Supervisory Veterans Claims Examiner

About the role

The VASRD Program Operations are responsible for providing special project expertise, project management, and data analytics to assist the VASRD Regulations and Implementation teams. Responsible for planning, programming, coordinating, and directing, and reviewing all activities assigned.

Monitors programs and activities related to disability benefits and services provided to Veterans, their dependents, or beneficiaries. Works with other elements of VBA in relation to Veterans' benefits.

What you will do

• Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws.
• Plans and assigns work, sets priorities, advises employees on program goals and objectives, and makes decisions on work problems presented by subordinate supervisors.
• Sets performance standards and appraises work of employees.
• Identifies developmental and training needs of employees; provide and/or arrange for needed development and training.
• Hears and resolves employee complaints and refers more serious grievances to higher authority with recommendations for resolution.
• Counsels employees on work and management policies.
• Effects minor disciplinary actions such as reprimands and warnings, recommends other action in more serious cases.
• Initiates personnel action for recruitment, reassignment, promotion, reclassification, etc. Interviews and selects employees for vacant positions.
• Actively support special program such as EEO, safety, internal controls, etc. Serves as an advisor to the VASRD PMO assistant director and CS senior leadership on issues regarding technical, regulatory, procedural, and operational aspects of the CS programs.
• Studies program operations, economic studies, health outcome studies, new legislation, systems that facilitate automated benefits delivery, management initiatives, and the operation of interacting programs and organizations to assist in the development of new and modified policies and/or regulations.
• Formulates and recommends instructions, directives, guidelines, policies, plans or procedures to administer or carry out functions, which support delivery of benefits and services to Veterans.
• Participates in special projects devoted to supporting policy analysis and updates.
• Manages multiple projects or programs concurrently where effort involves coordination among multiple resources, other divisions, or agents outside of the organization.
• Undertakes long and short-term research.
• Studies program activities within CS to support the organization's business goals and objectives.
• Reviews, monitors, and oversees, the completion of additional assignments, to include but not limited to, special projects and preparation of recommendations for procedural or regulatory change.
• Oversees work products from the VASRD PMO to ensure delivery of accurate, clear, and comprehensible documents and emails, to include but not limited to white papers (options papers, position papers, etc.).
• Provides timely responses, in writing, to internal and external stakeholder inquiries in a comprehensive, accurate, clear, and comprehensible manner, while adhering to accepted standards of formatting and style, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Prepares all necessary administrative materials, correspondences, and justifications detailing reasons for decisions.
• Deals with issues of both sensitive and high-profile nature (e.g., Traumatic Brain Injury, Military Sexual Trauma, Agent Orange, Gulf War, etc.) and advises leadership on the national and local impact of changes in process, protocol, or legal statutes, which may impact or shapes the future direction of the organization.
• Directs information distribution to internal and external stakeholders.
• Directs and trains others on application of regulations and processes of rulemaking, as well as rulemaking support functions (e.g., project management, data analysis, etc.).
• Manages and reviews the work products of the Program Operations staff for quality and consistency.
• Acts as VASRD PMO Assistant Director, as needed.
• Prepares and provides oral presentations to various audiences within CS, VBA senior leadership, department level executives, and outside agencies.
• Develops PowerPoint presentations covering highlights of new material and providing practical applications and examples.
• May represent the VASRD PMO Assistant Director at meetings and conferences.
• 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 a virtual position.
• Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Veterans Claims Examiner; PD415750 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
• Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

• 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 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 Selectees are required to serve a one-year supervisory probationary period if not previously completed in a Federal position.
• 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.

Education

There is no education substitution for the GS-15 grade level.

How you will be evaluated

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC.

WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Conflict Management Influencing/Negotiating Manages Resources Partnering Planning and Evaluating Decision Support - Knowledge of decision support theories, methods, and tools for identifying, synthesizing, representing, and evaluating the important aspects of a decision situation and prescribing the recommended course for decision makers and other stakeholders.

Partnering - Develops networks and builds alliances; collaborates across boundaries to build strategic relationships and achieve common goals. Project Management - Applies principles, methods, or tools for developing, scheduling, coordinating, monitoring, evaluating, and managing projects and resources, including technical performance.

Decision Making - Makes sound, well informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.

Communications - Effectively expresses information to multiple audiences through clear, convincing oral and written communications; demonstrates logical thinking when describing facts and concepts, and shapes communications to meet the needs of a specific audience; actively listens to others and demonstrates understanding of their comments and/or questions.

Creative Thinking - Uses imagination to develop new insights into situations and applies innovative solutions to problems; designs new methods where established methods and procedures are inapplicable or are unavailable. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link:*** The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies.

You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered.

You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment. Narrative responses are not required at this time.

If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully.

Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

Documents you must provide

• To apply for this position, you must provide a complete application package to include the documents detailed below.
• Failure to submit the required documents may result in your application being considered incomplete and you being deemed ineligible.
• It is your responsibility to ensure your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date.
• We will not request additional documentation or accept late or missing documents after the announcement has closed.
• Resume, limited to 2-pages, 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 must also indicate the grade level.
• Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications.
• 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 (e.g., Promotion, Appointment, etc.) in order to verify time-in-grade requirements.
• Most recent Performance Appraisal (VA Form 0750) Additional Documents accepted: Award SF-50s CTAP documentation - RIF notice, SF-50 showing VA employee, and performance appraisal.
• Please 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.
• 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.

What to expect next

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met.

After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.

Referred applicants may be contacted at any time during the hiring process. Please check all forms of communication (including email, voicemail, and spam folders), based on the contact information provided with your application, regularly to ensure you don't miss any updates.

Failure to respond to communications may result in you being disqualified from consideration.

You will receive a final notification of results once a decision has been made. You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.

Additional information

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 your 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 *** 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.

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), *** 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: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

(***) For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.