What are the responsibilities and job description for the Telephone Operator position at US Department of Veterans Affairs?
The position is at the full performance level located in Health Administration Service for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (TVAMC). EDUCATION: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/ . RESPONSIBILITIES: Duties to include but not limited to:
Places and receives both internal and commercial telephone calls, including occasional calls from a foreign country, and refers them to the appropriate personnel.
Recognizes priorities or emergencies, occasionally requiring preempting circuits to permit calls to get through.
Screens incoming collect calls to determine if they meet regulatory requirements, and extends calls to authorized parties.
Intercepts threatening telephone calls, requests assistance in tracing calls, notifies immediate supervisor and Medical Administrative Specialist / Administrative Officer of the Day (AOD) on duty, and submits a written report following the incident.
Receives and reports all telephone malfunctions, records time/date and equipment problems in the trouble log.
Verifies maintenance performed and advises party that malfunction has been resolved.
Switches control to night mode, transferring all calls to the AOD.
Performs other duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Position Description/PD#: Telephone Operator/ PD07996A QUALIFICATIONS: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/12/2026.
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-4 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-3. 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-3 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of operation of a switchboard, telephone procedures, skill in dealing politely with people who are emotional or discourteous, using standard procedures to place outgoing calls, and knowledge of telephone systems .
OR,
Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 years above high school.
OR,
Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level.
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/ . SALARY: QuantitativeValue EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Other