Veterans Claims Examiner

The incumbent focuses on VBA's mission to drive improvement in national accuracy and consistency in the claims process of benefits delivered to Veterans and their families. The primary focus of the team is to conduct Systematic Technical Accuracy Reviews (STAR), Special Focused Reviews (SFR), and administrative reviews in compliance with statutory, regulatory, and published VBA policies.

Duties

SPECIFIC DUTIES include:

• In-depth knowledge of laws, regulations and procedures pertaining to the administration of claims for VA compensation and related benefits
• Serves as a reviewer for national STAR and special focus reviews and assists field stations with instructions for implementing policy, procedures, or training.
• Authority to make technical, and administrative decisions with regulatory/statutory guide, regulations, policies, procedures and/or instructions to carry out the functions which support operations delivery.
• Gathers relevant data, analyzes it critically, and makes recommendations based on findings using available information resources such as internet tools, manuals and other reference material.
• Deals with issues of both sensitive or of a high-profile nature while advising leadership on the national or local impact of changes in process, protocol, or legal statues, which may impact or shapes the future direction of the organization.
• Serves as an advisor and consultant to the supervisor on precedent determinations involving decisions on individual cases and national issues regarding technical, regulatory, procedural and operational aspects of CS. The incumbent may act for their immediate supervisor when called upon to do so.

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00AM - 4:30PM.
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Veterans Claims Examiner; PD: 39859A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Salary

• $90,925 - $118,204/year

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

• 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

Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 08/11/2026. This job will close when we have received 75 applications which may be sooner than the closing date.

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.

• For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level.

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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
GS-13 Grade Level:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: The applicant must document knowledge of a complex field of laws, regulations and Federal legislation pertaining to the full range of veterans benefits and a comprehensive and thorough knowledge of state, federal and local benefit programs to be able to explain them, both orally and in writing, to individuals of all educational backgrounds.

Volunteer Experience: 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.
Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week.
Physical Requirements: The work, which involves mental rather than physical exertion, is primarily sedentary and requires no special physical exertion. However, there is some walking, standing, and carrying of light items such as papers, books, and claims folders. Carts are used to carry large numbers of claims folders. This will require the incumbent to push or pull the cart from one area to another. Occasional travel will be required for meetings, training, conferences, etc.

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 education substitution for the GS-13 grade level. Other Information 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), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information. 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. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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 an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/28980686389652-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information) Required Documents To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Resumes may not exceed two pages and must be legible for review of eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in loss of consideration for this job announcement. Resume: Contact Information: Name and how best to contact you, including email address and phone number Relevant Work Experience: For each relevant work experience, make sure you include: Job Title and Employer (including series and grade for any Federal positions) Start and end dates with month/year (e.g., 05/2019 - 08/2022) The number of hours you worked per week Ensure work experience descriptions are aligned with the job announcement and address all required qualifications. Brief descriptions should demonstrate your ability to perform the tasks at the required level as stated in the job announcement Optional Details: When relevant, include: Current Security Clearance Job-related training Language skills Organizations and affiliations Professional publications Eligibility for special programs (e.g., military spouses, individuals with disabilities, etc.) A copy of your most recent NON-award SF-50. 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). Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade To verify you meet Time-in-Grade requirements, also submit a SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade held (e.g. Promotion, Appointment, etc.). Current VBA Employees 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. An SF-50 showing 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: Award and General Adjustment SF-50's do not provide sufficient information will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time in grade. Recommended SF-50's include Within Grade Increases (WGI), Promotions and Appointments. Additional Documents accepted: Most recent Performance Appraisal (VA Form 0750) Award SF-50s CTAP documentation - RIF notice, SF-50 showing VA employee, and performance appraisal Please use this checklist to make sure you have included all documents required for your application. You will not be contacted for additional information. How to Apply

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:

• Prioritize most relevant and recent experience
• Use concise, results focused language
• Align language from the job announcement
• Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies
• Remove outdated or unrelated experience
• Use the USAJOBS resume builder

Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at:

• https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit.
• https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merithiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

1. Click the Apply Online button.
2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
4. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice.
5. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials.
6. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended.
7. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link.
8. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused.

Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.