Program Specialist

Summary This position is located at the Clement J. Zablocki Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI (695) - a Level 1a Complexity Facility and is organizationally aligned under the Spinal Cord Division. The primary purpose of this position is to plan, coordinate, execute, and evaluate a medical facility customer service program and Bladder Bowel Program. Position will provide personnel management and administrative support with special projects and assignments, report completion, etc. Responsibilities Duties : Works with members of the health care team, Point of Service Contacts, Patient Advocate, Customer Service Council, and patients and their families to ensure that services are easily obtained and meet customer requirements and short term problems are resolved quickly. Conducts customer service rounds; identifies systemic difficulties; and corrects them. Studies, analyzes, and evaluates the needs of customers and devises specific solutions to meet those needs. Reviews data from feedback mechanisms, performs limited studies, summarizes information, identifies trends and proposes and implements solutions. Prepares and completes required reports. Develops information materials for medical facility customers and staff, including fact sheets, brochures, booklets, etc., that increase communication with the target audience. Conducts workshops, seminars, and other meetings with different levels of staff, etc. to explain and / or improve customer service. Implements mechanisms to evaluate the impact of informational materials. Plans and conducts special projects or studies to analyze, evaluate, and provide recommendations on administrative issues. Researches and analyzes straightforward problems, issues, or program requirements. Researches and analyzes unstable or uncommon administrative issues. Determines pertinent issues and collects relevant information from a variety of sources. Reviews information and applies standard analytical techniques and develops recommendations to improve customer service. Responsible for administration of the Bowel and Bladder program to ensure required documentation such as but not limited to; education requirements, National Provider Inquiry (NPA), Veteran Care Agreements (VCA), and timesheets are completed accurately and in a timely manner. Uploads education records, sends receives correspondence to and from caretakers, handles inquiries about delayed payments. Incumbent is responsible to provide support with provider profile management and clinic setup coordination. Coordinates clinical / provider profiles and scheduling grids, including but not limited to clinic set up and clinic maintenance, Patient Care Management Model (PCMM) for division ensuring accuracy of the information in the PCMM Web data base. Assists with SCI residency nursing education programs. Works directly with the chief of the SCI division to ensure all accreditation standards are met and documentation is in place for residency site visit evaluations. Supports mechanisms for procuring data for surveys as well as evaluations of SCI residents on an ongoing basis. Acts as the liaison with facility Human Resources Management Service concerning personnel-related matters, calls attention to problems that require human resources office intervention or correction. Will participate in the processes related to recruitment onboarding, interview panels and documentation, and orientation of new staff and residents. Incumber will assist the Chief and Supervisor with processing evaluations, such as Focused and Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation and Continuing Medical Education requirements. Maintains and updates personnel files, and division organizational staffing charts. serve as the primary ADPAC for the SCI division and is responsible for entering ePAS information for new employees, compiling documents for new employee, facilitating management of students to ensure computer access is granted, appropriate access to software and applications are granted, office space, and appropriate computer equipment is secured for all new residence. Assists with Education Service on training arrangements for any trainees and facilitates annual training education fair for entire division. Serves as the backup timekeeper for the SCI Division and must learn and stay abreast of complex rules and regulations governing time and attendance Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 7 : 30am - 4 : 00pm Telework : VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual : This is not a virtual position. Position Description / PD# : Program Specialist / PD230300 Relocation / Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI) : Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS) : Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12 / 31 / 1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background / security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01 / 22 / 2025. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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 : GS-9 GRADELEVEL REQUIREMENTS Specialized Experience : You must possess at least one (1) full year of specialized experience that has equipped me with the particular knowledge, skill, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Program Specialist and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization, GS-7. Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to : Applying analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to plan and conduct limited factual studies and analyses concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of medical facility health care operations; and to formulate recommendations to modify procedures and practices to improve the effectiveness of administrative services. Working with laws, regulations, policies and precedents to determine their impact on the customer service program and related support resources in the area studied. Using administrative practices and procedures, organizations, channels of communication, delegation of authority, routing of correspondence, filing systems, and storage of files and records. Working with issues, program goals and objectives, work processes, and administrative operations of the organization to determine ways to improve customer satisfaction. Communicating a clear, logical and concise explanation of information, both orally and in written format. Presenting recommendations that improve patient services. OR Education : Must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree; or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED. OR COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION : Must have equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position : Attention to Detail Clerical Communication Customer Service Information Management Knowledge Management 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 some minor physical effort may be required, usually in the form of standing for a prolonged time, stooping, bending, or carrying supplies, such as a box of copy paper or a stack of files. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at 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 : 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 : Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration / Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA / OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.