Secretary

The incumbent serves as the Secretary to the Associate/Assistant Director, which is organizationally structured under the Medical Center Director's Office. The incumbent performs secretarial duties in support of the Associate/Assistant Director as well as general office work to auxiliary sections under the Director's Office and provides back-up support to the Director's Office Executive Secretaries.

Major duties

Duties include but not limited to: Acts as liaison between the Associate/Assistant Director and the Assistant Director's staff throughout the medical center by providing accurate, timely advice on procedures, report requirements, and other matters necessary to implement the Associate/Assistant Director's policies, directives, and instructions. Assists the Associate/Assistant Director in his/her responsibilities as chair or facilitator of various committees/task forces, etc., coordinating meeting schedules with staff at the medical center, meeting location arrangements, preparing agenda, minutes and distributing necessary information needed for meetings. Controls the Associate/Assistant Director's activity schedule, establishes priorities, sets-up, reschedules or refuses appointments, accepts or declines invitations to meetings, arranges representation by a subordinate official when that is desirable. Receives visitors and telephone calls to the Associate/Assistant Director, determines nature of call or visit. Determines if visit or call requires the attention of the Associate/Assistant Director or other personnel or should be referred to a more appropriate staff member or department. Acts as surrogate for the Associate/Assistant Director for electronic mail communication. Independently schedules official committee and board meetings, including making reservations for meeting rooms and notifying all participants. Assists in implementing supervisor's intentions by contacting subordinate offices with requests for information and/or relaying instructions or suggestions. Critically reviews all outgoing correspondence prepared by all services to ensure conformance with regulations, grammar, format, typographical accuracy, assembly, line and staff co-ordinations, and other procedural requirements.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD50149O

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/04/2026.

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-08 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• responding to and directing phone calls;
• assisting visitors with inquiries;
• organizing and maintaining records and files;
• managing calendars and schedules;
• utilizing various software to draft correspondence, reports, and memoranda; and
• coordinating travel arrangements.

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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Requirements

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 (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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.