This position is assigned to the Credentialing and Privileging section, which is under the Chief of Staff service at the Chicago, IL VA Medical Center and is responsible for providing lead administrative, consulting, technical direction and support to the C&P Specialists, C&P Manager and to program operations. The C&P Lead Specialist is aligned to and supervised by the C&P Manager.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/07/2025. 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-09. 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. Basic - Individual Occupational Requirement: Education GS-5 and GS-6 grade levels: Major study - Hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR, Experience - Positions above GS-5: 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 areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education for the GS-11 grade level as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: 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; extensive experience and skill in in applying pertinent laws, regulations, policies and precedents, accreditation standards and guidelines related to a C&P program; extensive knowledge of medical specialties, medical terminology; skill in applying analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to issues or studies concerning the effectiveness of a C&P operation; skill in using software applications such as word processing and data bases and internet database applications for data entry, maintenance and data retrieval and analysis; and ability to communicate in writing to prepare emails, letters, reports and committee minutes. OR, Education: Successfully completed a Ph.D., equivalent doctoral degree, three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, Or LL.M in the related field of the position to be filled (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration). The education portion must include courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Education must have been obtained in an accredited college, or university. (Transcripts Required.) OR, Combination: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond a master's degree) and specialized experience as described above to meet total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration). NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Experience must be clearly indicated in your resume. Preferred Experience: Knowledge of Medical Staff functions and VHA regulations regarding staffing credentialing. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Compliance Critical Thinking Leadership Quality Assurance 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: The work is mostly sedentary. Occasionally, light physical effort may be required, such as that involved with walking, stair climbing, and carrying of light office items. Working Environment: The work is performed in an office setting which requires normal safety precautions typical for offices and meeting rooms. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. The work may require travel. 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: Serves as the lead C&P specialist providing oversight and input regarding compliance with VHA policies, directives, memos, notices, The Joint Commission (TJC)standards, recommendations by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) and other internal or external auditors and reviewers as appropriate. Collects relevant data and making informed decisions to ensure qualified health care professionals are providing appropriate care in appropriate settings. Assists the Manager with outlining the VAMC C&P Program goals and objectives, identifies risks, ensures training and education, and completes second level reviews as appropriate. Serves as a consultant to the C&P Office Specialists, VAMC Leadership and the VISN C&P Officer when the C&P Manager is absent. Serves as liaison and partner with Human Resources service programs for issues to include onboarding, provider exit reviews and assessments, privileging actions, and guidance related to clinical performance concerns. Team Leader Duties: Serves as lead specialist over a group of C&P Specialists. Assigns, monitors, and reviews the work performed by subordinate team members. Ensures that the organization's mission and vision are communicated to the team and integrated into the team's goals, work plans, and work products. Identifies, distributes, and balances workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow, skill level and/or occupational specialization and adjusting to accomplish the workload in accordance with established priorities to ensure timely accomplishment of assigned team tasks. Provides advice on work methods, practices, and procedures, and assists the team and/or individual members in identifying the parameters of a viable solution. Quality Assurance: Assists with developing, coordinating, and recommending changes for the improvement of workflow in the program or section area. Performs reporting and data monitoring in the following areas: initial and ongoing credentialers' training and education, Our Providers' database certifications, VetPro quarterly reports, telehealth provider tracking system, weekly C&P report cards, VetPro Security and Privacy compliance. Conducts and oversees internal controls and audits; provider time-limited credentials; provider C&P privileging folders. Consulting: Serves as a consultant and provides guidance to VAMC leadership and C&P Office Specialists etc. Serving as a consultant will analyze program audit results; interpret facility quarterly report card data; review draft facility Medical Staff Bylaws updates and revisions; interpret and explain new regulatory requirements and VHA requirements, procedures and processes and contribute to implementation of C&P policies and SOPs. Performs other related duties within the C&P program. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Health System Specialist/PD99418S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized