Summary As Secretary to the Chief of Staff (COS), the incumbent acts as the Chief of Staff's confidential secretary and must have knowledge of COS policies, viewpoints, and attitudes. The position requires a detailed working knowledge of programs under COS supervision to relieve the COS of routine duties and to provide maximum assistance. The incumbent serves as the initial point of contact for all business relating to the Chief of Staff. Responsibilities Duties include but are not limited to: Establish appropriate deadlines for action items. Exercise control over the Chief of Staff (COS) appointments, establish & adjust priorities and rescheduling appointments as necessary. Determine and assist with the proper course of action on administrative matters. Maintain a file of information on critical issues to be brought to the COS upon their return. Serve as the recorder for assigned committee meetings. Process incoming communication received by electronic transmission, fax, and mail. Takes and transcribes dictation, verbal instruction, and/or taped material into letters, endorsements, messages, office instructions, and reports with responsibility for sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. Process phone calls and receive visitors to the Executive Office. Act as a liaison between the executive team and facility staff. Serves as a resource, advising staff at all levels of facility policies, office procedures, correspondence formats, grammar and writing, word processing skills, and other administrative support functions. Screen all correspondence prepared for the COS's approval and/or signature. Devises and installs office procedures and practices to be used by secretaries and subordinate offices. Develops complex committee agendas from items needing the committee's consideration, setting appropriate time parameters, and ensuring documents needed for the meeting are available. Respond to inquiries and administrative problems identified by staff, agency officials, and outside organizations Arrange for meeting facilities, including audiovisual equipment, teleconferencing equipment, etc. Skill in determining when new or adjusted procedures are needed. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 7:30am-4:00pm Telework: Ad-hoc- not on a reoccurring basis Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Secretary (OA)/PD802880 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure: Not Required Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 06/26/2026. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: ability to organize, multi-task, manage databases and work assignments in order to meet deadlines; extensive experience with grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting documents, completing forms, and the use of common terminology used to review correspondence and health care system memoranda.; knowledge of computerized information systems, in order to assess and analyze data to include, word processing, spreadsheets and various other data/information retrieval systems or methods; ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; experience with executive leadership's responsibilities, priorities, commitments, and policies in order to make appointments, assign and follow-up on suspense dates, refer calls and visitors, and provide back-up information for correspondence, reports, appointments, and meetings; experience with rules, regulations, and procedures on administrative reporting and control requirements. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork 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. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying light objects, etc. However, no special physical qualifications 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 Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information 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. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. Receiving Service Credit for 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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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