This Program Analyst GS-0343-12 position is responsible for providing performance improvement consultation regarding Lean and Lean Six Sigma throughout the Member Services business lines and organizations. The incumbent will provide project leadership and technical support in the creation, management, and maintenance of a methodical approach to increasing quality and performance.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/15/2025. Time-In-Grade Requirement (GS-12): 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 this GS-12 position, you must have served 52 weeks at or above the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that verifies your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If your 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 SF50's that clearly demonstrate one-year time-in-grade has been met. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former VA employees applying for reinstatement with CTAP eligibility. You may qualify based on your Specialized Experience as described below. Specialized Experience (GS-12): You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of Specialized Experience include (but are not limited to): 1) Assists management officials in identifying and defining opportunities for improvement, project scope, priority, and project staffing 2) Consults and advises management officials in the decision-making process with the goal of optimizing scarce resources to meet customer requirements, reducing rework, determining operational capacity, and increasing quality 3) Directs and performs necessary steps to create business cases based on objective data within the framework of the Lean/Six Sigma methodology 4) Establishes criteria to measure and/or predict the attainment of program or organizational goals and objectives using Lean/Six Sigma methodologies to resolve problems, improve processes, and improve the value of accounting and finance products and services 5) Consults on Lean/Six Sigma projects and provides technical advice for process improvement activities 6) Consults and guides management in identifying opportunities, developing value stream and process maps, and evaluates project proposals to determine their suitability on Lean/Six Sigma projects 7) Provides guidance and instruction while assuring teams use an organized and structured Lean/Six Sigma methodology with the goal of providing recommendations, implementing solutions, and providing adequate follow-up to ensure controls are maintained You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Change Management Planning and Evaluating Problem Solving Writing 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 of this position is primarily sedentary. Occasional travel may be required and, at times, may be on short notice. 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/.
Major Duties Include (but are not limited to): Provides leadership and collaborates in the VA Lean/Six Sigma community to share, transfer, and implement best practices and lessons learned from projects, private industry, and government; Provides guidance and technical direction in areas of Project Management, Change Management, team building, facilitation, process improvement analysis, and the methodology required to develop and substantiate a business case for the selected project; Works closely with senior leadership to ensure a consistent, standardized, repeatable strategy for implementing Lean and related methodologies; Manages the application and performance of analytical and statistical techniques to quantify the link between root cause and a specific problem or outcome; Tracks and reports project status utilizing appropriate tools; Collects project information and/or status, tracks, and reports using the administrator project portfolio management tool; Provides project and performance improvement initiative status reports which may include briefings to management; Manages projects independently with periodic reporting on status and/or progress to management at all levels; Develops specific guidelines and methods for measurement, interpretation, and improvement of effectiveness and productivity throughout the course of the project; Establish criteria to measure and/or predict the attainment of program or organization goals and objectives using Lean/Six Sigma methodologies; and Provides information concerning available training and plans for training. Positon Location: Any Member Services Station (physical location) or VA leased/owned facility TBD upon selection. Promotion Potential: This GS-12 position is being announced at the full performance level. Work Schedule: M-F, 8 hour shift between 6AM-8PM (TBD by the Supervisor) Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This position may be authorized for Virtual work. Virtual eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Definition of Virtual work - Employee works outside of original hiring duty station at VA-owned or leased space. Position Description/PD#: Program Analyst/PD04068A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized