Legal Administrative Specialist (Contact Representation)

The Legal Administrative Specialist (LAS) serves as a member of the Public Contact Team, located in the Veterans Service Center. Within the following locations Baltimore, MD, Saint Louis, MO, Pittsburgh, PA, Butler, PA, and Erie, PA. The incumbent provides in-depth information and comprehensive assistance to veterans, their dependents, and beneficiaries concerning any matter within the scope of VA benefits and related non-VA benefits.

Duties

• Counsels Veterans, their dependents, and their beneficiaries regarding all benefits available through the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as non-VA benefits available through other agencies.
• Analyzes the claim and initiates action to obtain all required evidence to support the claim. Explains the types of documents necessary to facilitate timely processing of claims and provides assistance in obtaining and completing such documents and forms as required by the type of claim being submitted or services requested.
• Obtains the necessary information and completes claims while veteran and/or family member is present. In certain circumstances, may monitor the claim to eliminate unnecessary delays in receiving needed evidence and to assure the claim is fully developed.
• Acts as advocate for veterans and their beneficiaries in their dealings with other VA elements and organizations that affect their claims. Provides away from office counseling and as necessary provides in-home counseling to those who are geographically isolated or physically unable to go to VA facility due to physical or mental incapacity.
• Explains decisions made by the VA and communicates the reasons to the claimant for these decisions, orally or in writing. Advises on the right of appeals and assists claimants in making appeals. Presents benefits or claims appeals at personal hearings. Prepares technical correspondence to veterans and their dependents providing benefit information, representation rights and response to miscellaneous inquiries. Signs such correspondence for the Veterans Service Center Manager.
• Receives and responds to congressional and White House inquiries concerning VA benefits for veterans and other claimants. Analyzes inquiries, researches issues involved, consults with other federal, state and local agencies as necessary and prepares written replies or furnishes replies by telephone or other medium to congressional or White House staff members.
• Serves as an Outreach Coordinator (such as Women's Veterans Coordinator, Minority Veterans Coordinator, Homeless Veterans Coordinator, Aging Veteran Coordinator, Ex-Prisoners of War Coordinator, or Military Services Coordinator). Develops a network relationship with the state and private veterans organizations to broaden the scope of outreach and increase the community awareness of the role VA plays in being a resource to that community.
• Speaks to individuals or groups or otherwise represents the agency on media programs involving matters of interest to veterans and their dependents. Serves as a resource for the veteran community by participating in events and programs, such as military Transition Assistance Program, Armed Forces Day booths, Veterans Organizations seminars, etc. Conducts seminars, conferences and other information dissemination activities.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Salary

• $56,528 - $73,484/year

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A probationary period may be required for employees and supervisors.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• You will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
• Remote: This is not a remote position.

Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 11/25/2024.

Time-in-grade: Applicants who are/were federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements. For a GS-10 position you must have served 52 weeks at GS-9. To support your claim of time in grade, you must submit your most recent appointment, promotion, or within grade increase SF-50. Some applicants may have to submit more than one SF-50 to demonstrate their eligibility. See the required documents section for more information.

The Office of Personnel Management's group coverage qualification standards, associated individual occupational requirements (IOR), and individual qualification standards covering white collar occupations in the Federal competitive service can be found here.

AND

Specialized Experience: GS-10: To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-9) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves: Experience that has demonstrated the capability of being a self-reliant decision-maker and possessing the ability to work independently when providing customer service benefits counseling and claims processing. The individual must possess in-depth knowledge of researching relevant subject matter. The experience should be significantly and directly derived from federal, military, or the private sector. Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to orating to persons from a wide variety of backgrounds regarding VA benefits programs; performing research of local, state, and Federal laws and regulations to determine Veterans' eligibility for benefits programs.

OR

Education GS-10: Two and a half years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. This graduate education demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the work for this position. Note: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

OR

Education Combination GS-10: If you have some, but not all, of the graduate education described above AND less than one full year of the specialized experience described above, you may qualify by combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do have. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at the GS-10 grade level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned. Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. Note: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: 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. Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. 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. Other Information

Work Schedule: Regular office hours; Monday- Friday 8:00am-4:30pm. Alternate work schedules may be available.
Title/PD#: Legal Administrative Specialist (Contact Representation) GS - 10; PD 02108A

Promotion Potential: This position is being recruited at the full performance level GS-10.

Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary. The incumbent will be required to talk for long periods of time which occasionally puts a strain on the throat/vocal cords. There are no other special physical demands required to perform the work. There may be some walking, standing and carrying of light items such as papers, books, and files from one location to another. Extensive use of a computer and a telephone is required and may often involve high levels of stress and pressures.

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.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Please contact the special placement coordinator or the human resources specialist listed on this vacancy for more information regarding applying for consideration under schedule A or as a 30% disabled Veteran.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. A well-qualified candidate is defined as meeting all of the minimum qualification standards and eligibility requirements as well as possessing skills that clearly exceed the minimum qualifications requirements for this position. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility can be found here.

VA supports the use of telework as a way to retain talented individuals in public service, increase productivity, and prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

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 (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), https://www.va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf."

Required Documents

The following documents are required for all applicants:

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

Review the information below and submit any additional documents (as needed) to demonstrate your eligibility and/or qualifications for the position:
Current Federal Employees:

• If you are applying using your status as a current federal employee or as a VEOA candidate (who is a current federal employee) you must submit an SF-50.
• To support your claim that you have the required time-in-grade, you must submit your most recent promotion, within-grade increase, or appointment SF-50 (not an award or general adjustment SF-50). Some applicants may have to submit more than one SF-50 in order to demonstrate their eligibility.
• If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit an SF-50 showing that grade.

Resume

• Your resume may be submitted in any format, however we strongly recommend using USA Jobs resume builder as it contains all of the information required on federal resumes.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week, the dates of employment, and the level of your experience. If your resume does not contain this information you will not receive consideration for this position.
• If you submit more than one copy of your resume, only the most recent version will be reviewed. The latest timestamp will be used to determine which version of your resume is "most recent." It is your responsibility to check the status and timestamp of all documents you submit as part of your application.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.

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.
• 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.

Applicants claiming CTAP eligibility must also submit:

• Certification of expected separation, reduction-in-force separation notice, or notice of proposed removal; and your most recent performance evaluation; and an SF-50 demonstrating your separation or the position you will be separated from. Or
• Worker's compensation separation: agency certification of inability to place employee and notification of separation or a separation SF-50. Or
• Disability annuity termination: Notification from OPM of disability annuity termination and separation SF-50 of the last position held. Or
• Military reserve or National Guard technician special disability retirement annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456: Certification of special disability retirement annuity from a military department or National Guard bureau and separation SF-50 of the last position held.

Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted. You will not be contacted for additional information.

In addition to the information listed above, please use this checklist to ensure you have included other documents required for your application.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12608596 and submit the documentation specified in the job announcement. Documents will not be accepted after the closing date of the announcement.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/25/2024 to receive consideration.
1. To begin, click apply online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS 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 USAJOBS account, select the application status link and then select the more information link for this position. The details 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 USAJOBS accountand click update application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS 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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