Program Support Assistant
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Job Summary
This position is organizationally aligned to the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PLM) Product Line at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital Hines IL. The incumbent provides administrative support to PLM management to help achieve the product lines goal of continuous high-quality laboratory testing and customer service.
Duties include but not limited to:
- Serves as the primary timekeeper and maintains time and attendance records for the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine service.
- Serves as the primary collector to collect and process preemployment or current employees for random reasonable suspicion post-accident or safe harbor urine drug screen collection confirming donor identity and completing chain of custody forms.
- Prepare packages and ships specimens to testing laboratory and delivers forms. Management of specimen inventory from collection materials (shipping bags collection cups bluing tablets forms (chain of custody forms and VA Form 10-5345) and envelopes.
- Serve as a purchase card holder to support referral testing and equipment service needs; complies with Federal VA and local acquisition regulations.
- Enters and edits data as the TMS coordinator to record the required continuing education and training activities of all service staff; prepares education and training reports as requested for administrative and supervisory personnel.
- Serves as the delegated Equipment Inventory Listings (EIL) Custodial Officer responsibilities for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service. Assist with locating/scanning inventoried equipment. Process electronic and manual turn-in requests for equipment.
- Submit Engineering work orders as requested for PLMS.
- Assist with installation configuration and operation of remote equipment temperature monitoring systems for PLMS.
- Serves as a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Sponsor for PLMS employees; notifies current and new staff of requirements for obtaining PIV card.
- Serves as PLMCGE Concur Travel super user. Arrange travel prepare necessary documents required for travel purposes and routes for approval and signatures.
- Prepare compile and file administrative reports for management (DFWP records and Timekeeping records).
Work Schedule: Fulltime: Monday - Friday 7:00am - 3:30PM
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: 170300
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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.
- All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
- 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)
- 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.
To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement .You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
- Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 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 that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge skills and abilities (KSAs) to perform successfully the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. OR
- Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite is creditable at grades GS-3 through GS-5 which is 4 years above high school. OR
- Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond.
Preferred Experience:
- Performing Timekeeping.
- Urine Specimen Collection.
For more information on these qualification standards please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at
A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges universities schools or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information visit:
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicants criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations Security and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e. physical or mental) covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position after notification of the adjudication of your request you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.
Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employees credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice your most recent performance rating and your most recent SF-50 noting current position grade level and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPMs Career Transition Resources website at should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Required Experience:
Junior IC
