Permanent Secretary Jobs in Tennessee (NOW HIRING)

Summary
The Secretary is responsible for clerical and administrative support functions of the Chief of EMS and other EMS supervisors as needed. Performs secretarial duties in support of the Chief and Assistant Chief, and in some cases, subordinate leadership staff by performing general office work for EMS.
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Duties
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This position is located at the James H Quillen VA Medical Center in Johnson City (Mountain Home), TN. The organization is a consolidated work environment that deals with two different departments under Environmental Management Services: Housekeeping and Laundry and Linen. Incumbent serves as the Secretary for the Chief of Environmental Management Services (EMS).
Duties include but are not limited too:

• Processes incoming and outgoing materials such as correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication and routes only that mail to the Chief which requires his personal attention.
• Maintains appropriate controls to ensure timeliness in response and necessary action.
• Edits letters, composes letters and reports, reviews correspondence for accuracy and completeness, prepares public presentation outlines, develops standard or form letters and replies to inquiries.
• Research files and assembles background information about incoming material prior to referral.
• Maintains accurate and up-to-date filing systems for quick retrieval of appropriate information.
• Performs office automation duties using such software applications as electronic mail, desktop publishing, calendar, spreadsheet, and/or graphics.
• Assists other users with selection of applications and appropriate format and procedure pertaining to clerical tasks.
• Schedules appointments, coordinates meetings, and/or schedule conferences.
• Maintains the appointment calendar.
• Drafting meeting agendas and taking and maintaining meeting minutes.
• Serves as primary timekeeper for the EMS.
• Produces and maintains records of keys issued to employees and receives keys from employees clearing station.
• Serves as Primary Records Management Liaison to ensure record management policies and procedures are utilized per VA guidance.
• Responsible for entering employee and contractor information into USAccess for issuance of PIV credentials.
• Assists other users with selection of applications and appropriate format and procedure pertaining to clerical tasks.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 6:45AM-3:30PM
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Secretary/PD605120
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Requirements
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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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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 by the closing date of this announcement, 08/31/2026.
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. Candidates may be advanced without time restriction to positions up to GS-5 if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the lowest grade the employee held within the preceding 52 weeks under his or her latest non-temporary competitive appointment. 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 and/or education as described below:

• 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. Specialized Experience is defined as: Processing incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other forms of written communication. Routing documents, editing letters, composing letters & reports. Reviewing correspondence for accuracy and completeness, preparing presentations, maintaining, and updating filing systems. Maintaining appointment calendar scheduling meetings and taking and maintaining meeting minutes.

OR,

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Successfully completed 4 years education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite is creditable at grades GS-3 through GS-5 for all positions except Reporting Stenographer, GS-5. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school.

OR,

• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond. Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. NOTE: Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience.

***** Must type 40 wpm*****
Preferred Experience: Time Keeping, filing, composing letters and reports, proofreading, Microsoft Office software, scheduling appointments, meeting agendas and minutes, customer service, and good communication skills.
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: No special physical qualifications are required since work is sedentary. Work requires the ability to move around the office are and carry light items such as manuals and office files and requires walking, stooping, bending, and standing.
Work Environment: Work is performed in an office setting.
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
A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
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
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 inc