Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist

Summary

This Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist position serves within the Mental Health service of the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS) and is located at Aurora, CO . This position provides a full range of individualized vocational rehabilitation services to help Veterans with serious mental illness, physical impairments, or other significant barriers to secure and sustain competitive employment in the community.

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Duties

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Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Performs vocational assessments/plans services related to strengths, needs, abilities, and goals of the Veteran.
• Assists Veterans with targeting job search activities and assists with job seeking.
• Identifies and addresses barriers for employment.
• Works directly with employers, community agencies, and other likely placement sources of employment.
• Documents all interactions, assessments, and plans within the electronic medical record system.
• Provides rehabilitation counseling and guidance which facilitates the Veteran's adjustment to the work environment.
• Operates government vehicles for transporting Veterans and conducting community based employment activities.

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

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist/ PD14661A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary but requires regular mobility, including standing, walking, and bending during site visits or community outreach. The incumbent may occasionally carry light items such as work documents, resource materials, or a laptop. Travel is required to various community locations, including employer worksites, transitional housing programs, and partner agencies within the Eastern Colorado Health Care System's catchment area. *Physical Requirements continue in Qualifications section.
• 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 ( 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Must possess a current, valid state-issued driver's license for this position.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/15/2026.

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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the 07. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirements

Education

Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position.

or

Experience

General Experience (for GS-5 positions): Experience that provided a knowledge of training practices, techniques, and requirements as they relate to vocational development or rehabilitation.

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.

In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements you must meet one of the following:

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

• Specialized Experience at the GS-09 grade: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performs vocational assessments/plans services related to strengths, needs, abilities, and goals of the Veteran. Assists Veterans with targeting job search activities and assists with job seeking. Identifies and addresses barriers for employment. Works directly with employers, community agencies, and other likely placement sources of employment. Documents all interactions, assessments, and plans within the electronic medical record system. Provides rehabilitation counseling and guidance which facilitates the Veteran's adjustment to the work environment. Operates government vehicles for transporting Veterans and conducting community based employment activities. OR,
• Education (Transcript Required): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. OR,
• Combination (Transcript Required): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond bachelor's level of education as described above to meet the total requirement.

Preferred Experience:

• Vocational Rehabilitation Experience with mental health or substance use population.
• Knowledge of principles, concepts, and theorical concepts and practice of vocational rehabilitation as well as the administrative mechanisms appropriate to the assignment.
• Knowledge of job placement, job carving, job accommodation, job coaching and employer needs.
• Knowledge and skill to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing.
• Knowledge of mental illness and substance abuse and impact on vocational functioning.
• Knowledge and skill in identifying Veterans' strengths, interests, skills, and needs.
• Matching Veterans to jobs.
• Identifying and arranging long term support to help Veterans maintain their job.
• Basic Knowledge of program objectives of local, state, and federal agencies to insure that action is appropriate.
• Knowledge of the types and availability of training and employment resources for Veterans with disabilities.
• Making clear and convincing oral presentations and written reports to support conclusions and recommendations which are appropriate for the intended audience.

Physical Requirements (Continues): Although the physical demands are generally minimal, the position may involve periods of heightened stress due to the nature of the Veteran population served and the emotional intensity of certain interactions. The incumbent must be able to manage multiple priorities and remain flexible in a fast-paced and variable work environments.

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:

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. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

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.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave : Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

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

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and 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 for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

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.