Transportation Assistant

Summary

Position announced is the medical center Transportation Assistant and is assigned to the Accounting Section of Financial Management Service (FMS) within John Cochran St. Louis, MO. Serves as the travel subject matter expert; advises travelers, the Travel and Tuition Committee, Executive Leadership, etc., on the current practices and policies associated with all kinds of travel. Works with each traveler to determine the most cost-effective means for each episode.

Duties

• Serves as the point of contact for resolving problems related to TDY. Works with each traveler to determine the most cost-effective means for each episode. Conducts and records all research used to create supporting documentation and creates the necessary supporting documentation for the travel arrangements. Screens tickets, itineraries, and bills involving rental cars, dates, travel periods, connections, etc., to verify all is compatible with travel authorized and that the lowest contract fare(s) are selected. Resolves conflicts or issues related to travel, analyzes information to document deficiencies of noncompliance to the Federal Travel Regulations, and makes recommendation(s) for corrective action. validates all expenses submitted by the traveler to ensure compliance with the FTR, the VA Financial Policy on Travel, local policies, and approval limitations. Establishes employee files in the FMS payment system and inputs profiles into ETS. Responsible for all maintenance of the ETS system, to include creating/updating profiles, costing strings, approval chains, and access limitations. Reviews and completes all submitted requests for Travel Comp Time, submits to the supervisory accountant for final certification. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7-1530. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD657-095860 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not approved.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/13/2026. 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. For a GS-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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. Factor 1, Knowledge Required by the Position Extensive working knowledge of the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR), VA Travel Policies, and Local Travel policies governing educational travel and tuition, local travel, invitational travel, and all other guidance affecting the travel of government employees and interviewees in order to perform a wide variety of interrelated or nonstandard transportation support assignments and resolve a wide range of problems. Factor 2, Supervisory Controls Once all travel is approved by Travel and Tuition Committee, the employee independently plans and carries out the successive steps to complete TDY travel and uses accepted practices to resolve problems and deviations. Incumbent is supervised by the Supervisory Accountant/Chief, Accounting Section. Incumbent's supervisor or others review completed work for technical soundness, appropriateness, and conformity to policy and requirements. The methods that the employee uses to complete the assignment are not usually reviewed in detail. Factor 3, Guidelines Guidelines include volumes of transportation regulations, Agent Cashier Accountability Policy, Treasury Department Manual of Procedures and Instructions for Cashiers, Technical Bulletins, Decisions of Comptroller General, manuals, guides, directories, operating procedures, etc. Because of the number and similarity of guidelines or the diverse circumstances of individual actions, the employee must use sound judgment to identify and select the appropriate reference and procedure for each situation. Employee uses sound judgment to interpret guidelines, adapt procedure, decide approaches, and resolve specific problems. Employee is responsible for modifying station level policy regarding travel procedural changes as the need arises, re-writing local Medical Center Memorandums regarding employee travel, and for providing training to all travelers and approvers. Factor 4, Complexity The Transportation Assistant duties involve performing one or more transportation support functions that require the use of different and unrelated procedures and methods. Travel support requires ability to analyze situations unique to individual stations and networks and adapting solutions accordingly. Assignments received are relatively broad and varied (e.g., involve a full range of travel situations), frequent changes occur, or treatment of individual actions vary according to the nature of the questions or problems involved. Financial transactions interrelate with VA's Electronic Travel System (ETS) and FMS systems and often require coordination with various personnel. Audits are conducted when the need arises or as a check and balance to ensure appropriateness of transactions Factor 5, Scope and Effect The purpose of the work is to apply conventional practices and provide transportation/travel services from start to finish. The results of the reviews and analysis perfor…

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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/.