Program Specialist

Summary

Summary

The Program Specialist serves as a key administrative and operational support professional within the Primary Care Service. Primary Care oversees a network of eight geographically dispersed Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) across Kentucky and Indiana, including Stonybrook, Greenwood, and Newburg within the greater Louisville area; Grayson County, KY; Fort Knox, KY; Carroll County, KY; Scottsburg, IN; and New Albany, IN.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

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The Program Specialist serves as a key administrative and operational support professional within the Primary Care Service. Provides comprehensive program coordination, data management, workflow support, project oversight, and analytical assistance to ensure efficient clinic operations and compliance with VA policies, standards, and regulatory requirements. The position plays a critical role in supporting leadership through research, tracking performance indicators, ensuring program integrity, overseeing outpatient clinic services, and assisting with continuous improvement activities.

Major duties include but are not limited to:

• Ensures continuity of service delivery, facilitates communication between clinic teams and leadership, and supports the effective functioning of clinical and administrative programs within these geographically distributed locations.
• Provides administrative and operational support for clinical programs, coordinating activities across multiple functional areas.
• Assists in planning, implementing, and evaluating program processes, ensuring alignment with service objectives and regulatory requirements.
• Manages day-to-day administrative tasks, including documentation, reporting, scheduling, communication tracking, and workflow optimization.
• Supports the acquisition of supplies, equipment, and services for the Robley Rex VA Medical Center and assists in developing plans for the effective utilization of clinic space.
• Coordinates moves, relocations, and the activation of new programs in collaboration with Primary Care leadership.
• Collaborates with colleagues within the facility to resolve patient care issues, including those that cross over service line including patient complaints, clinic waiting times, missed opportunities, clinic access, etc
• Supports Service Leadership and assists with timecards to review and ensure that providers have entered their leave into GovTA/VATAS and verify that entries align with clinic cancellation requests submitted in LEAF.
• Communicates appropriate clinic requests to all stakeholders to ensure clinics are managed timely.
• Promptly reports all accidents and notify the Associate Chief of Staff, Primary Care (ACOS) of any unsafe/unhealthful conditions in the workplace.
• Represents Primary Care Service at designated medical center committees and taskforces, providing input and communicating its views and consensus to other service lines, programs, outside agencies, and visitors as appropriate.
• Assist with pulling and analyzing reports related to provider clinic utilization.
• Assist with implementing plans developed by Service Leadership on backlog reduction plans when delay is occurring, and supply is equal to or less than demand.
• Assist with the consult management process [education on consult reports, consult business rule implementation, understand types of consults and process and policy variations, participate in consult COP (local and national), coordinate development of Care Coordination Agreements.
• Serve as subject matter expert to clinic teams/staff/leadership in advanced clinic access principles, data reports and tools.
• Promotes and enforces compliance with access targets, measures, metrics, policies, etc.
• Provide ongoing training and process improvement recommendations for clinical staff development in collaboration with Service Leadership and Group Practice Manager.
• Review clinic profiles on a regular basis and update as appropriate.
• Collects, analyzes, and organizes program data to support decision making, compliance, and reporting requirements. Prepares routine and special reports related to clinic operations, access metrics, quality indicators, and performance measures.
• Supports leadership in monitoring program outcomes and identifying opportunities for improving efficiency or quality.
• Oversight responsibilities include, but are not limited to, monitoring performance metrics, staffing requirements, equipment necessities, ensuring stakeholder engagement, and addressing environmental care concerns.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 0800-1630

Telework: This position may be authorized for ADHOC telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD40435-A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

• 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 required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not 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, driver's 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 interest. In 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/06/2026.

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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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.

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-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Collecting, analyzing, and organizing program data to support decision making, compliance, and reporting requirements. Preparing routine and special reports related to clinic operations, access metrics, quality indicators, and performance measures. Monitoring program outcomes and identifying opportunities for improving efficiency or quality. Monitoring performance metrics, staffing requirements, equipment necessities, ensuring stakeholder engagement, and addressing environmental care concerns. Knowledge of the principles and practices associated with managing complex health care delivery systems. .

OR,

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed graduate level education in an accredited college or university that leads to a master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (Transcript Required)

OR,

• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have the combination of graduate level education in excess pf the first year and the specialized experience that is related to the occupation and grade being filled. (Transcript Required)

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: 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

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.

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 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.

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 OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

Candidates 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.



Help

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.

