Program Specialist

Full Job Description

The incumbent serves as the VISN 20 VA Health Connect Program Applications Specialist and is the functional expert for matters relating to the core technology systems within VISN 20 VA Health Connect.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/20/2026.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-9: you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-11: you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-09 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.

Specialized Experience includes: support the clinical contact center; develop and improve quality management procedures; utilize software systems to communicate and obtain/maintain administrative information; prepare and maintain spreadsheet/database programs to track and manage data; perform data analysis across interdisciplinary teams; maintain information resources management, install and distribute hardware, software and other activities required to enhance mission objectives; collaborate with counterparts to plan program and upgrade utilization.

Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and year ending dates AND hours worked per week.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed 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.

This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. If you are qualifying on education, transcripts are required.

Note: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 full year of graduate level education.

Note: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Specialized experience need: provides business oversight for a variety of healthcare software programs; develop and improve quality management procedures to support patient care and ensure clinical oversight through utilization of data bases and registries; identify problem areas, provide assessments, and analyze variances; perform data analysis across interdisciplinary teams; maintain information resources management, install and distribute hardware, software and other activities required to enhance mission objectives; collaborate with counterparts to plan program and upgrade utilization; coordinate, implement, plan, and train staff in business and functional areas for various information technology packages.

Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and year ending dates AND hours worked per week.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.

This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university.

Note: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 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. If you qualify by a combination, your experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts 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:

This position involves a multi-grade career ladder.

The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-11, however, a selection can be made at any of the following grade levels: GS-9 OR GS-11.

At the GS-9 grade level, you will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-11.

Major duties include but not limited to: Integrates software applications for clinical services by: Evaluating the unique needs of the core services within VA Health Connect in conjunction with the capabilities of the software and coordinating any required modifications.

Reviewing the effectiveness of the systems and procedures to assure optimum benefit to patient care activities.

Troubleshooting when functionality is compromised by determining the cause of and/or the solution to the problem.

Provides training and troubleshooting for clinical and administrative staff in business processes and associated supporting software.

Demonstrates ability to customize, configure, and maintain complex, interrelated software systems to support clinical workflows and administrative processes.

Ability to troubleshoot software functionality issues and implement effective solutions in a healthcare environment with front-end users as well as vendors and facilities.

Coordinates with other roles in the VISN 20 VA Health Connect Quality Management, Informatics, and Education service line to ensure appropriate training for end users on daily operational tasks as well as new employee training.

Development and presentation of both formal lectures and on-the-job sessions to those employees who require initial training or troubleshooting. Creates and maintains reference materials.

Assure that all information technology equipment within VA Health Connect is operational. Coordinates with OI&T equipment allocation, updates, and replacement for all services in the program.

Collects individual needs to determine technology access for staff. Ensures OI&T assigns appropriate access to applications for the purpose of controlling access to the patient and medical records.

Participates in the establishment of administrative qualitative standards. Maintains a close working relationship with all service lines within VISN 20 VA Health Connect.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met.

Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm PST; Monday to Friday Remote: This is a remote position.

Telework: Not applicable, this is a remote position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD103990 and PD103980 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Physical Environment: The regular and recurring work of this position is sedentary in nature and involves sitting at a desk, conferences, meetings, etc.

However, the incumbent may be required to do a great deal of walking or standing while visiting facility work sites or to attend meetings, conferences, work groups, etc.

The work does not normally require special physical demands such as lifting or carrying heavy objects.

Work Environment: The work setting may be a remote office setting or onsite at any of the medical center campuses located in VISN 20.

This position requires travel to facilities within VISN 20 and may require extended work hours to facilitate travel.

Preferred Experience: Experience with healthcare informatics systems such as Oracle/Cerner, CPRS/VistA, or similar electronic health record platforms Familiarity with usability testing and workflow optimization principles to improve efficiency and user experience.

Knowledge of contingency planning for IT system outages, including manual backup processes to ensure continuity of operations.

Strong interpersonal and communication skills to collaborate effectively with end users, technical teams, and leadership.

Performs the functions of this role independently with minimal supervision, as directed by CCC and VISN leadership.

Experience providing feedback to software developers or national program offices to improve application usability and functionality.

Ability to analyze and improve clinical and administrative processes through technology solutions. Skill in managing multiple competing priorities in a fast-paced healthcare environment.

Expect that skills mentioned above may be required to be demonstrated during the interview process.