Administrative Officer

Full Job Description

Serves as the Administrative Officer (AO) within Mental Health Service at John D. Dingell VA Medical Center.

The position is supervisory and provides technical and administrative supervision of a small staff.

Directs, performs, and oversees all administrative functions for the assigned service including but not limited to program administration, personnel management, business operations, quality assurance and a variety of related administrative matters.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/11/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: directing a personnel management program; providing budgeting and financial management; managing procurement and contracting; managing an accreditation program; providing for the overall administrative management of an organization.

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: Work is sedentary. Some walking, standing, pushing, pulling, reaching, stooping, and bending. Ocassionally requires carrying of objects up to 30 pounds. Driving an automobile.

No special physical qualifications are 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/.

Major Duties:

Duties include, but are not limited to: Work closely with the Associate Chief of Staff (ACOS) for Mental Health, Deputy ACOS for Mental Health, and Associate Chief Nursing Service (ACNS) as well as Mental Health Service supervisors to ensure successful administrative operations.

Serve as the business manager of the Mental Health Service, working closely with administrative chiefs throughout the medical center and the COS Health System Specialist to ensure effective, efficient processes that meet regulatory requirements.

Analyze plans to determine the impact on administrative processes and the feasibility of making modifications to accomplish mission requirements.

Prepare comprehensive reports with findings and recommendations based on varied management and administrative considerations.

Develop, initiate, and implement administrative policies and procedures for facility-wide areas of responsibility.

Recommend the establishment of and prepare administrative policies and procedures for implementation throughout the service.

Direct administrative support services to ensure that inquiries, correspondence, and actions for the Mental Health Service are addressed appropriately.

Review and evaluate completed staff actions (e.g., memos, reports, studies, fact sheets, information papers) for overall quality of the document, appropriate levels of coordination, consistency, logic, soundness of recommendations, and compliance with policy.

Work independently on these actions and ensures compliance with facility policies and VHA regulations.

Must be familiar with VISTA, DSS, VSSC, SharePoint, Adobe, and various Microsoft Office application software including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access.

Ensure that performance ratings are submitted in a timely manner in accordance with regulatory guidelines.

Responsible for overseeing proper maintaining and accounting of all Mental Health Service Equipment Inventory Lists (EILs).

Serve as the primary Contracting Officer Representative(COR), which includes coordinating, evaluating, and obtaining procurement packages of new equipment, supplies, and contracts for Mental Health Service.

Review, submit, and track all resource requests (budget, equipment, supplies) for the service.

Make recommendations to the Service Leadership for acquisition priorities and represents the service on the Resources Committee.

Serve as the primary coordinator for space management within the Mental Health Service. Provide training to all administrative staff in service as needed, including with updates to processes.

Assign work and provides direct supervision of assigned staff. Manage leave requests, timecards, HR actions, performance plans, and performance appraisals. Develop contingency plans.

Provide training to all administrative staff in service as needed, including with updates to processes.

Address disciplinary concerns, complaints, and grievances including union matters particular to workgroup.

Ensure that actions support the overall mission of the medical center and represent the collective interests of personnel.

Work closely with Human Resources (HR) to ensure strong communication, compliance with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulatory requirements and provides administrative oversight for personnel management with the Mental Health Service.

Work closely with Business Practice (BP), Group Practice Management (GPM), Credentialing, Quality Management (QM)/Quality Safety Value (QSV), Patient Advocate (PA), and the Chief of Staff (COS) Office to ensure strong communication, compliance with regulations, and provide administrative oversight for business operations, GPM, Credentialing, QM/QSV, PA, and COS Office within the Mental Health Service.

Oversee a variety of administrative functions in support of BP, GPM, Credentialing, QM/QSV, PA, and COS Office including but not limited to the distribution and dissemination of controlled and other correspondence, records management, data collection and accurate and timely data reporting, accurately and timely response to actions, secure messages, patient complaints and Congressional requests, and oversight of Credentialing processes within the service.

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00 AM- 4:30 PM. Schedule may be subject to change based on the needs of the Agency. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Administrative Officer/PD937870 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required