Summary The Transportation Assistant position is a transportation coordinator at the facility level and acts as primary contact to Veterans for transportation. Veteran Transportation Service (VTS) will operate within the Service located at the VA Medical Center/Health Care System (VAMC/HCS) with several Community Based Outpatient Clinics. Responsibilities Duties included but not limited to: Manages the Beneficiary Travel Program for the Anchorage, Alaska, VA Healthcare System to include the community-based outpatient clinics (CBOC). Adhere to fire, safety, and security requirements. Determines eligibility for the program, and process requests. Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with others and provides the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures. Partners with community resources to identify and use alternate modes of transportation. Maintains and controls filing system in accordance with VA regulations. Maintains communications with sending facilities regarding beneficiaries return travel arrangements. Communicates and interacts with patients in a manner which is appropriate to the cognitive, emotional, and chronological maturation needs of the adult and/or geriatric patient. Corresponds with physician, traveler, and vendor to determine the most dependable and economical mode of transportation. Prepares appropriate documentation and/or scheduling for traveler according to government rates or substantial rates. Explains the regulatory guidelines to beneficiaries for submitting any unauthorized reimbursement claims to the VA Medical Center for consideration of payment. Determines which of several fund control points to utilize, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records. Secures reservations and tickets from carriers. Forwards correspondence to sending facility travel department and/or physician via itinerary or stated preferences with destination and time. Investigates authorizations, orders, and/or utilizes the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) to review medical records in order to investigate travel authorizations and orders. Documents and prepares monthly account synopsis for contracting officials in Acquisition & Material Management Service quarterly to justify yearly ambulance contractual compliance. Makes special arrangements per physician documentation according to traveler's medical condition. Reviews requests for reimbursement of travel costs for the purpose of assuring compliance with regulations and procedures, completeness, accuracy, internal consistency, and agreement with basic authorization. Assures that all appropriate VA forms are used correctly, and regulations followed. Keeps in touch with traveler enroute to resolve potential problems. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD50305A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized 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. 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 dentification 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) Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 06/25/2025. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. 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. 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-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include: Ability to work with customers in person and on the phone to process requests; arranges various modes of transportation to include, air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus, and/or contracted transport services; determines eligibility for programs and processing requests for travel pay; prepares appropriate documentation and/or scheduling for traveler according to government rates or substantial rates; determines which of several fund control points to utilize, obligating funds, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records, performing regular reconciliations and adjusting account balances; determines method of payment for authorized and unauthorized claims submitted for consideration. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and ending dates AND hours worked per week. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Database Management Systems Interpersonal Skills Oral Communication Organizational Awareness 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 require a professional attitude and collective reasoning. The incumbent is subject to a high volume of work, the need for accuracy, frequency of interruptions and ever changing demands due to program changes. 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. 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.