Summary As a Lead Transportation Assistant for the VA Caribbean Healthcare System (VACHS), you lead the Veterans Transportation Service (VTS), Beneficiary Travel (BT), Motor Vehicle Operators and Transportation Assistants responsible for providing transportation support to the 66,000 Veterans enrollees within the VACHS 78 municipalities and the US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas and St. Croix). You serve the national program realignments initiated by the Chief Business Office (CBO) of the facility. Responsibilities Major duties include but, not limited to: Independently plans, directs, and manages the medical center's Veterans Transportation Service (VTS) program. Develops, adapts, and implements policies and plans to support the mission of the Veterans Transportation Program (VTP). Promotes the enhancement and facilitation of access to transportation services, including the integration and coordination of services. Ensures unplanned, urgent, and emergent patient care situations are handled appropriately by both staff and community resources. Analyzes, develops, plans, and advises on VTS passenger movement policies and programs. Cultivates partnerships and multi-agency coordinated transportation activities. Researches needs and demands for users, identifies transportation alternatives, reviews regulatory processes, facilitates communication between agencies, and develops incentives to encourage agency participation, as needed. Researches transportation management innovations around the country; remains current on best practices and concepts of transportation management. Provides training to VTS staff on a variety of transportation management and patient related software such as Vetride, Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) and Veterans Information System and Technology Architecture (VISTA). Develops educational programs such as rider training materials, travel training program and community forums. Makes presentations to and attends meetings of a variety of groups, cities, counties, organizations, boards, and committees with passenger transportation links to promote coordination amongst agencies. Participates in Veterans Transportation Network and Regional Transportation Coordination Councils. Supports the facility's Fleet Manager through direct management, maintenance and record keeping of vehicles operated by VTS in accordance with the Fleet Manager's guide, state and federal law, and local policies. Provides direct leadership to a minimum of 9 employees: 2 Transportation Assistant and 7 Motor Vehicle Operators. Distributes and balances the workload among employees in accordance with established workflow or job specialized, assure timely accomplishment of the assigned workload, and assure that each employee has enough work to keep busy. Estimates and reports on expected time of completion of work and maintain records of work accomplishments and time expended and prepares production reports, as requested. Instructs employee in specific tasks and job techniques and makes available written instructions, reference materials and supplies. Give on-the-job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices. Provides information to supervisor as requested concerning promotions, reassignments, recognition of outstanding performance, and personnel needs. Approves leave for a few hours or for emergencies, in absence of supervisor. Provides customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures. Handles conflict and problems constructively and appropriately. Other duties, as assigned. Work Schedule: 7:30 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Transportation Assistant/PD133910 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required 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. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/19/2024. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: coordinates functions related to the service by providing transportation support to Veterans, makes independent decisions that incorporate knowledge of regulation and procedures that affect the accuracy and reliability of Veterans Transportation Service (VTS); supports clinical services in all administrative operations associated with the processing of VTS program patient scheduled for transportation, treatment, and clinic visits; serves to facilitate patient treatment and directly affects the quality of health care rendered at the medical center. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Leadership Organizational Development Planning and Evaluating Transportation 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: Incumbent will be exposed to stressful working situations that will require a mature approach and collective reasoning to overcome. The incumbent is subject to a great deal of stress because of the high volume of work, the need for accuracy, frequency of interruptions and ever-changing demands due to program changes. Duties will be predominantly performed in the Beneficiary Travel & VTS office with intermittent trips to various locations through the Medical Center's catchment area both in and near patient care areas where there is potential risk of exposure to disease. The incumbent must follow standard requirements for personal protective equipment where necessary. 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/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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. 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.