Health Systems Administrator (Associate Director)

This position is located within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), VA Central California Healthcare System, within the Office of the Medical Center Director. This position serves as the Associate Medical Center Director for the facility. The incumbent of this position exercises line authority for multiple administrative and allied health services and sections.

Duties for this position include, but are not limited to the following:

• Sharing with the Executive Leadership Team a level of responsibility for the direction and management of the Medical Center and is directly responsible for all facilities operations.
• A direct line authority and leadership responsibility for all administrative operation support services.
• May serve as the Acting Medical Center Director in the absence of the Director.
• Taking an active leadership role in coordinating and developing customer and stakeholder support and resourcing to meet Medical Center objectives.
• Determining operational services and programs goals and objectives, develop short-and long-range plans for achieving them in conjunction with the overall plans of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) and consistent with the strategic planning process.
• Directing a comprehensive evaluation of operational services goals and objectives and makes necessary adjustments to improve delivery of patient care services.
• Establishing local policy in such areas impacting facility operations as program emphasis and operating guidelines.
• Administering and ensuring compliance with a system designed for the development and communication of program policies and procedures in accordance with new or existing rules and regulations.
• Administering a management reporting system which provides appropriate data for decision making for facility operations, impacting organizational improvements.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Full time; Monday - Friday; 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Subject to change to meet the needs of the Agency
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Systems Administrator (Associate Director)/PD99902S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for highly qualified candidates
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/26/2026.

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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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 possess at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-14) 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 Health System Administrator (Associate Director). Qualifying specialized experience is defined as 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: (1) Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; (2) Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and (3) Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. Applicants must also possess: (1) Management ability to delegate authority, evaluate and oversee people and programs, recognize, and adapt to changing priorities; and (2) Knowledge of the interrelationships and interdependencies among various medical and administrative services and programs. At this level, applicants would identify and resolve problems which may inhibit accomplishing patient care mission and public policy objectives; exercise fiscal management responsibility by assisting in the preparation of the overall facility budget, in monitoring expenditures, and in recommending reallocation of funds based on shifting program needs; establish and maintain public relations with a variety of institutions and groups; apply performance standards to measure program performance and health care activities are meeting established goals and objectives; and develop, evaluate, and adjust organizational structures and management systems for the administrative and allied health services managed.

Preferred Experience: Experience serving in an executive or senior management capacity within a hospital, medical center, or other complex health care delivery system, including shared accountability for facility-wide operations as part of an executive leadership team. Experience developing and managing an operating budget, including monitoring expenditures and reallocating resources based on shifting program priorities. Experience exercising supervisory authority over subordinate managers (e.g., service chiefs or department heads), including performance management, labor relations, and resolution of grievances or disciplinary matters. Experience establishing and maintaining relationships with external stakeholders.

Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week.

NOTE: One (1) 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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Conflict Management
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Manages Resources
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating

Supervisory Situational Judgment Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment and decision-making skills that align with relevant competencies, organizational values, and best practices. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete. The assessment for this application does not include a cut score for a minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. However, you must answer each item in the assessment.

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 required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not 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
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. This position requires the application, assessment, and questionnaire to be fully completed. The assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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.
• 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.