Job Summary

The Staff Assistant position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Management (OM), VA Central Office Headquarters in Washington, DC and reports directly to the Supervisory Executive Assistant. The incumbent fulfills the functions of a Staff Assistant to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management (PDAS) and participates in the development of short-range and long-range plans, goals, and objectives.

Job Description

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/02/2026. 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-14 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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 some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade. 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-13, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performing intake activities on correspondence tasks, assignments, and inquiries to analyze the information and assign to the subject-matter office with accuracy and in a timely manner; Preparing and reviewing written products such as responses to Congressional and White House correspondence and inquiries, Government Accountability Office and Office of Inspector General Reports, briefing papers, talking points, and testimony responses; AND Demonstrating exceptional judgment, political awareness, strategic communication, and ability to operate effectively in a political sensitive environment, ensuring leadership has timely, accurate, and well-organized information to support executive decision-making. 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: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list series and grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 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 principally sedentary, and travel is normally not required. No special physical demands are required. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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 found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications: Leading the formulation, critical review, and enterprise-level integration of policies, directives, program initiatives, and regulatory actions, including advising senior leadership on policy impacts, risk mitigation, and alignment with Departmental and Administration priorities. Resolving highly complex, cross-cutting policy and operational issues that span multiple organizational components and external partners, using advanced analytical techniques, stakeholder negotiation, and strategic problem-solving to drive consensus and implement sustainable solutions. Conducting in-depth research and synthesis of sensitive and high-risk management topics and producing executive-level decision memoranda, briefings, and strategic analyses for principal deputies, chiefs of staff, or equivalent officials, requiring sound judgment and strict confidentiality. Designing, structuring, and leading department-wide, congressional, and public messaging and outreach strategies, and representing senior leadership when providing authoritative guidance to internal and external stakeholders on matters involving oversight bodies, customer concerns, or high-visibility inquiries. Executing executive-level review and adjudication of complex correspondence requiring senior leadership concurrence or signature, resolving substantive policy conflicts with originating offices, briefing senior officials on implications and risks, and recommending defensible courses of action. Coordinating, consolidating, and directing the preparation of recurring and ad hoc reports under senior leadership jurisdiction, critically reviewing and editing contributions from multiple components to ensure technical accuracy, policy consistency, and readiness for external scrutiny. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Washington, DC. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20420.