Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist

The Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist (VRS) position is located within the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program. The VRS is responsible for the provision, supervision, and coordination of the rehabilitation services for Veterans or service members participating in various programs. The VRS is the coordinator of services and liaison between the service providers and the Department of Veterans Affairs. To qualify for this position Applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 09/08/2026. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level. If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-11 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least 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. 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. BASIC REQUIREMENTS To be eligible for this position, candidates must meet the following basic requirements: Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. Experience: Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program. Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention. Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems. Reference: Additional information on the qualification requirements for this position can be located on the OCHCO VA Qualifications Standards website found here. In addition to the IOR applicants must possess specialized experience and/or education as described below. NOTE: If work experience is credited for the basic requirement, that experience cannot also be used for qualifying at the GS-11 level. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS In addition to the time-in-grade and education/internship requirements, you must also meet the following grade-specific qualification requirements. Creditable experience must have been obtained post‑graduate and be directly related to the duties to be performed to qualify to work as a professional VRS. NOTE: If work experience is credited for the basic requirement, that experience cannot also be used for qualifying at the GS-11 level. To qualify at the GS-09 grade level: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the federal service or private sector. Specialized experience is work experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: Experience in rehabilitation, counseling, disability, therapy, health, employment, wellness or human development theory and principles; experience in career development process and career development theory. OR Applicants may substitute education for experience to qualify at the grade GS-09 grade level. Master's or equivalent graduate degree #J-18808-Ljbffr