Veterans Service Representative (AQRS)

This position is located in the Veterans Benefits Administration, Southeast District Regional Offices. VBA Regional Offices in the Southeast District are as follows: Atlanta Regional Office (Decatur, GA), Columbia Regional Office (Columbia, SC), and Roanoke Regional Office (Roanoke, VA),

Duties

Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

The Veterans Service Representative (VSR) explains benefit programs and entitlement criteria, analyzes claims material, identifies issues, gathers relevant evidence, conducts interviews to adjudicate claims, and inputs data necessary to generate the award and notification letter to the Veteran describing the decision. Specifically, the VSR will:

• Make determinations as to the eligibility for the type of benefit sought including questions relating to the adequacy of military service, medical evidence, and the evaluation of evidence of income, employability, dependence, and relationship.
• Request examinations, re-examination, or opinions to evaluate disabilities resulting from diseases or injuries.
• Review claims cases to ensure all issues have been addressed, apply, and interpret VA laws, including veterans' case law, existing statutes and procedures, precedent rulings, and state law in the adjudication process.
• May conduct interviews in person or by phone with veterans, representatives, and advocates to explain the full range of VA benefits and related programs.
• Prepare and release correspondence for use by other federal, state, and local agencies.
• Utilize various electronic data processing (DEPP) systems to input data for processing claims and generating automated.

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: Full-time, Monday through Friday
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Remote: This is NOT a remote position
Telework: Yes- as determined by the agency policy.
Position Description/PD#: Veterans Service Representative (AQRS); 37136A (GS-12)
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Bargaining Unit Position: Yes
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Salary

• $86,962 - $119,463/year

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• 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 11/22/2024.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees must meet the time-in-grade requirements. For a GS-12 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11.

• The grade may have been in any occupation, but it 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.

• Provide a copy of your current or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one-year time-in-grade as required in the announcement.

• If the most recent non-award SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional non-award SF-50 that clearly demonstrates a one-year time-in-grade. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. A General Adjustment SF-50 does NOT show time in grade.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

To qualify for GS-12: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Conducting focused evaluations and reviews to determine authorization quality and accuracy.
• Providing advisory services to management via preparation and presentation of quality trend information.
• Developing training strategies and materials to address deficiencies and/or conducting training activities.
• Analyzing performance deficiencies and quality trends to identify knowledge/skill gaps.
• Providing quality-review services, feedback, and guidance to staff in order to correct unsatisfactory performance.
• 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 based on time spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate 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 normally involves mental rather than physical exertion.
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 There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Other Information

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

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. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those who have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

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.

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 11/22/2024 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12373062.

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 are submitted before 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.