Employment Specialist

Summary

The Employment Specialist provides employment assistance to job-ready disabled Veterans including overseeing the activities of job readiness, job-seeking services, job development, and job placement that entail consideration of employment laws and regulations. The incumbent develops employer partnerships to assist in the successful placement of Veterans into job vacancies developed with those employers or identified through networking with other resources such as state employment services.

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Duties

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The incumbent will serve as a triage team member to help disabled veterans make an informed choice regarding the appropriate employment track that best meets their needs with the understanding that veterans can move between tracks. The employment coordinator will also coordinate and/or perform the evaluation/assessment of rapid access to employment - employment needs (Pre-employment Job Readiness Evaluation) including: resume preparation, interviewing assistance, career search activities, discussion of disability and related accommodations, assistive technology needs, labor market information, re-employment information, assistance, and/or referral and self-directed job search via networking and electronic databases.

Specific duties include:

• Markets to employers based on vocational goals of the job-ready disabled veterans.
• Markets and provides special employer incentives such as on-the-job training, non-paid work experience, special employer incentives, and available tax information.
• Coordinates employment readiness classes for veterans ready to go to work but lacking important traits in employment readiness.
• Maintains and promotes a positive image of the Vocational Rehabilitation & Education (VR&E) program through active networking and ongoing contacts with employers.
• Offers direction to employers regarding reasonable accommodation and rehabilitation technology accommodations.
• Disseminates labor market information to assist counselors and veterans with "informed choice." Provides Employment Services Performance Data for local office.
• Maintains and continually updates a database of job-ready disabled veterans (incorporate Corporate WINRS tracking system).
• Assists veterans with job networking, development, and placement.
• Develops partnerships with employers and other agencies to assist veterans with employment services (e.g. - the Department of Labor, Small Business Administration, local and state agencies, and private sector businesses and employment services).
• Assists counselors with employment follow-up according to regulatory requirements.
• Coordinates efforts to develop job clubs, job labs, or job readiness resource rooms for use by veterans in job readiness preparation and self-directed job search.
• Maintains records of employment activities through case notes in Corporate WINRS.
• Markets to and becomes initial "point of contact" for employers who need assistance with return-to-work cases of disabled veterans whose job is affected by disability.

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-9, GS-11, GS-12.

Work Schedule : Full time, Monday- Hours to be determined by hiring office.

Compressed/Flexible: May be available as determined by the hiring office.

Telework : May be available as determined by the hiring office.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD# : Employment Specialist; PD31623A, PD11623A, and PD01623A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

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 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.

• 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:06/24/2026.

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.

• 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.
• For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 level.

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.

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

GS-09 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07). Specialized experience is defined as experience recruiting candidates with disabilities for a hiring firm or organization; or experience providing employment assistance duties for a non-profit or community organization.
• Education Substitution : Master's or equivalent graduate degree (including LL.B. or J.D. if related) or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree and which demonstrates the competencies necessary to do the work.

GS-11 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-09). Specialized experience is defined as experience aligning individuals with disabilities with work experiences, internships, or volunteer experiences related to overall employment goal.
• Education Substitution : Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or at least three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.

GS-12 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11). Specialized experience is defined as experience working with veterans with disabilities to access veteran's employment goals and aligning them to the employment track that best meets their needs. Experience must include outreach at career fairs, job clubs, and/or job labs.
• There is no education substitution at the GS-12 grade level.

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 purpose of the contacts is to serve as an advocate for the employment of job-ready disabled veterans, influence potential employers to hire job-ready disabled veterans, assist qualified veterans in obtaining and retaining suitable employment, conduct work-site analysis to ensure work area is conducive to the. job-ready disabled veteran or encourage the employer to implement "reasonable accommodations", and assist case managers with the development of potential job alternative for job-ready disabled veterans. The employee may encounter resistance due to organizational conflict with other VR&E staff, competing resources, or employers who may have doubts about the value of hiring disabled veterans and about the Employment Coordinator as a workforce consultant.

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

Education

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.

Additional 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

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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.

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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.