Legal Administrative Specialist

Typical duties include, but are not limited to:

• Coordinates counseling sessions with Veterans, their dependents, and their beneficiaries face to face, regarding all benefits available through the VA, as well as non-VA benefits available through other agencies. This is accomplished through in-person or telephone interviews, and correspondence or telephone VBA facilities and provides broad outreach services.
• Explains in detail, VBA rating decisions and provides explanations for the decisions using extensive knowledge of VA benefits and services, claim and appeal processing procedures and benefit determination information and all pertinent information available in system of record.
• Assists with programs include, but are not limited to, compensation and pension benefits, home loan eligibility, education, health care, life insurance, burial benefits, vocational rehabilitation services, general Social Security Administration benefit programs, other federal, state, and local domestic relations, and assistance programs.
• Prepares technical correspondence to Veterans and their dependents providing benefit information, representation rights and response to miscellaneous inquiries.
• Explains pertinent legal provisions, regulations, and related administrative practices and their application to specific cases
• Initiates inquiries to resolve errors, delays, or other problems in obtaining benefits. Completes claim and appeal related work.

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. The grade progression for this position is GS-07-09.

Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tour will be determined after final selections. Tour is subject to change based on program needs.
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.
Position Description/PD#: Legal Administrative Specialist, GS-0901-07, PD# 02109A; GS-0901-09, PD# 40120A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Bargaining Unit: Yes

Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may 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 period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Additional Conditions of Employment are as follows:

• 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 or trial period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• 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.
• Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 10/21/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Applicants who are current Federal GS employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

• For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05.
• For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07.
• If you are a current VBA employee requesting reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS- 07 or higher and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-09.

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. 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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:GS-07 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-5) or higher. 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.
  • Specialized experience is defined as:
    1. The ability to work with direct supervision or guidance when providing customer service, benefit counseling, and claim processing.
    2. The individual must possess knowledge of researching relevant subject matter.
    3. 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:
    1. Orating to persons from a wide variety of backgrounds regarding VA benefits programs.
    2. Performing research of local, state, and Federal laws and regulations to determine Veterans' eligibility for benefits programs.

OR

• Education Substitution: One (1) full year of graduate level education or a Bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement (3.0 GPA or higher) Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) is based on: 1) class standing, 2) grade point average or 3) honor society membership. For more information on calculating SAA please visit www.opm.gov.

OR

• Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of successfully completed post high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements.

GS-09 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-7) or higher. 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.
  • Specialized experience is defined as:
    1. The ability to work with minimum supervision or guidance when providing customer service, benefit counseling, and claim processing.
    2. The individual must possess moderate knowledge of researching relevant subject matter.
    3. 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:
    1. Orating to persons from a wide variety of backgrounds regarding VA benefits programs.
    2. Performing research of local, state, and Federal laws and regulations to determine Veterans' eligibility for benefits programs.

OR

• Education Substitution: A master's or equivalent graduate degree in an accredited or pre-accredited college or university; OR Two full years of progressively higher level graduate education or a master's or equivalent graduate degree (such as LL.B. or J.D.)

OR

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:No special physical demands are required. The work is mostly sedentary. However, there may be some walking, standing, and carrying of light items such as papers, books, claims folders, and files from one desk to another or for returning to storage. Carts are utilized to carry large number of claims folders. This will require the incumbent to push or pull the cart from one area to another.

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/.