Program Specialist

Full Job Description

This position is located at the Lt. Col. Luke J. Weathers Jr., VA Medical Center, Memphis Mental Health Service.

The incumbent reports directly to the AO/higher ranking administrative official or Chief of Service and is responsible for providing support to the Chief of Service and Section Chiefs within the service, which includes analytical support and management services essential to the direction of the organization.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/22/2026.

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

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 and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience (GS-9): You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-7) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Program Specialist.

Qualifying specialized experience includes Compiling information and preparing administrative reports for briefings; maintaining and updating databases and shared computer drives; managing projects and developing programs with responsibility for data collection, management, and reporting and experience developing policies, reports and correspondence.

~OR~ Education: successfully completed two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education, or masters or equivalent graduate degree, or LL.B.

or J.D., in a related field of the position to be filled.

Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position, as the education must be directly related to the position of the Program Specialist.

~OR~ Combination: equivalent combination of successfully completed education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position.

Only education in excess of the first year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-09 level.

Specialized Experience GS-11: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Program Specialist.

Qualifying specialized experience includes Compiling information and preparing administrative reports for briefings; maintaining and updating databases and shared computer drives; managing projects and developing programs with responsibility for data collection, management, and reporting and experience developing policies, reports and correspondence.~OR~ Education: Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or successfully completed two (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education, leading to such a degree, or LL.B.

or J.D., in a related field of the position to be filled.

Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position, as the education must be directly related to the position of Administrative Officer.

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

You must have an combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (in excess of the first two years or 36 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements.

NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.

NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analytical Reasoning Communication Computer Skills Contracting/Procurement Customer Service Planning and Evaluating 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 of this position is primarily sedentary in nature. However, some slight physicaleffort 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:

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.

Duties include but are not limited to: Research and/or analyzes problems, issues, or program requirements and develops recommendations and proposals based on research.

Incumbent conducts special projects as assigned that generally involve fact-finding, data analysis, benchmarking, networking within and outside of the facility.

Presenting formalized suggestions for problem resolution as well as assisting with the development and implementation of new or reviewed policies or program changes.

Independently researches, collects, organizes, and displays data related to assigned initiatives and projects, preparing reports in various formats such as word, PowerPoint and excel that enable users to identify potential issues, needs and opportunities for improvement related to initiatives.

Serves as the Contract Officer Representative for clinical personnel contracts, sharing agreements, intergovernmental personnel act (IPA) agreements, and Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), and works with respective services in the management of said clinical contracts, sharing agreements, MOUs and IPAs.

Establishes and maintains/monitors an annual budget for all fee basis appointments under appropriate rules, regulations, and guidelines.

Independently completes a manual and electronic audit of PTPs on duty during scheduled hours.

Independently establishes and maintains a suspense log for the Service and ensures timely updating of all service responsible medical center policies (MCP) and standard operating procedures (SOP).

Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 16:30pm Telework: ADHOC Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD50485A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized