Program Specialist

Summary

The Telephonic Access Program Manager serves as a Program Specialist responsible for leading and coordinating facility-wide telephone and virtual access modernization initiatives for the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and its associated Community Based Outpatient Clinics.

Duties

Major Duties: Diagnoses access-related performance issues and initiates corrective actions through Rapid Diagnostics, CAPs, and PDSA cycles. Interprets telephony and clinical workflow disruptions during Environmental Care Rounds and escalates issues affecting access or patient flow. Develops new approaches when existing guidelines are insufficient for the scale and complexity of telephony modernization. Directs multi-year modernization initiatives and oversees governance, performance standards, and access transformation priorities. Designs, publishes, and governs the unified Access Performance Dashboard used to monitor enterprise telephony performance. Oversees the full cycle of TASC Monthly Readiness Scoring across all services and CBOCs, validating submissions and launching corrective processes. Analyzes call queues, performance metrics, sentiment trends, abandonment rates, and ASA to ensure accurate routing and performance transparency. Develops dashboards, reporting mechanisms, and trend analyses to support executive decision-making and operational improvement. Conducts biannual IVR audits, evaluates routing integrity, and tracks IT corrective actions to maintain system accuracy. Leads facility-wide modernization strategy through TASC governance, integrating accreditation frameworks, VISN directives, and enterprise access standards. Coordinates modernization investments with Fiscal and Procurement, ensuring alignment with budget, internal controls, and VERA requirements. Aligns telephony operations with clinical workflows, scheduling systems, consult/result management, and care coordination processes across clinics and CBOCs. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm (Subject to change based on the needs of the Agency) Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD041930 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/05/2026. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performing administrative, analytical, or technical work supporting telephone, virtual access, call center, or customer-service operations within a healthcare or similar service-driven environment. Collecting, tracking, and analyzing workload, call, performance, or customer-service data to identify trends, issues, or opportunities for improvement. Using Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, to maintain data, prepare reports and documentation, and develop briefings for leadership or stakeholders. Working with or supporting telephone systems, call center systems, routing structures, automated menus, or other customer-interaction processes to facilitate effective service delivery. Monitoring program or operational performance, identifying issues affecting customer or patient access, and supporting efforts to improve service quality and workflow efficiency. Coordinating with multiple organizational components, such as clinical services, administrative offices, information technology, or other stakeholders, to resolve discrepancies, clarify information, and address operational issues. Researching and analyzing operational issues, documenting findings, tracking actions or progress, and providing information or recommendations in accordance with established procedures and program requirements. OR, Education: Substitution of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related (transcripts required). OR, Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience (beyond the first two graduate years or 36 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet the total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. Note: Transcripts 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/.

Education

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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.