Supervisory Health System Specialist

This Supervisory Health System Specialist position is Chief of Staff services at the VA Maine Healthcare Systems, located at the Augusta, ME location. This is a full-time position.

The position serves as the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff of VA Maine Healthcare System. The incumbent is responsible for a broad range of activities related to the Medical Center's mission to provide quality patient care, education and research, with specific emphasis on the effective use of resources to meet patient demand. As the Chief of Staff's Health System Specialist, the incumbent is a key member of this medical center's top management and participates in top management discussions, decisions, and policy making while sharing in the responsibility for top management actions. In this capacity, the incumbent is often required to advise the Medical Center Director and/or Associate Director on behalf of the Chief of Staff regarding issues affecting medical center clinical programming.

Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Maintains close liaison with the Chiefs of the direct care and allied health services reporting to the Chief of Staff (COS) in coordinating the efforts of all the services so that the patient care, teaching and research missions of the Medical Center are met.
• Maintains close liaison with the Chiefs of the administrative services so that the support needs of the direct care and allied health services reporting to the COS are quickly and efficiently met.
• Supervises and coordinates all administrative functions inherent to the Office of the Chief of Staff, establishing controls where necessary.
• Represents the Chief of Staff and the services reporting to the COS on various Medical Center Committees and functions.
• Acts as an administrative advisor to the Administrative Officers and Chiefs of the direct care and allied health services reporting to the COS on issues related to programming and administrative matters.
• Acts with and for the Chief of Staff in administrative matters (staffing, funding, program development, space and equipment needs) related to Chiefs of direct care and allied health services reporting to the COS.
• Participates with the Chief of Staff in "morning report" and in his absence receives report for later delivery to the Chief of Staff; follows up on issues as needed and reports actions back to the Chief of Staff, Medical Center Director or Associate Medical Center Director.
• Serves as sounding board for various service chiefs and reflects the thinking of the Chief of Staff making recommendations and commitments without benefit of consultation with the COS.
• Participates in the implementation of VISN 1 special emphasis programs such as Advanced Clinic Access, which crosses administrative and clinical boundaries and affects all levels of the organization. Serves as the facility's ACA Point of Contact.
• The incumbent is responsible for the supervision and coordination of the Credentialing and Privileging (C&P) Program at this Medical Center.
• Responsible for ensuring that the credentialing and privileging files for the above-named practitioners and staff members are established and are kept accurate, complete and up to date.
• The incumbent influences Service Chiefs, professional staff or others to accept and implement findings and recommendations on implementation of program initiatives, performance measures. organizational improvement or program effectiveness.
• The incumbent has the responsibility for establishing and maintaining the Compensation and Pension Program that will meet the requirements established by VHA and VBA regulations, ensuring that the quality and timeliness of exams is accomplished within established guidelines.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm
Telework: May be authorized.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Health System Specialist/PD402-04141-O
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Notification:

• Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
• This position is in Competitive Service.
• This position is not a Bargaining Unit position.
• This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay.
• The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's.
• Selectee required to serve one year supervisory/managerial probationary period.
• Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/22/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:

  • Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
  • Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and
  • Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Administration and Management
• Communication
• Compliance
• Customer Service
• Problem Solving

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 primarily sedentary, although walking throughout the Medical Center while carrying out duties and working with various clinical service chiefs 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/.

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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/.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Subject to background/security investigation
• You may be required to serve a one year supervisory/managerial probationary period.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.