Program Specialist

Full Job Description

The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System is seeking a Program Specialist (Correspondence Analyst) within the Office of the Director service.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/20/2026.

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 by the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-09 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.

For the GS-09 You may qualify based on your experience and/or education 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: Developing or updating correspondence program policies and procedures; Consulting with administrative and clerical personnel to develop solutions and written responses for technical or procedural issues; Writing, reviewing, and monitoring suspense's, Congressional inquiries, and other time sensitive requests; Planning, developing, and organizing special project activities (must be in resume).

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

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree, 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, OR LL.B.

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

You must have a combination of specialized experience as described above AND have successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first year), to meet the total experience requirement.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management 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: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be 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: Coordinate activities that support all clinical and administrative program areas for Greater Los Angeles VAMC.

Plan, develop, and organize special project activities and coordinates programs.

Write and conduct a technical review of correspondence to assure consistency with agency procedures on completeness, response accuracy, timeliness, and formatting.

Conduct various studies, such as workflow measurements, problems or issues encountered, changes in policy and how it will affect the Healthcare System relative to the Correspondence Control program.

Prepare recommendations, develops procedures to implement recommendations, and educates key staff throughout the organization as to proper procedures for document preparation.

Obtain and analyze data for inclusion into models, and for entering and maintaining data.

Ensure appropriate handling of confidential correspondence and tasks, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Establish and maintains a professional rapport with senior level actions officers, front office executive leadership officers and administrators in managing suspense actions.

Monitor progress and conducts follow up on each action from the time it is assigned until final disposition is accomplished.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00a-4:30p Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD056110 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized