the center Director and responsible parties of impending suspense dates Maintains tracking of competency folder - proficiencies - appraisals - and awards - etc. - and routes through appropriate channels for timely submission Serves as timekeeper to include notifying staff when there are timekeeping exception notices - and ensures corrections are made Answers telephone calls and routes messages as appropriate- Prints - copies - faxes - orders supplies - initiates work orders - and manages key requests and SharePoint requests Manages purchase card to include reconciling purchase cards - maintaining purchase card documentation for required timeframe - resolving disputes of unknown or incorrect charges - providing approving officials with all pertinent purchase card documents for approval by the same - and inputting orders into the purchase card menu timely Performs other duties as assigned
- Work Schedule: Monday to Friday - 7:00am - 3:30pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework
- Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process
- Virtual: This is not a virtual position
- Position Description/PD#: Secretary/PD031950 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Salary : $64,438 - $83,774