Program Specialist

Summary

This position is in the Veterans Benefits Administration, Regional Office, Seattle, WA, Veterans Readiness and Employment Division (VR&E). The VR&E mission is to help qualified Veterans with job training, education, employment accommodations, resume development, job seeking skills, and coaching to help them obtain and keep meaningful employment.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

Typical duties include, but are not limited to:

• Providing administrative support services to managers in the areas of travel, budget and procurement, tracking action items, and scheduling/calendar oversight.
• Explaining veteran benefit program-related information to visitors and callers.
• Managing phone and reception activities in a diverse and busy office that may receive distinguished visitors.
• Preparing and editing complex correspondence using standardized computer software.
• Completing projects of a technical nature requiring experience with data analysis and information management programs.

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-09.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

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#: Program Specialist GS-07: 41600A, GS-09: 41601A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: This position requires completion of a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-450) under 5 C.F.R. § 2634.904(a). The selectee must submit the form before entering on duty and annually thereafter.

Bargaining Unit: Yes

Requirements

Help

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 & 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 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:09/04/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT : As a current Federal, GS employee you 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 level.
• For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level.
• If you are a current VBA employee requesting reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS- 09 or higher and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-9.

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. 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 REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GS-07 Grade Level

Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level of difficulty and responsibility in the Federal service. Experience includes providing and performing operational and administrative tasks in support of an organization and applying basic analytical techniques to resolve program issues and problems. Examples of specialized experience for the GS-7 level include, but are not limited to:

• Providing administrative support services to office staff in the areas of travel, tracking action items, scheduling/calendar oversight;
• Explaining program-related information to visitors and callers;
• Managing phone and reception activities in a diverse and busy office;
• Preparing and editing correspondence using standardized computer software;
• Completing projects requiring experience using computer programs that manage data and information

OR

Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education you must have:

• One (1) full year of graduate level education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position;

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

OR

Combination of education and experience:

• Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and graduate education.

GS-09 Grade Level

Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level of difficulty and responsibility in the Federal service. Experience includes providing and performing operational, administrative, budget and procurement-related tasks and applying analytical techniques to resolve veteran benefit-related program issues. Examples of specialized experience for the GS-7 level include, but are not limited to:

• Providing administrative support services to managers in the areas of travel, budget and procurement, tracking action items, and scheduling/calendar oversight.
• Explaining veteran benefit program-related information to visitors and callers.
• Managing phone and reception activities in a diverse and busy office that may receive distinguished visitors;
• Preparing and editing complex correspondence using standardized computer software.
• Completing projects of a technical nature requiring experience with data analysis and information management programs

OR

Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first year of graduate education.

OR

Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education you must have:

• A master's or equivalent graduate degree in an accredited or pre-accredited college or university;

OR

• 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; or possession of an LL.B. or J.D degree, if related. Graduate-level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position.

OR

Combination of education and experience:

• Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and graduate education.

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 primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

You may submit unofficial transcripts when applying. However, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to provide an official transcript or a statement from the institution (e.g., from the registrar, dean, or other appropriate official) or equivalent documentation prior to the start date.

Additional 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 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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Help

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. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.