Summary Secretary (OA) serves as the personal secretary to the Deputy Director, Assistant Director, Associate Director, Chief of Staff or Associate Director, Patient Care Services, for a VA Medical Center. Receives telephone calls and visitors from VA headquarters, VISN, members of Congress or Congressional staff members; executives in private enterprise, contractors, VA employees, union representatives, etc. Responsibilities Include but are not limited to: Maintains personal files. Composes correspondence. Routes correspondence to appropriate staff. Prepare responses for the supervisor's signature. Obtains and monitors the use of supplies, equipment, or services for the office. Interprets applicable guides, guidelines, operating policies, etc., pertaining to the work of the office. Arranges meetings and conferences including space, time, attendees, agenda and background material. Attends various meetings; takes notes during meetings, briefings; and prepares meeting minutes, etc. Advising and instructing secretaries and other clerical and administrative support as needed concerning general clerical and administrative procedures; correspondence and reporting procedures, etc. Completes other duties as assigned. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD80003A 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, 10/28/2024. 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. Preferred Experience: Skill in writing to sufficiently prepare responses for the supervisor's signature; Skill in operating a computer; Skill in operating related equipment such as fax machines and printers; Knowledge of various software packages such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Minimum Qualification Requirement: 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: Manages the executive team member's email inbox. Maintains supervisor's calendar of events. Composes correspondence. Assigns items to the appropriate personnel/organization for action/response. Establishes internal suspense items and maintains log of open taskers to manage the process to meet suspense dates. Replies to taskers requiring responses. Makes necessary arrangements for travel, arranging schedule of visits, making transportation and hotel reservations. Creates, processes and/or tracks personnel actions as assigned. Arranges meetings and conferences including space, time, attendees, agenda, and background material. Attends various meetings, takes notes, briefings, and prepares meeting minutes. Makes final commitments for appointments and reminds supervisor of scheduled meetings. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Writing 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. Work requires some walking, standing, bending and carrying light items such as books, folders, papers, etc. 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. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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.