Secretary (Associate Warden’s Secretary)
Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System
Posted: March 18, 2026 (0 days ago)
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Veterans Health Administration
Department of Veterans Affairs
Base salary range: $46,479 - $60,424
Typical requirements: 1 year specialized experience at GS-7. Graduate study or significant experience.
Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).
This job is for a secretary who supports a high-level manager in a VA hospital by handling administrative tasks like managing schedules, answering inquiries, and preparing documents.
It involves using office tools to keep things running smoothly in a busy healthcare setting.
A good fit would be someone organized, detail-oriented, and experienced in office support roles, especially those who enjoy helping in a team environment focused on patient care.
The Secretary (OA) position is located within the office of the Associate Director of Patient Care Services (ADPCS) at the Montgomery VA Medical Center in Central Alabama.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/24/2026.
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-08 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.
You may qualify based on your experience 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: - Provide support for inquiries and directs inquiries to the appropriate individual or department - Maintains the manager's daily schedule: makes appointments and arranges meetings and/or conferences including shifting schedules, preparing travel, and prioritizing actions - Gathers information and materials for use in reports or presentations - Knowledge of office hardware and software: Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), fax, copier, etc - Draft and provide proofreading of correspondence and other materials for grammar, accuracy, and completeness 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 & Work Environment: Work is sedentary. Typically the employee may sit comfortably to do the work.
However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying, of light items such as papers, books, small parts and driving a vehicle. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.
Work is performed in an office setting. Incumbent may have to travel from one location to another to conduct meetings.
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:
Major Duties (not limited to): Provides clerical and administrative assistance to the organization by determining nature of call or business of visitors, if business requires the attention of technical or staff specialists, decides whether the importance of business such as to require personal attention of superiors or if the visitor should be referred to another appropriate organizational component.
Maintains managers daily calendar, making appointments and arranging conferences and meetings without specific prior approval, based on a knowledge of the manager's schedule.
Independently makes arrangements for meetings by reserving space, setting the specific time, and contacting all personnel expected to attend. Arranges for transportation and lodging.
Transmits agenda and all necessary background materials to participants of meetings and conference. Gathers material for use in reports, presentations, and speeches of the manager.
Uses variety of word processing applications, databases, and office software/hardware to perform daily functions.
Uses variety of office automation systems and software to accomplish work such as drafting and proofreading correspondence, text editing, file creation, file maintenance and retrieval.
Uses judgement in selecting spacing, arranging materials, and ensuring proper punctuation, grammar, spelling, and capitalization. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm.
Work schedule subject to change based on agency needs. Telework: This position may be authorized for telework on an ad hoc basis. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD09306A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
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