Transportation Assistant

Description:

The Veterans Transportation Program (VTP)/Beneficiary Travel (BT) department administers beneficiary travel program benefits to Veterans who meet eligibility criteria. Staff review, adjudicate and authorize claims for costs incurred while traveling from their home to a VA medical appointment at the VAPORHCS, the Veteran's assigned community based outpatient clinic, and a VA authorized non-VA medical facility as well as other facilities within VISN 20 who refer patients to VAPORHCS for care.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 06/23/2025.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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 as described below:

• 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assisting customers in person and on the phone to process requests. Arranging various modes of transportation to include, air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus, and/or contracted transport services. Determining eligibility for programs and processing requests for travel pay. Preparing appropriate documentation and/or scheduling for traveler according to government rates or substantial rates. Determining which of several fund control points to utilize, obligating funds, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records, performing regular reconciliations and adjusting account balances. Determining method of payment for authorized and unauthorized claims submitted for consideration. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and year ending dates AND hours worked per week.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Accountability
• Clerical
• Computer Skills
• Customer Service

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: Work involves various physical demands requiring the employee to be versatile in the many functions performed. These include sedentary work performed at a desk with intermittent standing, walking, bending, and lifting of lightweight records or supplies.
Work Environment: Work is performed in an office setting. Work is performed within view and hearing of patients and the general public. The Transportation Assistant has direct contact with the Veterans and possible exposure to contagious diseases. Immediate attention is required for patient funds activities, and travel arrangements must be completed timely. Meeting these obligations may present varied demands on the incumbent. Patients may present skeptical, agitated, uncooperative, and some may become hostile or dangerous. The work environment is multifaceted, complex and demanding.

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/ .