Secretary

Full Job Description

This Secretary position if for the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System (VA CWM HCS), under the Associate Nurse Executive (ANE) in the Nursing Service Office (NSO).

They will report directly to the ANE of Nursing Service and work directly with the ANE of Outpatient Nursing and any other staff members in the NSO who may need assistance.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/27/2026.

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 GS6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS5. 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: Typing Proficiency: Applicants must be able to type 40 words per minute.

GS-06: Specialized experience: Applicants must possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped them with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position.

To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal service.

Specialized experience includes: receiving visitors and telephone calls to the office; scheduling and managing a calendar of appointments; preparing correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication; preparing travel arrangements; utilizing various computer applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.; and maintaining files.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Clerical Communications Computer Skills Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Manages and Organizes Information Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork 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 sedentary. No specific physical qualifications are required. The work includes walking, bending, stooping, and some lifting, usually not more than ten pounds.

No specific 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:

Primary purpose of this Secretary position is to coordinate all the administrative duties for the subsections to guarantee the primary goal of optimally delivering high quality healthcare to the Veterans.

Responsible for a wide variety of administrative functions and project support for the NSO to provide a smooth and effective service operations.

Serves as a clerical support to the Administrative Office (AO) of Nursing Service in final preparation of Memorandums, Proficiency Reports, and reports for signature.

The position must be knowledgeable about all the services under the ANE, which includes but not limited to Community Living Center (CLC), Acute Mental Health, and Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (RRTP).

These duties include, but are not limited to, the following: Personnel Administration and Management Work: Formulates a variety of correspondence and memoranda for review and signature.

Gathers material/data for use in reports, presentations, etc.

Receives and screen calls, visitors, and mail to the NSO, responds to requests and problems when possible, and refers to appropriate staff when necessary.

Maintains files of all needed data and various special projects in addition to assisting staff with miscellaneous clerical support.

Reviews incoming and outgoing correspondence and reports prepared by other staff members to ensure proper format, correct grammatical content, to ascertain that all necessary coordination of facts has been completed in accordance with established policy and is routed through the appropriate channels.

Represents the section to various professionals including key Medical Center personnel and leadership officials, medical center staff, VISN/Network dignitaries, and veterans and their families during meetings and site visits.

Acts as liaison between the ANE and other staff by providing accurate, timely advice on administrative procedures, reports, and requirements.

Receives and monitors all visitors and telephone calls to the NSO. Ascertains the nature of the call or business of the visitor and determines the appropriate actions.

Refers important calls and visitors to the ANE, ADPCS, or administrative staff and when that is not practical, takes messages or makes later appointments for visitors.

Records and prepares meeting minutes as assigned by the ANE. Coordinates information for meetings and prepares agendas and follow-up correspondence.

Performs timekeeping duties for the NSO employees including Nursing and administrative positions.

Duties include posting timecards and preparing them for certification, accounting for scheduled and unscheduled leave requests, and notifying ANE and clinic management staff of any needs for clinic alterations or closures Schedules appointments, coordinates meetings, and/or schedules conferences.

Maintains the calendar schedules for the ANE and makes commitments in scheduling appointments and meetings. Coordinates conference room locations and times.

Researches and provides background on subject matter of meetings without direction. Must communicate frequently to identify the importance and urgency of appointments when scheduling them.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am to 4pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework, per discretion of supervisor. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Secretary/PD035660 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Notifications: Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C.

4701

or

[formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104

and

] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System.

Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.

Time-in-Grade Restriction: 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.

The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. Position is not a Bargaining Unit Position.

Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action).

The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).

In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

Veterans' Preference: Does not apply to merit system promotion announcements limited to agency level and below.