Secretary (OA)

Full Job Description

The position performs duties to assist one individual, and in some cases the subordinate staff of that individual, by performing general office work auxiliary to the work of the organization.

This position is the principal clerical or administrative support position in the office, operating independently of any other such position in the office.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/07/2026.

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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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.

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 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 the duties, priorities, commitments, policies, and program goals of the staff sufficient to perform non-routine assignments.

Ability to independently noting and following-up on commitments made at meetings and conferences by staff members; shifting clerical staff in subordinate offices to take care of fluctuating workloads; or locating and summarizing information from files and documents when this requires recognizing which information is or is not relevant to the problem at hand Skill and ability to coordinate the work of the office with the work of other offices, and for recognizing the need for such coordination in various circumstances.

Ability to provide advice to secretaries in subordinate organizations concerning such matters as the information to be provided by the subordinate organizations for use in conferences or reports.

Ability to performs timekeeping functions utilizing VA time and Attendance System (VATAS) for Environmental Management.

This applicant would have some useful experience but would need training and assistance if they were selected. A qualified typist is 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 not limited too......... Provides clerical and administrative assistance to the organization.

Determines nature of call or business of visitors, if business requires the attention of technical or staff specialists When calls involve matters on which superiors will require background information, tactfully postpones the conversation, obtains the required information, and presents the information when informing the superiors of the pending call.

Drafts replies to general inquiries not requiring a technical knowledge of the program.

Secures for the supervisor documents, regulations, specific statistical and narrative program data or other matters of a technical nature from files of the organization or other organizations by contact with personnel at higher headquarters for other activities.

Performs timekeeping functions utilizing VA time and Attendance System (VATAS) for Environmental Management.

Applies knowledge of the functional capabilities of different software types to select the best software type for each report, e.g., a database versus a spreadsheet.

Ability to independently noting and following-up on commitments made at meetings and conferences by staff members; shifting clerical staff in subordinate offices to take care of fluctuating workloads.

Work Schedule: 7:30am - 4:00pm, Monday - Friday Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: This position is not authorized for telework. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD117610 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized