Telephone Operator - Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration : Job Details

Summary The Telephone Operator is located within the Ambulatory Care & Processing Section under Medical Administration Services within the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Newington Campus. The primary purpose of this position is performing the duties of a telecommunications operator and radio dispatcher with minimal supervision. Responsibilities The primary purpose of this position is to provide the services and perform the duties inherent in switchboard operations, monitoring and directing response to police and life safety communications including radio dispatching to officers for response to calls for police assistance. Incumbent serves as a telephone operator. Calls handled include a full range of local, long distance and international. In addition, the incumbent may handle a variety of difficult calls requiring extreme personal involvement. Duties include but are not limited to: Monitors the operation of all communication/security and related electronic equipment daily. Handles a variety of difficult calls that requires personal involvement on the part of the employee, such as threatening, abusive, or distraught callers and logs those of a high degree of activity into the departmental journal. Initiates call tracing as authorized, with local telephone and police authorities on threatening calls. Serves as communications liaison with established Hospital Command System (HCS) in the event of disaster drills or actual events, activation the planned on-call cascade system upon orders of the Medical Center Leadership or established Command Center supervisor. Maintains accurate radio/alarm activity records/logs to include dates, times and results of communications and activity. Monitors security surveillance cameras and detects criminal activity in progress, suspicious behavior patterns, observes suspects and known offenders, takes supporting law enforcement actions. Maintains security of the information contained in any computerized system in accordance with the Privacy Act and other applicable law, federal regulations, state regulations, VA statutes and policy, as well as local Medical Center policy. Work Schedule: 40 Hours a week, Monday-Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm , EST Compressed/Flexible Work Schedule: Not Authorized Telework/Virtual/Remote Work: Not Authorized Position Description/PD#:Telephone Operator /PD02057A and PD00319A Relocation or Travel Incentives: Not Authorized or Authorized Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized or Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required or Required, Notifications: This position is not a Bargaining Unit position. Selectee may be required to work at any Healthcare System Campus in Connecticut, as needed. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50 (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is in the Competitive Service. Competitive Service- The first year of Service of an employee who is given a career or career conditional appointment in the competitive service under the Civil Service Regulations is a probationary period unless specifically exempted by the appointing authority . Time-in-Grade Restriction: 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. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. 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/trial period Competitive Service- The first year of Service of an employee who is given a career or career conditional appointment in the competitive service under the Civil Service Regulations is a probationary period unless specifically exempted by the appointing authority . 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 ( 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 by the closing date of this announcement, 09/26/2025. 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-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. 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: General Experience: One year of progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position to be filled. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 years of education above high school (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Computer Skills Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Organizational Stewardship Telecommunications 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: The work is usually sedentary but may involve some standing and walking to consult directories and manuals. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at 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: 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: 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. 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 well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at 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.