Health System Specialist

Veterans Health Administration•North Chicago, IL

13d

About The Position

The Health System Specialist serves as a full-time leader and facilitator for Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) initiatives. The specialist trains staff in applicable improvement sciences and change management methodologies and identifies opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency, and processes. The position coordinates CPI and Lean Six Sigma activities across the facility and integrates improvement work with daily performance improvement and line operations. The specialist facilitates strategic projects and improvement initiatives, advises and coaches facility and senior leaders, develops and supports the organization-wide CPI strategic plan, and helps collect, analyze, and report performance measures. The role also evaluates financial benefits, cycle-time reductions, safety improvements, and return on investment associated with implemented changes. The work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telework may be authorized and eligibility will be discussed during the interview. This is not a virtual position. The work is primarily sedentary, with some lifting, prolonged walking or standing, or bending required.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship is required.
Meet the applicable Individual Occupational Requirement through a qualifying degree, specialized healthcare experience, or the specified agency-sponsored in-service training program.
For GS-11, have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-09, or qualify through the stated education or education-and-experience combination.
For GS-12, have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-11.
Current or former federal employees applying at GS-11 or GS-12 must meet the applicable time-in-grade requirement: 52 weeks at GS-09 for GS-11, or 52 weeks at GS-11 for GS-12.
Specialized experience should relate to healthcare administration, continuous quality improvement, data analysis, healthcare principles and practices, and strategic planning; GS-12 experience may also include management analysis, statistics and business analysis, data collection and database management, healthcare delivery-system policies, community outreach, and formal briefings and reports.
Complete the required application steps, questionnaire, and online assessment.
Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must meet Selective Service registration requirements.
Complete required background/security investigation and online onboarding, and provide acceptable identification for pre-employment requirements.
Participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program as a condition of employment.
Serve a one-year probationary period or two-year trial period, as applicable.
Submit transcripts if relying on education to qualify; qualifying education must be from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
For foreign education, provide a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with the transcript.

Nice To Haves

Green Belt certification.
Experience using Lean tools and methodology.
Experience in data analysis.

Responsibilities

Participate in planning, implementing, and analyzing a facility-wide Continuous Process Improvement program.
Coordinate CPI and Lean Six Sigma activities at the facility and integrate them with day-to-day performance improvement and line operations.
Facilitate the planning, progress, and completion of technically challenging strategic projects as a member of the CPI team.
Assist with planning, organizing, and executing DMAIC, DMADV, Rapid Improvement Events, Kaizen, 5S, Value Stream Analysis, and other improvement initiatives.
Facilitate teams using Six Sigma, Lean, Theory of Constraints, Lean Daily Management, Plan-Do-Study-Act, and change management methods to achieve desired future states.
Use tools such as visual management, standard work development and deployment, and benchmarking to support sustained improvement.
Advise the FHCC Director, Deputy Director, Executive Leadership Team, and Board of Directors on developing and implementing the organization-wide CPI program.
Coach senior leaders on behaviors and decisions that support successful projects, meet deadlines, and sustain results.
Develop initiatives for the CPI strategic plan and provide staff education and training on the plan.
Assist with collecting, analyzing, and providing metrics for the FHCC.
Lead, review, and evaluate improvement initiatives, and assist process owners with CPI portfolio management, coordination, planning, and execution.
Use software tools to coordinate financial benefits, calculations, methodology, and business case analysis.
Report cost benefits, cycle-time reductions, safety enhancements, and return-on-investment results, and provide valid measurement between ROI and FHCC product lines.