The incumbent serves as a Transportation Assistant with the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System in Seattle, Washington.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days the closing date of this announcement, 07/07/2025. 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-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. 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. GS-05 Requirements: 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 perform travel and lodging arrangements; determine and verify patient eligibility; authorize, schedule, and complete travel requests; knowledge of payment processes; manage a patient funds program; use work-related software applications; reconcile invoices; perform basic data analyses; document reimbursement claims; document medical statuses; generate reports; assist customers in completing necessary paperwork; work with public and private transportation agencies; review lodging alerts to accommodate cancel, extend, and adjust arrangements; provide excellent customer service; use Microsoft word, excel and PowerPoint; handle multiple problems under pressure; and format letters, reports, emails and memoranda. OR Education (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): 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, leading to a bachelor's degree. This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university. OR Combination: Experience and Education: (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience as described in A but less than one year, and I have some education more than the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) but less than 4 years of above high school education. GS-06 Requirements: 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: accurately schedules lodging appointments; coordinate transportation and lodging programs, eligibilities, and procedures; provide excellent customer service; review clinical requests for transportation and lodging utilizing computer application systems; authorize, schedule, review, adjudicate and complete travel requests for patient travel; provide advice to operating managers and supervisors; reconcile and verify correct billing rates and dates. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Adaptability Attention to Detail Creative Thinking Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) 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 incumbent has direct contact with patients and possible exposure to contagious diseases. Immediate attention is required for travel and patient funds activities, while lodging 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/.
Duties include but are not limited to: Acts as a subject matter expert on VA funded and non-VA funded transportation and lodging programs, eligibilities, and procedures. The incumbent reviews clinical requests for transportation and lodging utilizing CPRS, and determines best mode of transportation and appropriate lodging, based on patient medical need and cost effectiveness. Authorize, schedule, and complete travel requests for patient travel utilizing the Veterans Transportation Service, Beneficiary Travel program, and also public and private transportation programs and options. Utilizing these transportation programs and options, the incumbent effectively coordinates and provides VA funded and non-VA funded common carrier and special mode transportation, based on patient medical need and cost effectiveness; utilizing various software such as CPRS, VetRide, Shuttlebot, public transportation trip planning sites, etc Provide the most cost effective and medically appropriate transportation available, to serve the Veteran's needs by working with state and federal transportation agencies, along with public, private and volunteer transportation organizations. Incumbent will assist the Veteran, their representatives, and staff in completing necessary paperwork for all arranged transportation and lodging. Arranges complex public, private and volunteer transportation services (i.e. train, plane, bus, taxi, wheelchair van, ambulance, air ambulance, etc.) for patients adhering to provider specifications of mode of transport and ensuring that mode is correctly denoted according to the patient's medical condition. Coordinates patient transfer with other VA facilities, ensuring the patient arrives at a specified time for admission. Properly annotates travel arrangement in patient record and provides Veterans with their travel itinerary when necessary. Accurately arranges and coordinates air ambulance travel for eligible Veterans for organ/tissue transplants or other inter-facility transfers. Prepares authorizations for travel by taxi and/or other hired vehicles. Makes travel arrangements with basic information received from the traveler to resolve problems. Coordinates the day to day operation of the VTS program flow, processes and functions. Provides technical guidance necessary to achieve the optimum use of the service resources, including thorough knowledge of the Vetride Program and the driver tablets associated with the Vetride program. Plans and provides support services in the following types of program areas: electronic records management; driver scheduling set up and management of program; space utilization services; cost reduction analysis based on transportation options and availability of public, private, volunteer, Beneficiary Travel and VTS program transportation options. Provides advisory services to the supervisor and Mobility Manager regarding the requirements and implications of services provided. Provides advice to operating managers and supervisors on how provided VTS, Beneficiary Travel, public transportation, and volunteer transportation services can assist in accomplishing specific unit missions and programs. Responsible for hotel invoice reconciliation and verifying correct billing rates and dates to all hotels the VA utilizes. Incumbent must have knowledge of payment process utilizing the VISTA Fund Control Point Clerk option. Must have knowledge of the 1358 annotating process as well as designating appropriate funds to each obligation. Accurately schedules lodging appointments in VISTA. Correctly annotates and completes each consult request in CPRS, ensures appropriate lodging dates are entered, and contacts the Veteran with all appropriate lodging information by mail and/or phone. He/she will review and act upon all lodging view alerts in CPRS in a timely manner for notifications of requested lodging extensions, and/or cancellations, notify the affected hotel, and adjust travel arrangements as necessary. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD41280A and PD41281A Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized