Summary The Rehabilitation & Engineering Center for Optimizing Veteran Engagement & Reintegration (RECOVER) in the Research Service develops and distributes adaptive technologies and interventions to help Veterans maximize their function and participation in meaningful activities throughout their life. RECOVER is integrated within the Rehabilitation & Extended Care (REC) Service Line at Minneapolis VA Health Care System (MVAHCS) with strong ties to the Research Service Line at the MVAHCS. Responsibilities NOTE: This is a TERM appointment (not-to-exceed 4 Years). Term appointments are non-status, nonpermanent appointments of limited duration (more than 1 year but not more than 4). Term appointments may be extended without further competition (up to the 4-year maximum). The appointment to a Term position does not confer eligibility for promotion or reassignment to other positions or the ability to be non-competitively converted to permanent employment. Applicants must meet one of the following eligibilities for this Term Position: Eligibility under CTAP or ICTAP Eligibility for reinstatement for a former Career or Career Conditional Competitive Service employee, Eligibility for a Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA), Eligibility for a 30% or More Service-Connected Disability Appointment, Eligibility for a Military Spouse Appointment, and/or Eligibility for a Schedule A Appointment (the candidate, if selected, will be appointed on a Time-Limited Appointment, instead of a Term Appointment). This is a bargaining unit position. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Total Rewards Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Available Telework: Available Duty Location Status: Will Work from a VA Owned or Leased Space Position Description Title/PD#: Program Specialist/ PD607390 and PD607380 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. Walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items will be required. This position involves a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-09. At the GS-07 grade level, you will perform assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-09. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of higher level work, and availability of funds. Promotion is not guaranteed and no promise of promotion is implied. Major Duties: Provide clear communication regarding necessary billing between multiple research offices. Schedule Veteran visits for RECOVER projects such as research study visits requiring VA scheduler training and adherence to scheduling guidelines and regulations. Maintain individual accounting spreadsheets for salary allocation and other project expenditures for multiple existing funded projects. Maintain spreadsheets of personnel efforts for current and pending projects, RECOVER project funding for projects, and tracking success of funding proposals over time. Maintain Government Purchase Card (GPC) authority and makes purchases for all RECOVER personnel, requiring training for purchasing and adherence to purchasing guidelines and regulations. Make requests to provide necessary infrastructure for RECOVER personnel including IT, Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Research and Development requests. Assist with onboarding of new personnel and students into RECOVER. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/25/2024. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. 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. AND You may qualify based on your education/experience/combination as described below. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. GS-07 Specialized Experience, Education or Combination GS-07 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as Experience using Microsoft or analogous word processing software program for reports and presentations; Preparing documents for review and approval; Maintaining schedules, records, and inputting data into automated systems; OR GS-07 Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement; OR GS-07 Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree GS-09 Specialized Experience, Education or Combination: GS-09 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as Advising personnel on directives, reports, correspondence, and data collection procedures; Performing quantitative and qualitative analysis regarding the effectiveness of programs; Coordinating work between departments to ensure maximum efficiency of program operations and appropriate utilization of resources; OR GS-09 Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related; OR GS-09 Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 full year of graduate level education. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Financial Management Information Management Planning and Evaluating Technical Competence Knowledge Management Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above. 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 OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp. Education PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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. Additional Information 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 employee's 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. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. 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 well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/. 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.