Lead Telephone Operator - Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration : Job Details

Summary This position description is located in the Health Information Management Section, Information Support Service Line, VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) at Seattle and/or American Lake, WA. The unit serves as a central support unit assisting with training and support issues as needed. The medical center serves over 45,000 veterans per year, comprising greater than 700,00 encounters. VAPSHCS is a full service medical center with more than 25 patient care specialties available. Responsibilities The incumbent is involved in technical work concerned with processing and transferring incoming calls and performs duties as the emergency 911 operator. A critical portion of the duties performed by the telephone switchboard staff is monitoring and responding to emergency calls and alarms. Patient and staff safety and often life threatening issues must be assessed and appropriate action initiated very quickly and correctly in order to preserve patient and facility safety. A constant state of readiness for crisis situations must be maintained by the staff and reminded by the Leads. The Lead Operator is responsible for assisting the Supervisor in assuring that coverage is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays. The incumbent is the primary resource for guidance for numerous other staff that work with communications issues. The incumbent is responsible for performing the following range of duties: Distributing and balancing the workload among employees in accordance with established work flow, ensuring timely accomplishment of the assigned workload and that each employee has enough work to keep busy. Staying in touch with the status and progress of work and making day-to-day adjustments in accordance with priorities. Maintaining records of work accomplishments and time expended and preparing reports as requested. Instructing employees on specific tasks and job techniques and making available written instruction, reference materials and supplies. Answering questions of employees on procedures, policies, directives, etc. and obtaining needed information or decisions form the supervisor on problems that come up. Checking on work in progress and ensures the supervisor's instructions on procedures and methods are being met. Monitoring working conditions such as seating, ventilation, lighting, safety, etc. Resolving simple, informal complaints of employees and refers other to the supervisor. Reporting performance, progress, training needs and behavioral problems of the employees to the supervisor. Providing the supervisor information concerning promotions, reassignments, recognition of outstanding performance and personnel needs as requested. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Telephone Operator/PD40024A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized 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. 5 CFR 330.502 - General Restriction on movement after competitive appointment applies. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 11/18/2024. 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 within 30 days of announcement closing. For a GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. 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-4) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: overseeing technical work concerned with processing an transferring incoming calls; performing duties of emergency 911 operator; maintaining constant state of readiness for responding to medical, intrusion and panic alarms and VA police dispatch; distributing work assignments; coordinating work; providing ongoing training and guidance on implementation of VA directions. (EXPERIENCE MUST BE DETAILED IN RESUME IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT) OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed 4 years above high school in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an an equivalent combination of specialized experience and post high school education as described above that demonstrates my ability to perform the duties of this position. For the GS-05, only education in excess of 60 semester hours (2 years) is creditable; One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Leadership Managing Human Resources Teaching Others Technical Competence 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 primarily sedentary with reaching, dialing numbers on the console, keyboarding, carrying of light supplies required. Because calls received are emergent and so varied, the position can be emotionally taxing. 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 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. 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.