Program Analyst (Informatics) - Surgical Care

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Des Moines, IA seeks a Program Analyst (Informatics) within the Surgical Care service line to enhance health care quality, efficiency, and effectiveness by integrating clinical and information processes for new technologies adoption across the VHA.

The role requires specialized experience in health informatics, data analysis, and end-to-end workflow optimization, with opportunities to collaborate across clinical and IT teams.

Qualifications

• Specialized experience in automation, data analysis, and process improvement.

Responsibilities

• Uses communication, education, and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates.
• Guides the evolution of clinical software and processes by ensuring clinical software are available for staff use in addition to training on these programs.
• Contributes to the development of software enhancements, guides process improvement activities, and partners with IT for better patient care.
• Applies end-to-end processes to evaluate workflows, identify issues, and develop solutions based on best practices.

Skills

Data analysis

Process improvement

Stakeholder communication

Informatics knowledge

SQL/SSRS

Health IT

End-to-end workflows

Education

Graduate degree in related field

Tools

SQL

SSRS

Job description

Summary

The incumbent serves as a Program Analyst (Informatics) located at the VA Central Iowa Health Care System under the Surgical Care service line. The primary purpose of the position is to improve the quality - efficiency - and effectiveness of health care by integrating clinical and information processes necessary to achieve successful adoption and application of new technologies throughout the VHA.

Summary

The incumbent serves as a Program Analyst (Informatics) located at the VA Central Iowa Health Care System under the Surgical Care service line. The primary purpose of the position is to improve the quality - efficiency - and effectiveness of health care by integrating clinical and information processes necessary to achieve successful adoption and application of new technologies throughout the VHA.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 10/05/2026. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-9 Program Analyst (Informatics) To qualify for this position at the GS-09 level - you must meet one of the following: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-7) in the Federal Service - that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge - skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Program Analyst - Informatics. Qualifying specialized experience includes knowledge of automation and software systems and options that affect clinical practice; performs data analysis - to include collecting - evaluating - and synthesizing data; assisting in process improvement projects; provides communication channels to clinical and business teams to support deployment - sustainment - and optimize efforts; and preparing reports and graphical presentations of data. OR Education: Successfully completed two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education or masters or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D. - in a related field of the position to be filled. Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge - skills - and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR Combination: Equivalent combination of successfully completed education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position. Only education in excess of the first year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-09 level. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify - a copy of your transcript is required. GS-11 Program Analyst (Informatics) To qualify for this position at the GS-11 level - you must meet one of the following: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the Federal Service - that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge - skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Program Analyst - Informatics. Qualifying specialized experience includes communicating among stakeholders to facilitate and support organizational change; applying a wide range of established practices - theories - and emerging information in relation to health care delivery - informatics - and applications; independently completes analytical projects related to process improvement; experience with data life cycle to include data design - collection - and management to input - retrieve - analyze - summarize - and present information; and knowledge and use of national database architecture and file structure. OR Education: Successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree - or three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree - or an LL.M. if related that demonstrates the knowledge - skills - and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR Combination: Equivalent combination of successfully completed education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position as outlined above that meets the requirements of the position. Only education in excess of a master's or equivalent graduate education may be used to qualify applicants for the GS-11 level. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify - a copy of your transcript is required. GS-12 Program Analyst (Informatics) To qualify for this position at the GS-12 level - you must meet one of the following: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-11) in the Federal Service - that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge - skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Program Analyst - Informatics. Qualifying specialized experience includes independently performing a full range of data analysis - to include collecting - evaluating - and synthesizing of data; applies an end-to-end process to evaluate workflows - identify issues - and develop solutions based on best practice guidelines; experienced knowledge and use of national database architecture and file structure - analytical techniques - and clinical applications development techniques; acquainted with technologies that are likely to benefit healthcare delivery processes to troubleshoot functionality issues and develop solutions; and ensures the success of multidisciplinary teams to lead and manage informatics-related projects. 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 it requires periods of walking - standing - bending - or climbing - and employees may carry light items such as books - instruments - laptops - and other similar materials. 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

• Duties include - but may not be limited to the following: Uses communication - education - and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates
• Guides the evolution of clinical software and processes by ensuring clinical software are available for staff use in addition to training on these programs
• Contributes to the development of software enhancements - guides process improvement activities - and partners with colleagues working on information technology (IT) for the better provision of patient care by clinical and business staff
• Cultivates a healthy working relationship between the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) and Health Informatics - allowing for routine dialog to enable the sustainment and optimization of our health IT solutions and workflows - for the benefit of all staff and Veterans
• Evaluates content quality and assures access to knowledge resources - eliminating redundancy in duplicate data sources - and improving information interoperability across the organization
• Applies statistical (quantitative information derived mathematically) - machine learning (use of artificial intelligence to derive knowledge from data to predict outcomes) - visualization (representation of data via a chart or other image) - inferencing (a way to understand cause-and-effect relationships) and other techniques to enable decision support
• Utilizes or develops reports and information tools using a variety of methods and tools such as Structured Query language (SQL) - SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) from the VISN and the VA Corporate Data Warehouse
• Enables healthcare capabilities and the evolution of technology adjoined to the electronic health record (EHR) to deliver quality care by developing - implementing - monitoring - maintaining - and optimizing informatics tools and access to them
• Serves as a subject matter expert in the visual depiction of process flow diagrams - assisting end-users with correct interpretation of symbols and diagrams that reflect their work activities
• Ensures clinical input in the development and management of the VHA business architecture
• Participates in actions to evaluate - test - and report on errors found when working with systems and applications
• Applies a true end-to-end process to evaluate workflows - identify issues - develop solutions based on best practice guidelines - and resolves and communicates changes to maintain and optimize processes that deliver Health Information Technology (HIT) solutions
• Uses communication - education - and leadership to support comprehension of and adaptation to organizational updates
• Performs activities that support the management and delivery of educational experiences using information solutions and technology in all areas of healthcare
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory - qualification - and performance requirements are met
• Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday - 7:30 a.m
• - 4:00 p.m
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Description/PD#: Program Analyst (Informatics) - Surgical Care/PD99397S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized