Summary This position serves as Secretary to Social Work Service. Performs duties in support of Social Work Service programs that do not have embedded program administrative support and in addition to providing general administrative support for the service. Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Social Work Service. Responsibilities Duties include, but are not limited to: Receives scheduled and unscheduled visitors to the service and identifies appropriate staff for referrals. Interacts daily with service staff, agency employees and persons outside the agency ranging from other government agencies to the general public. Provides information about the office, its functions, standard operating procedures, and can discern when the information requested requires a clinician to resolve. Incumbent is the primary telephone contact for the service, answering phones, identifying urgency of call and making a warm hand off to ensure quality customer service. Supplies the requested information when it concerns a subject the employee is familiar with or can easily obtain information about (e.g. status of reports, suspense dates, and procedural requirements). Schedules meetings for the service and coordinates the attendance of individuals inside and outside the service as needed. Prepares travel authorizations in the federal travel program, understands travel procedures/policy, can troubleshoot issues, and instructs staff on travel procedures/policy. Ensures employees have completed paperwork to create a travel profile and submitted the documents to fiscal for processing. Provides forms to complete process if needed and follows up with fiscal to ensure vendor profiles are created in a timely manner. Maintains knowledge of current VHA and local policy and procedure regarding employee travel. Processes incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication. Performs the following duties: -Sorts mail and ensures it gets to the appropriate staff. - Edits and composes letters and reports, replies to inquiries. - Reviews outgoing correspondence for accuracy and completeness. (has a solid knowledge of grammar and spelling) - Consolidates/coordinates submittals of information. - Prepares public presentation outlines. - Develops standardized or form letters for Service use. - Creates mailing lists for form letters and labels. - Serves as Fund Control Point Clerk for General Social Work Fund. - Assists the Social Work Administrative Officer with data entry. - Provides back-up support for Suspense completion. - Researches files, and assembles background information about incoming material prior to referral. Maintains calendar for Chief of Social Work Service, recording appointments, arranging meetings and conference administrative details. Sets up conference call lines as needed for a single instance or for recurring meetings. Independently schedules supervisor/staff time based on a knowledge of preferences and current commitments. Reminds supervisor/staff members of the subject matter/prints agenda if available prior to the meeting, and makes administrative arrangements as required. Obtains and monitors the use of services, supplies, or equipment for the office. Justifies and requests replacements for outdated equipment by identifying the equipment, gathering relevant information on office equipment, or requesting office equipment for work area. Prepares requests for services, supplies, and equipment. Creating outreach materials for quarterly/annual mailings, identifies/maintains contacts/mailing list for this purpose, sending/receiving/organizing faxes for admissions and discharges to the Caregiver Program. Creating outreach materials for outreach events, Creating TCMP Welcome packets for recently separated Veterans, identifies/maintains contacts/mailing list for this purpose sending/receiving/organizing faxes for admissions and discharges to the Transition and Care Management Program TCMP. Monitors, prepares reports, annual inspection preparation/gather of docs. Will serve as alternate COR for the Contract Nursing Home Program. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD: Secretary/PD010860 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/13/2025. You may qualify based on your experience and/or educationas described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-4 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 the duties, priorities, commitments, policies, and program goals of the staff sufficient to perform non-routine assignments. Knowledge sufficient to recognize which information is or is not relevant to the problem at hand. Knowledge required to coordinate the work of the office with the work of the other offices and for recognizing the need for such coordination in various circumstances. Skill in applying basic data gathering methods, such as standard interviewing or surveying techniques to collect several types of factual information. Skill in transcribing notes in final form via applicable policy. Knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Word, Access, Visio, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Publisher. Knowledge of correct grammar, style and format, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure and vocabulary. Knowledge of agency policy and procedures in preparing correspondence. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 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 and Associates Degree. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Performance Management/Quality Improvement Principles Clerical 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 sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application. 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: Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's 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.