Veterans Claims Examiner (Education)

The Senior Veterans Claims Examiner works as a member of one of the teams in the Education Division at the Regional Processing Office. Explains benefit programs and entitlement criteria, conducts interviews, identifies issues, develops, and gathers relevant evidence from multiple sources, independently adjudicates claims and authorizes payments, and inputs data as necessary to generate award and notification letters to Veterans and claimants describing the decision and the reason for it.

Duties

Specific duties include:

• Authorizes claims for education benefits involving unusually complex or novel issues. The GS-11 VCE will review and authorize the claims of GS-9 and GS-7 level of difficulty. They will be assigned several GS-9 or lower graded examiners and will be responsible for the final disposition of those cases sent for authorization. They must assure consistent application of laws, regulations and policies are applied. They are responsible for training, providing technical guidance, and mentoring GS-9 or lower graded examiners. Provides performance related quality reviews of other employees.
• A high degree of independence, ingenuity and resourcefulness is required in the development of information and the evaluation of evidence. The GS-11 VCE must make determinations where decisions may be debatable because of the complexity of information and interpretation of law. GS-11 VCE is responsible for reviewing a variety of military orders from 14 different components (with potential incompatible data) and determining what is acceptable evidence to be used for establishing entitlement in specific unusual and complex claims. The GS-11 VCE must determine what evidence is sufficient to support the adjudicative action.
• The GS-11 VCE on his or her own initiative develops facts and evidence. They define legal and factual issues, search precedent decisions and other reference material; applies laws, regulations, policies and procedures; drafts letters, decisions, notices and other documents to effect actions required.
• The GS-11 VCE acts with limited technical guidance from GS-12 VCEs, trainers or management. They are expected to research, review and implement changes in law or policies.
• The GS-11 VCE accurately and efficiently reviews and controls incoming claims and evidence from claimants, schools and the DOD. They make determinations on questions relating the adequacy of military service, adequacy of education information and lay testimony to establish a claim, and evaluates evidence of dependency and relationships of claimants.
• Adjudicates claims for sensitive or complex issues such as mitigating circumstances, overlapping terms, multiple source Transfer of Entitlement (TOE), appeals, notices of disagreement, compliance survey correction, Inspector General (OIG) audits, Committee on Waivers and Compromises (COWC) decisions, incarcerated claimants and audits of benefits received.
• The GS-11 VCE analyzes, develops and requests required evidence for miscellaneous inquiries which do not require an adjudicative action. They prepare administrative decisions and special determinations relating to qualifying military service, character of discharge, domestic relations, line of duty deaths, new discharge information from DOD or the Veteran, dependency issues, VEAP and $1800 refunds.
• They are assigned reconsideration cases; serve on special committees or panels (ie School Liability Committee, Committee on Waiver and Compromises). Consistent with the Appeals Modernization Act, they make determinations on appeal cases as to whether reconsideration of an appeal is necessary and/or conduct/participate in hearings.
• Conducts interviews in person, via phone or electronically with Veterans or claimants, their representatives or stakeholders (Veterans School Certifying Officials or DOD). The incumbent explains the full range of VA benefits and related programs, as they relate to the Education processing (ie: Vocational Rehabilitation, Disability/Compensation, Death Claims). Occasionally, a Veteran, claimant or stakeholder may become upset, unruly or inappropriate. In these cases, the incumbent exercises good judgement and professional demeanor in maintaining calm in the situation
• Follows station protocol for control of claims and workload. Responsible for timeliness of claims under their control.

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday determined between 6am CST and 6pm CST
Compressed/Flexible: Upon Supervisor Approval
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Veterans Claims Examiner (Education); 37815A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Salary

• $72,553 - $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:11/22/2024.

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.

• For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 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 and/or education as described below:
GS-11 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: Applicant must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in the normal line of progression. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: experience with Veterans education programs in processing, authorization, and evaluating outcomes of Veterans education claims, and the ability to assess problems or complaints, and resolve them in a professional manner.
• Education Substitution: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M.
• Combination of Education and Specialized Experience: To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond two years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.

Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information.
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 is mostly sedentary with occasional walking and bending. Work requires lengthy periods viewing video display terminals and extensive use of computer keyboarding.

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 Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit. 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.

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.

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.

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 loss of consideration for this job announcement.

• 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 most recent APPOINTMENT SF-50. The most recent SF-50 proving status. This SF-50 should identify your appointing legal authority, position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). AND
• Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade and step (e.g., Within Grade Increase, Promotion, Appointment, etc.) in order to verify time-in-grade requirements.
• Transcript if you are using education to qualify

Additional Documents accepted:

• Most recent Performance Appraisal (VA Form 0750)
• Award SF-50s
• Documentation to be considered under non-competitive eligibility (if applicable) such as a member-4 DD-214, civil service preference letter, or Schedule A letter.
• CTAP documentation - RIF notice, SF-50 showing VA employee, and performance appraisal

How to Apply

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. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12609557.

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.

Click here for instructions on viewing your application status.

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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