Health System Specialist

Major duties include but are not limited to the following:

Program Planning & Analysis

• Performs staff support work in short and long-range planning efforts with direct responsibility for seeking and finding practical solutions which may be achieved through short or long-range planning
• Administers Associate Directors planning process and ensures the integration of all planning initiatives. Assesses priorities to best meet Veterans health care delivery needs. Assesses plans and planning phases to determine resources and services
• Performs administrative research and develops reports relating to patient & staff population performance contracts procurement workload quality and compliance
• Develops background and management options available to deal with complex medical center planning and implementation problems. Provides authoritative recommendations to the Associate Director regarding possible need for revision of regulations and policies governing planning activities
• Recommends action or adjustments necessary to achieve required objectives. Obtains and consolidates planning information from subordinate units. Complies with directives in preparing annual and cyclic planning documents

Resource Management & Analysis

• Provide guidance for administrative activities of services related to budget and fiscal management human resource management strategic planning and program management and evaluation assuring that the clinical and administrative functions are integrated to provide optimum utilization of resources
• Independently review requirements for resources throughout the Associate Directors respective services and utilizes these reviews to present plans of action to the Associate Director
• Conducts and directs special studies and analyses of complex problems relating to manpower requirements space and equipment utilization organizational alignment and other areas of concern to the executive leadership team
• Maintains accurate utilization and cost information to analyze the effect of resources on the overall productivity of the various organizations. Works with adjustments in allocations consults in preparation of monthly reports
• Collaborates with clinical and administrative services and appropriate committees to plan and evaluate resource utilization
• Develop and maintain workload/resource monitors that detect appropriate and inappropriate utilization of scarce resources
• Provides consultation and authoritative advice regarding the integration of operational issues into monitoring and evaluation activities. Assists the Associate Director and other Executive Team members in guiding personnel actions

Program Analysis

• Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of existing service programs in meeting established program goals and objectives. Develops evaluation methodologies and processes to study program effectiveness organizational productivity operational efficiency and resource utilization
• Monitors assigned metrics and proactively intervenes to address slippage or poor performance. Develops and coordinates administrative internal review systems to monitor programs under the Associate Director and ensure compliance with agency requirements and the standards of external bodies and accrediting agencies
• Maintains program requirements/validation criteria for assigned organizations. Responsible for obtaining timely actions responses or decisions on requests and ensuring they are consistent with Medical Center policy
• Coordinates cyclic and special purpose reviews of administrative compliance and quality programs and initiatives

Management Support

• Assist in the development of information submitted from this medical center to the VISN or VA Headquarters which includes statistical and demographic information for various medical center health-care programs as well as any special reports required by the VISN
• Serve as a Medical Center representative and primary POC for Medical Center staff for full assistance on administrative matters
• Ensures service-level actions are delivered on-time and in-line with expectations from VAMC leadership staff
• Collaborates with leaders at the local VISN and VHA levels to advance Medical Center initiatives either on their own initiative or in partnership with other leaders in the Medical Center

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: Full-time Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework: Ad-hoc according to Agency policy
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD231800
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary although some slight physical effort may be required.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public determining if your employment advances the public interest we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification in writing that your continued employment advances the public interest.

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 10/02/2026.

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-09 for a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 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:

Health System Administration Series 0671 Individual Occupational Requirements (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 GS-5 and above: 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:

1. Missions organizations programs and requirements of health care delivery systems.
2. Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and
3. Government-wide agency and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget personnel and procurement. OR

• Special Provision for ln-service 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 individuals progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program

In addition to meeting the Individual Occupation Requirement above you must meet specialized experience and/or education as described below:

Health System Specialist GS-11

• 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:
  • Working directly with healthcare professionals and other administrators to solve problems in support of the delivery of patient care and education/training.
  • Plans distributes coordinates and monitors work assignments of others.
  • Analyzing and synthesizing data from diverse data systems to improve business processes. 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. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR
• Combination: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond a masters 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).

Health System Specialist GS-12

Must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (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:

• Working within a health care setting working directly with clinicians and local leadership to solve problems in support of the delivery of patient care
• Applying organizational and system-wide strategies for continuous quality improvement
• Experience running and supervising an administrative component of a health care system
• Comprehensive knowledge of a wide range of qualitative/ quantitative methods as well as analytical/evaluative methods for development and management of administrative programs assessment and improvement of administrative program effectiveness
• Improvement of complex management processes and systems
• Knowledge of the range of national administrative laws policies regulations and precedents
• Expertise in a wide variety of computer and data management packages and VA databases; knowledge of agency program goals and objectives
• Skill to plan organize and lead teams to accept and implement recommendations; and broad knowledge of Federal government policies regulations and trends in the areas of management systems.

For more information on these qualification standards please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at

Required Experience:

IC