Program Specialist

Salary: $69,905.00 to $90,882.00 Per Year

This Program Specialist position is under the VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE) and the Chaplain Service within the VA Boston Healthcare System, located at the Brockton, MA location.

Major duties

This Program Specialist position provides complex administrative and program support for the planning, coordination, and execution of services under the VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE) and the Chaplain Service within a large, complex, 1A medical facility. This role is equally divided: approximately 50%-time supporting CDCE programs (including Voluntary Service and associated recreation/adaptive sports initiatives) and 50%-time supporting Chaplain Service operations. Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Studies, analyzes, and evaluates the needs of veterans, staff, volunteers, and community partners; develops and/or implements programs, policies, guidance, and solutions to meet those needs. Develops motivational materials, fact sheets, brochures, and informational resources to facilitate volunteer participation, adaptive sports programs, and community engagement. Provides advisory services to CDCE program managers on requirements, trends, and improvements. Reviews feedback data, performs studies, identifies trends, and proposes/implement solutions. Prepares required reports and maintains statistics for CDCE programs. Plans, conducts, and/or manages special projects or studies related to volunteer recruitment, retention, recognition, adaptive sports, donations, and community relations. Coordinates with non-profit organizations, Veteran Service Organizations, and external partners for working relationships, accreditation, and program support. Advises on human resources policies, staffing, employee relations, performance ratings, and benefits. Regularly assesses the resource needs of CDCE, Recreation Therapy and Chaplain Service. Monitors the utilization of resources, recommending appropriate actions to adequately maintain services and provides financial oversight recommendations to the Chiefs of CDCE and Chaplain service based on resource analysis. Performs budget execution functions to ensure expenditure aligns with plans. Maintains GPF accounts specific to Chaplain Service needs and coordinates donations/gifts. Maintains effective working relationships with community organizations and promotes good relations between the VA and the community organizations and VSO partners. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist/PD041750 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorize Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Notifications: Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. This position is not a Bargaining Unit position.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/19/2026. 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-09 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. 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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: administrative oversight and operational support for dual service departments; coordinating volunteer, donation, and community outreach operations; managing service scheduling, logistics, and program support; utilizing automated systems (e.g., Office 365, PowerBI, VSSC, or database tracking tools) to evaluate program data and generate reports; managing department records and procurement activities; and communicating guidance on facility policies and procedures to internal leadership, community partners, and volunteers. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of completed education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position. Only education in excess of the first year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-09 level. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. 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/.