Lead Telephone Operator

Summary

This position is located within the Telephone Operator Section - Medical Administration Service at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System. The Telephone Operator Section provides 24/7 coverage for both telephones and system alarms. The primary purpose of the position is to ensure over 250,000 calls are received and routed to the correct destination.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/06/2026. 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-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Distribute and balance workload and tasks among employees.
• Monitor the status and progress of work and make day-to-day adjustments.
• Provide training for team members in the accomplishment of tasks or projects.
• Operate a telephone system to direct local and routine or complicated long-distance calls of various precedence and security levels.
• Make proper response to alarms, knowing which ones take priority over all other activities.
• Route callers to appropriate department and/or clinic/service.
• Handle conflict with customers.
• Working knowledge of the Health Care System (HCS) and its many sections and services.

OR - Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level, you must have four (4) years of education above high school. 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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) OR - Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond high school. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) 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; religious; 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 is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. 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/.

Duties

Major duties include but are not limited to: LEAD DUTIES: (50%)

• Leads a unit or team of employees performing work at the GS-4 level.
• Provides guidance and technical direction for accomplishing the work of the unit or team.
• Ensures the work assignments of employees in the unit or team are carried out.
• Distributes and balances workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow and/or job specialization.
• In case of shortage of personnel due to scheduled or unscheduled leave, the incumbent will be responsible for distributing the workload to other team members to ensure smooth workflow.
• Ensures timely accomplishment of assigned tasks, and ensures that each employee has enough work to keep busy.
• Monitors the status and progress of work and makes day-to-day adjustments in accordance with established priorities.
• Maintains a current knowledge and answers questions of other employees' procedures, policies, and directives.
• Trains or arranges for the training of team members in the accomplishment of tasks or projects.
• Gives on-the-job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices and provides competency tests as required.
• Monitors and reports on the status and progress of work, checking on work in progress and reviewing completed work to see that the supervisor's instructions on work priorities, methods, deadlines, and quality have been met.
• Checks work in progress or spot checks work not requiring review, and reviews completed work to see that the supervisor's instruction on work sequence, procedures, methods, and deadlines have been met.

TELEPHONE OPERATOR DUTIES: (50%) Employee duties in operating the digital multi-line telephone system includes the following:

• Handling incoming calls and having a full working knowledge of the Health Care System (HCS) and its many sections and services.
• Placing long distance and overseas calls.
• Being able to remain calm, courteous, and efficient when a caller becomes angry and abusive.
• Knowing what to do and who to call when there is a systems failure.
• Remaining calm and collected in handling emergencies.
• Making proper response to alarms, knowing which ones take priority over all other activities.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30 am - 4:00 pm or 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. May include weekends and holidays. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Telephone Operator/PD006740 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Key skills/competency

• Lead Telephone Operator
• Telephone Operations
• Workload Distribution
• Team Leadership
• Customer Service
• Emergency Response
• Alarm Management
• Health Care Systems Knowledge
• Call Routing
• Training and Development