Supervisory Health System Specialist

This position serves as a Supervisory Health System Specialist at the Montana VA Health Care System, and provides senior-level support to the Chief of Staff, carrying out various assignments of a broad and comprehensive nature, designed to aid the Chief of Staff in directing and evaluating the effectiveness of numerous programs and activities of the facility.

**Qualifications:**
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/22/2026. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 level. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level. 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. This series has the following Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): 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....OR, 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. OR, Special Provision for Inservice Placement: 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. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience GS-12: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade of GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to...general knowledge of VA programs/mission/vision of Facility, and the environment in which is operates; ability to identify points needing attention and to analyze various data for discussion with management; knowledge of VA operating manuals and local directives; ability to represent the hospital effectively to outside groups, survey teams, vendors, etc., establishing and maintaining effective relationships in a manner that reflects positively upon the VA; skilled in written and oral communication sufficient to prepare and present findings and recommendations, implement specific actions regarding controversial issues, or new ideas and concepts; general knowledge of the credentialing and privileging of independent/dependent providers; ability to conduct meetings with various services, both clinical and administrative; and general knowledge of budget and fiscal responsibilities. Specialized Experience GS-13: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade of 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...Knowledge of VA programs, mission, vision of the Facility, and the environment in which it operates; ability to focus on significant points needing management attention and to analyze various data to provide management with valuable feedback; knowledge of the principles and practices related to the management of complex healthcare delivery systems and to apply this knowledge to solve unique management problems; knowledge of VA operating manuals and local directives; knowledge of national health reform issues and developments, sharing agreements, DoD operations and policies, and VISN operations and their impact on the facility; knowledge of a wide range of administrative laws, policies, regulations, and precedents that apply to the administration of public programs; ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with and gain the cooperation of supervisors, managers, and co-workers on complex or controversial issues; skill and ability to interact with others and to deal with difficult situations in a manner that reflects positively upon the VA; knowledge and understanding of the facility; must understand how the service functions and interacts within the medical center; skilled in written and oral communication sufficient to prepare and present findings and recommendations; ability to implement specific actions regarding controversial issues, or new ideas and concepts; ability to present ideas, reports, and concepts in a clear, concise manner; thorough knowledge base of healthcare system management principles, common financial analysis techniques, including budget projection and forecasting applying that knowledge in complex financial situations; and the ability to conduct meetings with various services, both clinical and administrative to ensure knowledge on VHA performance measures. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Critical Thinking Planning and Evaluating Reasoning 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 primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required such as walking or standing to observe work operations 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/.