Summary The VA Central California Health Care System High Reliability Officer (HRO) is directly aligned under the Quality Management Service. This position has responsibility for assisting in the administrative management of the Central California Health Care System (VACCHCS). They use an understanding of the critical balance between the administrative and clinical functions in the health care delivery system to serve as a resource to effectively provide the best possible patient care and services. Responsibilities Major Duties include: Supports VA, VHA, VISN and HCS mission, goals, and objectives and actively works with leadership and their staff to design and implement effective High Reliability practices and programs. Serves as the program coordinator for multiple projects working directly with leadership, National initiative leads, VISN initiative leads. Serves as a senior advisor providing leadership and teams guidance and valuable consultative services. Assists in the planning, development, implementation, coordination and evaluation of facility milestones in relation to Agency specific performance measures. Works with senior leadership to hardwire Executive Career Functional (ECF) plans throughout the organization and develop a structure to manage project portfolios, project scopes and schedules, project guidelines, requirements, corrective action and plan modification. Serves as the primary day-to-day liaison between leadership and assigned program leads. 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: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist (High Reliability Officer)/PD01785O and PD01784O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Physical Requirements: Work is mostly sedentary and involves very little physical effort. Work is generally performed in a typical office setting with adequate heat, light and ventilation. 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, 01/29/2024. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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. Individual Occupation 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: 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: Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. Special Provision for In-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. In addition to meeting the IOR, you may qualify based on your experience and/or education described below: GS-11 Minimum Qualifications: 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. At this level, applicants would have obtained this experience working within a health care setting, applies analytical skills and specialized principles and practices of health care to advise management and carry out the duties; Analyzes the processes and practices of health care delivery systems; Uses quantitative and qualitative analysis for measuring efficiency and productivity of administrative and clinical services; Understanding of business process flow and able to train staff; and Facilitates and communicates effectively orally, graphically, and in writing. NOTE: Experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in the position to be credited. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 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. 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 a master's degree. GS-12 Minimum Qualifications: Specialized Experience: You 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. At this level, applicants would have obtained this experience working within a health care setting, applies analytical skills and specialized principles and practices of health care to advise management and carry out the duties; Analyzes the processes and practices of health care delivery systems to include an understanding of the concepts of medical care organization, organizational behavior, finance, human resources and statistical applications; Uses quantitative and qualitative analysis for measuring efficiency and productivity of administrative and clinical services, including cost benefit analyses; Uses clinical business process reengineering methodologies, analysis, theory, and application to conduct needs assessments of various health care settings; Understanding of business process flow and able to train staff; and Facilitates and communicates effectively orally, graphically, and in writing, to research, analyze, study, prepare, and present high quality communication products to include research reports, analysis studies, briefings, information papers, requirements documents, and concept paper NOTE: Experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in the position to be credited You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Information Technology Performance Assessment Leadership Project Management Quality Management 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 the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. There is no educational substitution at the GS-12 grade level. 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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. 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. 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 Federal/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 http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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.