Secretary (OA)

Summary

This position is located at VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA Puget Sound), a Joint Commission-accredited, level 1A tertiary regional amputation center, polytrauma network site, and academic research center with 408 operating beds. The healthcare system includes the Seattle and American Lake Divisions and seven Community-Based Outpatient Clinics.

Duties

This position provides full secretarial support to two Executive Leadership Team Members - SES-level Deputy Executive Medical Center Director and Associate Director, Business Services. Duties and responsibilities include, but not limited to: Manages the Executives' schedules or day-to-day plans, identifies the schedule and time required, and estimates the resources needed. Schedules appointments without prior approval, resolves all scheduling conflicts daily by exercising the delegated authority to prioritize and understand what is consider critical versus non-critical, and reconcile any conflicts. Schedules Executive Office conference rooms according to the date, time, number of persons expected, audio/visual needs, and purpose of the event while also covering the Seattle Executive Office conference rooms when needed. Attends the Executives' board meetings, prepares the agenda and meeting minutes, and independently follows up on action items with the appropriate staff members on behalf of the Executives. Researches and provides background information or data analyses for the Executives on topics of interest. Prepares performance appraisals for the Executives' direct reports and maintains the competency folders. Tracks incoming and outgoing mail and correspondence. Proofreads documents for the Executives' signature for clarity, completeness, and sufficient background information. Updates office documents and prepares written letters or correspondence on behalf of the Executives with proper grammar and spelling. Establishes and maintains files of correspondence and other documents related to Veterans, employees, investigations and tort claims, performance appraisals, surveys, and other sensitive matters. Serves as a Timekeeper to maintain and record leave and attendance for the Executives and serves as back-up Timekeeper for all Executives. Completes travels arrangements for the Executives and other members of the Executive Leadership Team. Serves as the primary point of contact for the Executive office to independently collect, triage, and resolve incoming queries from Veterans, employees, VISN, VA Central Office, Congressional Offices, DOD partners, and other community-based medical centers and organizations, while also providing the highest level of customer service. Seek to resolve matters at the lowest level possible and get back with the requestor or provide a warm handoff to the next appropriate person for resolution. Veteran complaints and compliments are documented in the Patient Advocacy Tracking System Replacement (PATS-R) and compliments are followed up by a written letter from the Executives prepared by the incumbent. 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, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: AD-HOC (as determined by the agency policy) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD414030 and PD414040 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, 11/12/2026. 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-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8. 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. Please note: In addition to meeting experience requirements, applicants for this position must show possession of the following proficiency: Ability to type 40 words per minute. Applicants may meet this requirement by passing the appropriate performance test, presenting a certificate of proficiency from a school or other organization authorized to issue such certificates by the Office of Personnel Management local office, or by self-certifying their proficiency. Performance test results and certificates of proficiency are acceptable for 3 years. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-8 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: experience with schedules appointment with prior approval, resolves all scheduling conflicts daily by exercising delegated authority to prioritize and understand what is considered critical versus non-critical and reconciling any conflicts; with providing overview of the upcoming two weeks, tracks and manages to do items, assists on assigned projects and follow through on ensuring the Executive Staff is fully briefed on matters to be considered before the meeting starts; GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-8 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 administrative concepts, principles and practices sufficient to independently eliminate conflict and duplication in extensive office procedures; knowledge of the supervisors policies and views on all significant matters affecting the organization in order to develop materials for the supervisor use in public speaking engagements and brief or advise staff members or persons outside the organization on the supervisor's views on current issues; knowledge of office routines and procedures sufficient to receive and refer phone calls and visitors to staff members; knowledge of a range of common clerical practices and procedures sufficient to file materials and obtain requested information; knowledge of the duties, priorities, commitments, polices and program goals of the staff sufficient to perform non-routine task such as locating and summarizing information from files and documents that are relevant to the problems at hand; ability to coordinate the work of the office with work of other offices; knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation and required formats sufficient to recognize and correct errors in correspondence and reports. Preferred Experience: Experience preparing committee/meeting agendas and creating minutes Experience with correspondence Experience with Action Items (creating them, tracking them, responding to them) Experience managing the calendar for a supervisor, service chief, executive leadership, etc. Customer Service overall, but notably with Veterans/Patien