The position serves as a Program Support Assistant under the Support Services section under the Business Office, Health Administration Service (HAS), at the VA Boston Healthcare System. This is an OPEN CONTINOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until July 1st, 2026. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis and qualified candidates will be referred periodically every 15 days until the position is filled.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. GS-05 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-04 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes but is not limited to: progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position to be filled. OR; Education: Successfully completed four (4) years of education above the high school level in any field. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with the application. OR; Experience and Education Combination: Have an equivalent combination of successfully completed post-high school education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement, and the specialized experience as described above, meets the total experience requirements for this grade level. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application. 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. 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/.
The Program Support Assistant position is to provide a wide variety of administrative, clerical, and technical support to Support Services within the Business Office/ Health Administration Service. Duties will include, but not be limited to the following: Support Training activities by helping provide information and demonstrations on mailroom, telephone operation, reproduction functions, equipment use, and safety procedures. Support scheduling activities and help ensure appropriate staff coverage throughout all units and campuses. Provide resolution and information for minor customer and staff issues. Keep supervisor abreast of workload and service issues. Monitor ongoing work tasks and process LEAF requests. Assists in producing mail expenditure reports and reproduction reports for supervisor as needed. Monitor section working conditions and environmental factors to help maintain an overall safe workspace. Refer to supervisor for safety issues. Respond to a high volume of calls efficiently and promptly. Responds to all emergency situations that may occur, alerting the supervisor and proper Medical Center Staff and outside authorities. Operate and maintain the overhead paging system, which is used to notify key personnel as a notification system for fires, cardiac arrests, and psychiatric crises, and disasters. Interpret and relay information recorded, provide back-up call to Boston Fire Department, current alarm company, notify Medical Center Police and other key personnel. Sort internal and external mail for delivery and complete delivery routes in accordance with facility procedures. Assess and prepares outgoing mail to establish proper handling, adequate postage, and application of special services, or use of alternate carrier. Analyzes incoming mail for the necessity control and/or date stamping. Prepares outgoing mail for processing by sorting prior to mail being metered. Operate the Reproduction Unit and handle the routine operation and maintenance of all equipment assigned to the Unit. Evaluate available duplication options to choose the most cost-effective approach within guidelines provided by management. Maintains reproduction log and provides weekly productivity statistics. Maintains the reproduction supply inventory to ensure continuity of service. Evaluates copies to be reproduced to preclude duplications of effort and to insure clarity of finished product. Responsible for all aspects of reproduction services including copying, collating, and fastening all copies as requested. Provide coverage at other VA Boston campuses as needed. Knowledge of telecommunications including incoming and outgoing lines used for local, long distance, overseas calls, and to connect to other campuses. Work Schedule: West Roxbury:12:00a- 8:00a, 8:00a- 4:30p, 4:00p- 12:00a. (including weekends and holidays). Jamaica Plain: 7:30a- 4:00p (Monday- Friday); Full-Time, 40 hours per week. Telework: Not Authorized. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Recruitment Incentive: Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. Position Description Title/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD03500A Physical Requirements: Work is performed in an office setting; work is sedentary with some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items. Preferred Experience: Customer service oriented with excellent communication skills, Attention to detail with the ability to manage multiple tasks including in high stress situations. Notifications: This is not a Bargaining Unit position. This position is in the Competitive Service. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted. This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation. Veterans preference does not apply to this announcement. Veterans are encouraged to apply. Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.