Health System Specialist

Description:

The Health Systems Specialist in the Office of the Medical Center Director reports to a senior member of the Executive Leadership Team (EL T), comprised of the highest-ranking senior executives within the Level-1 complexity Joint Commission accredited healthcare organization. The Health Systems Specialist utilizes specialized knowledge of the fundamentals of healthcare management and serves as a management representative of the ELT.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/29/2025.

Individual Occupational Requirement: Health System Administration Series, 0671 Undergraduate and Graduate Education:
Major study -- Hospital Administration, Public Health Administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.

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Specialized Experience: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:

• Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
• Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and
• Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

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Special Provision for In-service Placement: Individualized training plan documentation required. Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included:

• Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements;
• Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and
• Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.

In addition to the IOR stated above you must meet the following below as well,

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Developing a thorough, administrative and strategic operational initiatives of the organization that enables the specialist to identify problems, analyze data, and recommend resolutions based on specific knowledge of the organization's objectives and priorities, resources, and catchment area. Planning, organizing, trends and reviews requests for resources within their assigned executive's chain of command and makes recommendations, based upon the relative needs while considering their ability t0 utilize the resources requested. Assisting in prioritizing resource allocations throughout the healthcare system in conjunction within the Director's authority. Assisting the Executive Leadership Team in assessing needs in a realistic fashion, documenting them effectively, and presenting them to a diverse audience of internal and external stakeholders. Experience in pointing out (and correct as appropriate) errors, incomplete or inconsistent data, and illogical arguments or conclusions. Experience in reviews as assigned i.e. resources requests for FTEE, Equipment, Overtime, and Space, and keeps abreast of the medical center budget and forecasts needs based on regional market trends. Experience in reviewing medical center budget initiatives, subsequent justifications and defends for the clinical or administrative service/program to the Medical Center Director as needed. Such proposals are often on the frontier of Quality, Safety, Innovation, and Technology, and may involve expansive strategic initiatives due to expensive capital outlays for equipment and facility space. Experience in Providing guidance and advice on program specific matters such as handling legislative issues, the development and implementation of policy or program initiatives, protocol issues, and other important correspondence or VISN/VACO related matters. Experience in Contacting may be direct, by phone, facsimile, or email with internal personnel, external Veteran Service Organizations, Congressional Offices, VISN and VA Central Office program personnel, Network Director, or OVA and VHA management .

There is no educational substitution for the GS-13 level.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Accountability
• Administration and Management
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Data Management

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: No special physical demands such as above average ability, dexterity, or strength are required to perform the work. Work is sedentary, and the employee may sit comfortably. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, driving of an automobile, etc. Fieldwork may involve traveling to other facility sites of care, interviews, meetings, and sources of information.

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/ .