Program Applications Specialist

Full Job Description

The Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center Health Administration Service is recruiting for a well-qualified Program Applications Specialist.

This position is within the Dayton VA Medical Center, in Dayton Ohio. 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: knowledge of qualitative and quantitative techniques for analyzing and measurement of the effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity of administrative and technical programs, along with knowledge of the mission, organization, and work processes of programs throughout the medical center and subordinate facilities, and the relationships or administrative support activities (e.g., data processing, accounting, budget, etc.) to such missions.

Performance improvement principles (ACA, general systems theory, queuing theory, etc.) Knowledge of health care systems and delivery systems, management principles, practices, methods and techniques, and must possess skills in integrating management services with general management of the organization.

An extensive knowledge of Veterans Integrated Systems Technology Architecture (VistA) packages that support the business processes is needed to ensure the success of this integration.

Applies knowledge and abilities to analyze, evaluate and make recommendations on major aspects of all assigned VISTA and commercial off the shelf computer packages.

Works with OI&T to troubleshooting computer packages, which require developing specifications and business process models.

Responsible for working with VA trouble-shooting design and software implementation teams. Ability to retrieve, track and trend information needed for analysis and reporting.

Management analysis techniques and methods are required to develop and refine information for comprehensive reports, addressing elements such as cost analysis, work measurement, trend analysis, efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, and assess the success or failure in attaining program operational goals/objectives.

Performance management and measurement methods and tools are required for the resolution of problems identified in studies such as eliminating, adding, changing, or rearranging specific procedures products or services or making other changes to utilize resources more efficiently and effectively.

Knowledge of the service software is required in training employees, identifying inconsistencies, discussions with management of capabilities of computer software feasibly toward meeting their objectives, validating new programs and options, recommending changes in existing programs and modifying current programs to meet future needs.

A comprehensive knowledge of software programs of other services (i.e.

Radiology, Dietetics, Health Summary, OE/RR, CPRS, Laboratory and Pharmacy) for training of all service staff is needed due to the interrelation of the VISTA programs.

Knowledge of appropriate VA policies, VA directives, operating procedures, information flow and of prevailing automated practices in government agencies and the private sector sufficient to ensure applications are consistent with the current and planned infrastructure and data environments currently used at the supported VAMC.

The employee must have knowledge and understanding of the service programs, business/workflow processes, as well as the mission and goals of the medical center's health care delivery system.

Knowledge is used to provide advice, guidance, and recommendations to management and other technical specialists on integration issues and to develop new workflow process integrated with suggested software solutions to alleviate software deficiencies.

Knowledge of, and skill in applying user acceptance testing principles, methods, and approaches sufficient to test, debug and maintain software applications that meet functional requirements.

The employee must possess an expert degree of knowledge of PIMS software so that the employee can create entry transactions on simple data needs, but be sophisticated enough to provide reports about any of the clinical or administrative data elements contained in the PIMS package throughout the Medical Center.

A comprehensive knowledge in business metadata is needed to provide information related to continued business operations and external requests such as JCAHO, SOARS, and other internal audits.

Knowledge of information security principles and methods. Ability to communicate a clear, logical and concise explanation of information, both orally and in written format.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Manages Human Resources Organizational Performance Analysis Planning and Evaluating Technical Competence 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: Regular and recurring work is mostly sedentary involving sitting at a desk, although the position requires the ability to move from one geographic location of the facility to another.

The incumbent works with a computer screen and keyboard. Some physical effort such as standing, walking, bending or prolonged sitting may be required.

The incumbent may be exposed to walking to outlying areas. The work places no special physical demands on the employee.

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: coordinates ongoing data collection and performs analysis to determine optimal organizational performance, uses available data to determine current performance and develops and implements local performance measures as needed to assess the current status and determine areas targeted for improved effectiveness and efficiencies of Business Office practices.

designs and develops dissemination and training materials, local standard operating procedure (SOP) manuals, develops and utilizes monitoring tools, and provides for the implementation of Business Office programs through on-site education and training.

Develops initiatives which will enable the facility to provide quality health care to its population while operating in a more effective and efficient manner, performs a continuing evaluation and analysis to assess program effectiveness and to identify areas requiring management attention.

identifies system inefficiencies and develops studies or data collection techniques related to specific identified problems, coordinates with other staff to identify information needs and develops data collection methods and report formats to meet those needs.

organizes, compiles, summarizes, and analyzes the data collected and develops reports which reflect the scope of activities and identifies trends and opportunities for improvement.

researches problems that impact the quality and efficiency of Business Office operations, discusses problem areas with personnel concerned to identify and implement remedial action to be taken.

follows through to insure program requirements are met and planned actions have been initiated and are effective, recommends and implements amendment of business office programs where necessary.

plans initiatives for hardware and software needs for the service, responsible for the preparation and implementation of the business contingency plans for system failure specifically addressing manual system backup plans addressing how day to day business will be conducted for long and short-term outages, determining the physical and data security needs for the service areas and implements necessary improvements.

Assesses individual needs to determine appropriate level of menu access for staff, Regional Office employees, and employees from VISN VA facilities.

Reviews access to terminal and file codes for the purpose of controlling access to the patient and medical records to assure compliance with the Privacy Act and Cyber Security regulations.

coordination, planning, implementation, and training for service and facility staff in business and functional areas for various information technology VISTA packages serves as the functional "expert" for matters relating to the Patient Information Management System (PIMS) core package, provides training on other service packages, provides training and troubleshooting for clinical and administrative staff in business processes and associated supporting software, provides training for individual users on daily operational tasks and trains new users.

Analyzes utilization trend data on a monthly/quarterly basis to verify the accuracy of the data, identify problem areas, provide objective assessments, prioritize identified problems, analyze variances and recommend appropriate actions and/or alternatives.

maintains records, prepares project administrative and statistical reports, assures compliance with review process, and monitors compliance with program requirements, contributes to the professional growth and development of effective teams and individuals on the team and ensures that staff is trained in Business Office principles and technical uses.

assesses work operations of all organizations which may be separated geographically and by special components.

All work is complicated by the need to develop data about workload and program accomplishments which may not be available until after the program has been tested for extended lengths of time.

serves as the management representative and advisor for one or more national groups, and considered a national expert on all issues both organizationally and nationally on Business Office Programs.

Work Schedule: 0800-1630 Monday through Friday Telework: 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 Applications Specialist/PD153800 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized