Veterans Service Representative (AQRS)

This position is located in a Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Office (VARO), St. Petersburg Decision Review Operations Center. The Authorization Quality Review Specialist (AQRS) is an integral part of the Decision Review Operations Center's quality assurance program and is a key technical adviser to the Decision Review Officers (DROs) and Rating Veterans Service Representatives (RVSRs), in the Decision Review Operations Center.

Duties

The purpose of this position is to measure individual performance quality as well as identify training needs through the review and assessment of completed compensation and pension claims.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Performs individual quality reviews to determine the authorization quality level of individual VSRs for purposes of individual performance standards in accordance with an established monthly schedule.
• Conducts focused "in-process reviews" for cases to determine the accuracy of claims action taken. (Such reviews are for station-level feedback and improvement only, not used for individual performance standard purposes.)
• Responsible for sharing authorization quality trend information with management on an ongoing basis and with the VSRs during training sessions.
• Reviews products or activities for quality of performance and enters the results into the on-line STAR checklists.
• Evaluates and identifies deficiencies of all elements of a claim from evidence development, income and dependency issues, to award processing and authorization. Provides an explanation of errors and includes comments where attention is warranted.
• Prepares and conducts formal training sessions; including but not limited to training for newly hired personnel, refresher training and other necessary training due to changes in procedures, regulations, or the law.
• Prepares STAR data reports and provides to personnel in the regional office who are authorized to request and receive such reports.
• Develops various quality assurance processes with emphasis on work procedures and techniques that address unique work conditions and practices.
• Ensures all program requirements imposed by Compensation Service and/or the Pension and Fiduciary Service and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims are met or implemented.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: Available
Virtual: This is a VIRTUAL position.
Position Description/PD#: Veterans Service Representative (AQRS)/37136A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Salary

• $86,962 - $113,047/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, 11/28/2024.

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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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. Provide a copy of your last 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 one year time-in-grade. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. DO NOT submit Award SF-50's and/or General Adjustment SF-50's alone as they cannot be used to prove time-in-grade.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

Specialized Experience:

Applicant must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11). Specialized Experience is defined as work that involves functioning in either a capacity performing training, analyst or information systems duties pertaining to a claims management process. The experience should be substantive and relevant and may have been gained in the federal, military, or private sector.

Examples 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 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.

Physical Requirements:

The work normally involves mental rather than physical exertion. 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/

. Employees are required to reside in the contiguous United States (lower 48) or Puerto Rico.

• Work hours are between 6am-6pm in the time zone where the employee resides.
• If an employee desires to move out of their current locality area, they must request advanced approval from Division Management and the Director's Office. Approval must be obtained prior to the move.
• An employee's salary may be impacted by a change in locality; locality pay could increase, decrease, or remain the same.
• Employees must notify their supervisor in advance of any changes to their home address or telework agreement.
• Employees can only work from the address listed on their telework agreement.
• If an employee experiences any issue that impacts his/her productivity at their telework site, the employee must contact the supervisor within 15 minutes to request leave, request time to do mutually agreed upon TMS training or other supervisor assigned tasks, or report the intent to be at the closest RO within two hours.
• Employees must be able to report to an RO within two hours upon request from their supervisor. (This will only occur under rare circumstances.)
• Employee must provide an adequate and stable internet connection. VA hot spots will not be provided.

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

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.

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 that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

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

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

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 which includes:

• Resume

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.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Other (1)
• Other (2)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Proof of Marriage Status
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

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 11/28/2024 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12607344.

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 is submitted prior to 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.

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