Veterans Service Rep (Fiduciary Service Representative)

The Fiduciary Service Representative (FSR) is responsible for making factual quasi-legal and subjective determinations involved in the administration of all types of beneficiary estates, the protection of their benefit rights, the routine handling of legal matters, and the identification of legal questions. The FSR also has knowledge of benefit programs and entitlement criteria, inputs data necessary to complete a final rating of competency, generates awards and authorizes payments.

Duties

• Analyzes and makes the final determination of the competency of veterans and other VA beneficiaries and provides the final notification of the determination.
• Generates the award for the retroactive payment release, once a fiduciary is established, as well as other award actions needed by the Fiduciary Program.
• Authorizes, reviews and approves the pending award action for technical accuracy, clarity, and thoroughness.
• Insures that estate protection is in place, when appropriate, before releasing large retroactive payments and in other cases where the VA beneficiary's funds may not be adequately protected.
• Prepares Statements of the Case (SOC) on Fiduciary Program appeals.
• Provides training to other members of the Fiduciary Hub, VARO employees, service organization personnel, and other stakeholders, as needed. Serves as a Veterans Service Representative (VSR) and Legal Instruments Examiner (LIE) expert and provides technical guidance in regard to the rating, generation and authorization of Fiduciary Program awards.
• Utilizes various electronic data processing (EDP) systems for processing, monitoring, and correspondence preparation.
• Communicates directly with VA beneficiaries, eligible individuals, representatives, and advocates to explain the full range of VA benefits and all related programs.
• Gives final approval of accounts received from guardians, attorneys, legal custodians, or chief officers of state institutions except those showing a major account deficiency which cannot be remedied by correspondence. Approval is only given if the accounting is proper in every respect including commissions and/or fees within statutory or policy limits.
• Advises fiduciaries of regulations, necessary documentation and other factors which affect computation of income for VA purposes.
• Prepares reports for guardians in those cases in which VA is rendering legal services.
• Refers to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), accounts in which there is a possible indication of fraud, embezzlement or other criminal offense.
• Performs other related 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.

Salary

• $66,036 - $94,317/year

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 period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/21/2024.

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-10 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement.

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: A copy of your most current SF 50 is required to verify your status. Additional SF 50's must be provided to verify that you have 52 weeks Time in Grade if applying for a higher grade.
You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: To qualify for GS-10: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Specialized Experience Requirement include but are not limited to:GS-10 Specialized Experience:
One year of Specialized Experience which is equivalent to the GS-09 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience

1. Applying federal, state, and local laws regarding benefit programs;
2. Conducting interviews to evaluate eligibility for benefits and services;
3. Applying state laws pertaining to conservatorship and estate administration; and/or
4. Knowledge of fiduciary and field examination programs sufficient to protect beneficiary's assets;

OR,

Education substitution of 2½ years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in degree in Business, Management, Economics, Finance, or another degree with coursework that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do this work of this position. Graduate level courses must demonstrate your education has provided you the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position (as described in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement).

OR,

Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-10 level. Only graduate education in excess of two full years can be used to combine with experience. The combination of experience and education must total at least one year. [To compute your combined total, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education by 45. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify.

GS-11 Grade Level Time-in-Grade: Submit a recent SF-50 or a combination of progressive SF-50s that prove you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-10 level in the Federal service. Do not submit a general adjustment or award SF-50 as they do not prove time-in-grade.

Specialized Experience Requirement include but are not limited to:GS-11 Specialized Experience:
One year of Specialized Experience which is equivalent to the GS-10 level. Specialized experience is defined as comprehensive experience:

1. Applying federal, state, and local laws regarding benefit programs;
2. Conducting interviews to evaluate eligibility for benefits and services;
3. Evaluating supporting evidence to determine eligibility leading to entitlement of awarding of benefit;
4. Applying state laws pertaining to conservatorship and estate administration and/or
5. Knowledge of fiduciary and field examination programs sufficient to protect beneficiary's assets

OR,

Education substitution of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in Business, Management, Economics, Finance, or another degree with coursework that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do this work of this position; or an LL.M., if related. Graduate level courses must demonstrate your education has provided you the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position (as described in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement).

OR,

Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. Only education beyond the first two and a half years hours of graduate study may be used to combine with experience. To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education by 45. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify.


NOTE: All Education claimed by applicants must be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. Official or Unofficial transcripts must be submitted for all education claimed.

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 mostly sedentary. However some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items such as paper, books, small parts, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

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: 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. Other Information

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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

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.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in lack of consideration for this job announcement. You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Resume: Detailing specialized experience and competencies as they relate to this position. For each position in your resume, you must specify the start and end dates (month/year) and a description of duties. If the position was Federal, you should also indicate the grade level. Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including documentation supporting Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications. Your experience must be clearly stated in your resume. We cannot make assumptions on your experience based on your current, or former, position titles on your resume. Failure to clearly demonstrate your qualifying experience in your resume may result in disqualification for this position and your rating will be adjusted as necessary.
• SF50: A copy of your most recent SF-50 (not award or general adjustment).The SF-50 must indicate proof of status and should identify your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). To verify you meet Time-in-Grade requirements, also submit an SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade held (e.g., Promotion, Appointment, etc.)
• CTAP: For displaced Federal/VA employees. SF-50 showing Career or Career-Conditional status; AND Reduction-In-Force (RIF) Notice or certification of expected separation (not a resignation letter); AND Most recent performance appraisal.
• Applicants claiming Veterans' preference must also submit: A legible copy of your DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," showing all dates of service, as well as character of service (Honorable, General, etc.). The member 4 copy of your DD Form 214 is preferable. Copies of DD-214's can be requested here. Current active duty members must submit a signed statement of service from their commander dated within the last 120 days that contains their expected discharge date, their release from active duty under honorable conditions, any medals awarded, and the timeframe of their service so eligibility can be determined. Veterans claiming 10 point preference must also submit an SF-15 and all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference. This includes a VA letter supporting your disability claim with the overall percentage listed. If you are unsure as to whether you qualify for Veterans' preference, please consult the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Preference Advisor here.
• Transcripts: If you are basing all or some of your qualifications on education or if a degree is required for the position, a transcript must be included as part of your application package. Unofficial transcript(s) may be submitted, however it must contain the course names, levels, credits earned, and grades received. Your transcript must contain the degree conferred date if you are substituting a degree for experience. If you are claiming superior academic achievement (SAA) ensure you submit completed transcript(s) to demonstrate it. The requirements for superior academic achievement can be viewed here. A photocopy of your degree is not acceptable in place of a transcript. An official transcript will be required at a later date if you are selected for the position.
• Current VBA Employees: If you are seeking a reassignment/change to lower grade, you must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (non-award) AND the SF-50 placing you into your current position.
• Other Status Candidates: Evidence of eligibility to apply (e.g., Peace Corps verification letter, Schedule A letter, PS-50, etc.).

The following documents are accepted and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

How to Apply

All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 11/21/2024 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12606322.

1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.

NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Application page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Learn more about federal benefits.

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