Supervisory Medical Support Assistant

the Alaska VA Medical Center is looking to fill Two Supervisory Medical Support Assistant position in Office of Community Care.
The list generated from this announcement can be used up to 90 days to fill any additional vacancies that may arise.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties:

Supervisory Medical Support Assistants (SMSA) provide administrative support to our clinical colleagues in the care of our Nation's Veterans. Our mission is to provide efficient and effective healthcare services by promoting and enabling the delivery of timely, accurate, accessible health care. VA is committed to cultivating a dedicated workforce of highly skilled employees who understand, believe in and take pride in VA's mission. SMSAs are essential to the success of this mission and may be assigned to many areas (service lines) of the medical center that have a need. The SMSA has the ability to collaborate, communicate, and demonstrate customer service and interpersonal skills with internal and external customers to ensure quality/continuity of care and ensure compliance with established policies and regulations.

The duties of this position include but are not limited to the following:

• Plans, organizes, administers, and directs how the support services work will be accomplished for the organizations served.
• Planning, coordinating, analyzing, and directing the many diverse activities of the Ward Administration/outpatient specialty clinic sections that provide the clerical support for the professional and/or services.
• Assigning work of subordinate staff which requires developing performance standards.
• Resolving complex issues to ensure that patient services are met.
• Evaluating new products, equipment and systems in order to make recommendations for improved operations.
• Provides the technical and management guidance necessary to achieve the optimum use of the support service resources which require the application of highly specialized knowledge and skills.
• Carries out a full range of administrative and supervisory duties, to include assignment of work, performance evaluations, selection of staff and recommendations for awards and advancements.
• Organizes work, sets priorities and delegates tasks and responsibilities in order to meet deadlines.
• Manages staffing requirements, manages priorities and coordinates work in order to complete duties in an accurate and timely manner.
• Provides briefings, orientations, staff development and training.
• Develops and formalizes performance evaluations for those under the direct supervision of this position.
• Provides advisory services to all levels of management regarding the requirements and implications of the services provided and following protocols regarding the hospital's policy and regulations.
• Provides advice to operating managers and supervisors in various departments on how provided services can assist in accomplishing their missions and programs.

Work Schedule: Mon-Fri 730am-400pm (tours discussed at interview)
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Qualifications:
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the announcement closing date

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficient.
• Education: High school diploma OR high school transcript (unofficial or official) OR GED Certificate OR homeschooling completion OR proficiency certificate issued by a State or Territorial Board or Department of Education OR college transcript (official)
  • If selected, to meet the basic requirement of high school education or equivalent and prior to a firm job offer being extended, applicants must provide one of the following as verification of the education requirement if not covered under the grandfathering provision:

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria)

Specialized Experience must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level leading or supervising MSAs or equivalent administrative patient support staff in a non-VA medical inpatient, outpatient, or interdisciplinary setting. Resume must include hours per week for work experience credit.

At the GS-8 grade level education cannot be used as a substitution for the above specialized experience.

Candidates must demonstrate the KSAs below:

(a) Advanced knowledge of managing or leading patient support staff in a clinic. This includes independently utilizing reference sources, decision making, and empowering the team to collaborate and resolve problems within a complex systems environment.
(b) Ability to provide the full range of administrative and supervisory duties to at least one subordinate MSA supervisor or team leader in a patient support setting which includes assignment of work, performance evaluations, selection of staff, and recommendation of awards and/or advancements.
(c) Ability to collaborate, communicate, and demonstrate customer service and interpersonal skills with internal and external customers to ensure quality/continuity of care and ensure compliance with established policies and regulations.
(d) Ability to provide briefings, orientations, staff development, and training in a patient support setting.
(e) Ability to manage fiscal matters, forecast resource and equipment needs, and identify budget needs


References: VA Handbook 5005/117, Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standard, GS-679. Published August 1, 2019

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 8.

Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary but may require periods of standing or walking however, there are no physical requirements for the 0679 Medical Support Assistant occupation.

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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 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 trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.