Review our 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.

Job Description

Summary

The Program Specialist serves as a key administrative and operational support professional within the Primary Care Service. Primary Care oversees a network of eight geographically dispersed Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) across Kentucky and Indiana, including Stonybrook, Greenwood, and Newburg within the greater Louisville area; Grayson County, KY; Fort Knox, KY; Carroll County, KY; Scottsburg, IN; and New Albany, IN.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

The Program Specialist serves as a key administrative and operational support professional within the Primary Care Service. Provides comprehensive program coordination, data management, workflow support, project oversight, and analytical assistance to ensure efficient clinic operations and compliance with VA policies, standards, and regulatory requirements. The position plays a critical role in supporting leadership through research, tracking performance indicators, ensuring program integrity, overseeing outpatient clinic services, and assisting with continuous improvement activities.

Major duties include but are not limited to:

• Ensures continuity of service delivery, facilitates communication between clinic teams and leadership, and supports the effective functioning of clinical and administrative programs within these geographically distributed locations.
• Provides administrative and operational support for clinical programs, coordinating activities across multiple functional areas.
• Assists in planning, implementing, and evaluating program processes, ensuring alignment with service objectives and regulatory requirements.
• Manages day-to-day administrative tasks, including documentation, reporting, scheduling, communication tracking, and workflow optimization.
• Supports the acquisition of supplies, equipment, and services for the Robley Rex VA Medical Center and assists in developing plans for the effective utilization of clinic space.
• Coordinates moves, relocations, and the activation of new programs in collaboration with Primary Care leadership.
• Collaborates with colleagues within the facility to resolve patient care issues, including those that cross over service line including patient complaints, clinic waiting times, missed opportunities, clinic access, etc
• Supports Service Leadership and assists with timecards to review and ensure that providers have entered their leave into GovTA/VATAS and verify that entries align with clinic cancellation requests submitted in LEAF.
• Communicates appropriate clinic requests to all stakeholders to ensure clinics are managed timely.
• Promptly reports all accidents and notify the Associate Chief of Staff, Primary Care (ACOS) of any unsafe/unhealthful conditions in the workplace.
• Represents Primary Care Service at designated medical center committees and taskforces, providing input and communicating its views and consensus to other service lines, programs, outside agencies, and visitors as appropriate.
• Assist with pulling and analyzing reports related to provider clinic utilization.
• Assist with implementing plans developed by Service Leadership on backlog reduction plans when delay is occurring, and supply is equal to or less than demand.
• Assist with the consult management process [education on consult reports, consult business rule implementation, understand types of consults and process and policy variations, participate in consult COP (local and national), coordinate development of Care Coordination Agreements.
• Serve as subject matter expert to clinic teams/staff/leadership in advanced clinic access principles, data reports and tools.
• Promotes and enforces compliance with access targets, measures, metrics, policies, etc.
• Provide ongoing training and process improvement recommendations for clinical staff development in collaboration with Service Leadership and Group Practice Manager.
• Review clinic profiles on a regular basis and update as appropriate.
• Collects, analyzes, and organizes program data to support decision making, compliance, and reporting requirements. Prepares routine and special reports related to clinic operations, access metrics, quality indicators, and performance measures.
• Supports leadership in monitoring program outcomes and identifying opportunities for improving efficiency or quality.
• Oversight responsibilities include, but are not limited to, monitoring performance metrics, staffing requirements, equipment necessities, ensuring stakeholder engagement, and addressing environmental care concerns.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 0800-1630

Telework: This position may be authorized for ADHOC telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD40435-A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

• 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 required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not 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, driver's 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 interest. In 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/06/2026.

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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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.

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-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Collecting, analyzing, and organizing program data to support decision making, compliance, and reporting requirements. Preparing routine and special reports related to clinic operations, access metrics, quality indicators, and performance measures. Monitoring program outcomes and identifying opportunities for improving efficiency or quality. Monitoring performance metrics, staffing requirements, equipment necessities, ensuring stakeholder engagement, and addressing environmental care concerns. Knowledge of the principles and practices associated with managing complex health care delivery systems. .

OR,

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed graduate level education in an accredited college or university that leads to a master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (Transcript Required)

OR,

• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have the combination of graduate level education in excess pf the first year and the specialized experience that is related to the occupation and grade being filled. (Transcript Required)

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: 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

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.

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 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.

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 OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

Candidates 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.



Help

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.

Review our 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.