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Program Support Assistant

Veterans Health Administration

Phoenix, AZ

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JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
Administrative Skills, Background Investigation, Calendar Management, Communication Skills, Computer Security, Conference Management, Customer Service Evaluation, Data Collection, Data Processing, Department of Veterans Affairs, Documentation, Documentation Review, Federal Government, Government, Health Department, Healthcare, Human Resources, Legal, Meeting Minutes, Onboarding, Operations Security (OPSEC), Organizational Skills, Physical Demands, Plan Meetings, Process Improvement, Psychiatry and Mental Health, Purchasing/Procurement, Record Keeping, Secondary School, Statistics, Time Management, United States Citizen, Vaccination
LOCATION
Phoenix, AZ
POSTED
Today
Summary

The Phoenix VA Health Care System's Mental Health department is actively recruiting for two Program Support Assistants. The incumbents will assist with programming, performing record keeping duties, customer service and data tracking, as well as providing miscellaneous supportas needed to the staff of the program.

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Duties

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30 Day Hiring Model:

The Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing a streamlined 30-Day Hiring Model designed to accelerate hiring while maintaining thehighest standards of merit-based selection. This improved process reduces traditional hiring timelines by integrating early coordination, faster assessments, and efficient pre-employment actions. Applicants can expect a more transparent, predictable, and efficient hiring journey from announcement toentry on duty.

What Applicants Can Expect:

  • Expedited Candidate Review Once the announcement closes, Human Resources will quickly review applications, issue certificates of eligible candidates the day after the announcement closes and refer applicants for hiring manager consideration.
  • Quick Interviews & References
HR may arrange interviews and will request references within 3-5 days after being referred to the hiring manager.
  • Streamlined Pre-Employment Requirements: Following a tentative offer, applicants should be prepared to complete required steps, such as fingerprinting and background check, credentialing, and medical examination within 3 days of the offer.
  • Clear and Timely Communication: Applicants will receive clear communication at key milestones, including referral, tentative offer, and onboarding instructions.
After meeting pre-employment requirements, candidates will receive a final job offer and start date. Onboarding tasks may continue after starting, with HR ensuring timely completion for a smooth transition into VA service.If selected, applicants should be prepared to come onboard within 30 days of the announcement closing.

Duties may include, but are not limited to:
  • Serve as the primary Automated Data Processing Application Coordinator (ADPAC).
  • Maintain calendars and independent schedules for clinical staff.
  • Coordinate meetings, and arranges for space, room configuration, completes minute agendas and other administrative details.
  • Perform work involving the collection, compilation and/ or tracking for data.
  • Acts as Liaison for internal and external customers.
  • Ensures trainees are properly in-processed to the medical center to include at orientation, computer access, privacy checks for PIV and obtain all initial mandatory training.
  • Ensures all correspondence, especially controlled correspondence, meets established requirements and timelines.
  • Responsible for purchasing supplies.
  • Assists with clinic profile setup and modification requests.
  • Provides backup for the timekeeper, travel & training requests, labor mapping and suspense item tracking.
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.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday - Hours will be discussed during interview

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD10689A & 13142O

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment
  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
  • Subject to background/security investigation
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
  • Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
  • your performance and conduct;
  • the needs and interests of the agency;
  • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
  • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/26/2026.

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 the GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04.

For the GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05.

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:

Grade Determinations:
  • Program Support Assistant - GS-05:

    • Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

      • Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

        • Organizing and maintaining an efficient and effective office operation; provides administrative support; receives and responds to, on own initiative, those administrative correspondence which do not require supervisory action; Composes and types routine correspondence; Receives, screens, and distributes all incoming material, handles routine correspondence personally with minimal instructions and coordinates routine administrative matters with other medical center departments. OR,
    • Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation. OR,
    • Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

      • For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to 1 year of specialized experience.
  • Program Support Assistant - GS-06:

    • Specialized Experience: Applicants must possess at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-05) in Federal Service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this Program Support Assistant position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled.

      • Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

        • Conducting data collecting, compiling data, tracking data and statistical information from existing databases; coordinating incoming data from a variety of sources, reviewing documents, reports and/or applications for omissions and inconsistencies; ensuring data entry is complete and accurate; generating a variety of reports; maintaining appointment calendar, scheduling, coordinating meetings, preparing meeting minutes and scheduling conferences and serving as timekeeper.


For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Education

There is no educational substitution at the GS-06 grade level.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.



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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

About the Company

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Veterans Health Administration