Secretary (OA)

Description:

This position is in the Executive Office, VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) and reports directly to the Executive Assistant to the Director. The incumbent provides daily administrative support to the Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, and to the Associate Director. During the absence of other Executive Office support staff, the incumbent supports all executives to include the Director, Deputy Director, Chief Nurse Executive, and Deputy Chief Nurse Executive.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade and specialized experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 02/12/2026.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

• For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06.
• For a GS-08 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. 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.

Proficiency Requirement : In addition to meeting experience requirements, applicants must be able to type 40 words per minute. Applicants may meet these requirements by passing the appropriate performance test, presenting a certificate of proficiency from a school or other organization authorized to issue such certificates by the Office of Personnel Management local office, or by self-certifying their proficiency.

You may qualify based on your specialized experience as described below:

Minimum Qualifications, GS-7:

• Specialized Experience : You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Qualifying examples of specialized experience is providing administrative support in an office setting and would typically include but are not limited to: attending meetings, preparing meeting minutes, and independently following up on action items with appropriate staff members; developing plans or scheduling using standard references and existing information; assisting and updating office documents, standard operating procedures and related materials; and scheduling appointments, coordinating meetings, and/or scheduling conferences.

Minimum Qualifications, GS-8:

• 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. Qualifying examples of specialized experience is providing administrative support to a management/executives in an office setting and would typically include but are not limited to: attending meetings, preparing meeting minutes, and independently following up on action items with appropriate staff members; developing plans or scheduling using standard references and existing information; assisting and updating office documents, standard operating procedures and related materials; and scheduling appointments, coordinating meetings, and/or scheduling conferences. Skilled in reviewing correspondence for correctness of style, format, typographical errors, and adherence to procedural instructions

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. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items like papers or books. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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/ .