Health System Specialist

This position will serve as a national-level project manager in the Program Evaluation and Resource Center (PERC). You will lead the rollout of new VHA mental health, substance use disorder, and suicide prevention programs, initiatives, and Congressional mandates. PERC is based at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. It supports the Office of Mental Health and the Office of Suicide Prevention and evaluates and monitors VA programs nationwide.

Major Duties:

• Provide project management leadership, strategic direction, and oversight for novel national mental health, substance use disorder, and suicide prevention programs, initiatives, and Congressional mandates.
• Apply a standardized implementation approach using project management, process improvement, and change management frameworks.
• Develop and maintain detailed project schedules, milestones, and cost tracking to keep events properly sequenced across the project life cycle.
• Establish systems and databases to monitor project status, track progress, and confirm compliance with administrative policies and requirements.
• Gather and combine data from mental health programs across VHA, then evaluate findings and brief Office of Mental Health (OMH) and Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP) leaders.
• Collaborate with OMH and OSP leaders, other VA program offices, subject matter experts, data scientists, and oversight bodies such as GAO to meet project goals.
• Lead high-level meetings, conferences, and planning sessions, and report project status, risks, and compliance issues promptly to national leadership.
• Assist VHA health care systems in planning implementation, and recommend corrective action when goals are missed or delays occur.
• Lead technical assistance for the field, including answering help desk questions about data products, conducting data "deep dives," and reviewing patient charts to explain anomalous data.
• Disseminate project results by developing training materials, running monthly national calls, presenting at meetings, and writing white papers and summary reports.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00a.m. - 4:30p.m. PST
Position Description Title/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD03142A
Physical Requirements: The work is mainly sedentary. Some slight physical effort may be needed when walking between sections of the health care system for meetings or fact-finding.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/20/2026.

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-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Comprehensive knowledge of the VHA healthcare model, its mission and goals, and how care is delivered, comprehensive knowledge of the VHA healthcare model, its mission and goals, and how care is delivered, mastery of complex analytical problem-solving in health care systems and operations, expert knowledge of risk management principles, including identifying high-risk areas and mitigating risks to OMH or OSP objectives, Expert knowledge of agile methods and software such as Jira, Azure DevOps, and Confluence.

Additionally all applicants must also meet the following Individual Occupational Requirements.

Undergraduate and Graduate Education:

Major area of study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.

OR

Specialized Experience

(for positions above GS-5): 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.

Special Provision for Inservice Placement:

Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included:

• Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements;
• Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and
• Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.

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.

• 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. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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.
• 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 (Form I-9 Acceptable Documents | USCIS). 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 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.