Mail Clerk

Summary

This position serves as a Mail Clerk in the Supply Chain Management Service for the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

This position performs work related to the processing of incoming or outgoing mail and the performance of related work requiring the application of established mail methods and procedures, knowledge of prescribed systems for governing the flow and control of communications, and knowledge of the organization and functions of the operating unit or units serviced in order to route mail of various types and a general nature.

Duties my include but are not limited to:

• Sorts all incoming and outgoing mail, routing incoming mail by general subject matter to approximately 150 delivery points;
• Recognizes problems within the unit and based upon established procedures and regulations, recommends improved procedures and methods to increase efficiency to senior staff;
• Reviews incoming miscellaneous materials including mail, publications, directives, etc.;
• Performs presort into action and information categories; reads action material and routes non-control items to appropriate unit or units;
• Determines full routing, number of copies required, and assigns due date in consideration of amount of time allowed by originator for reply;
• Routes non-controlled materials to unit or units by address, office symbol, organization numeric code, or by subject-matter content;
• Reads and classifies materials, determining which office (or offices) has cognizance over the subject matter;
• Reads and routes a large amount of general mail from private citizens and organizations requesting information on a wide range of information from the various serviced organizations;
• Uses knowledge of technical and scientific terminology in routing because of the closely related functions of such operating organizations;
• Performs various related clerical duties such as faxing, stacking, bundling, wrapping of outgoing materials, sorting bulk mail from post office;
• Rerouting misdirected mail, date stamping, counting mail, screening for priority items, preparing routing and control forms, maintaining an up-to-date directory by name, room and telephone number, organization, and forwarding address for use in work assignment; and
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

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.

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

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Mail Clerk/ PD18390A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Help

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 required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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)

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, 09/29/2026.

Time-In-Grade (TIG) Requirement: TIG requirements apply to applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks, as well as former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, and current employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. For a GS-4 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-3. Applicants who must meet TIG must also submit the following in addition to their most recent SF-50:

• Official SF-50 that shows you hold the grade for the position you are applying for (or a higher grade), or
• Official SF-50s that show you held the next lower grade for at least one year for the position you are applying for. (Multiple SF-50s may need to be submitted to show this.)

Examples of appropriate SF-50s to include in addition to your most recent SF-50 to meet TIG requirements include:

• Within grade increases (WGI) at the highest grade held; or
• Promotions with an effective date that occurred more than one year from the closing date of the JOA; or
• SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date that occurred more than 1 year from the closing date of the JOA.

NOTE: Do not submit Award SF-50s, as they do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.

In addition to the TIG requirement, you may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GENERAL EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one (1) year of general experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. General experience is progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position to be filled. Examples of general experience include: sorting, filing, and routing materials in an office or mailroom environment; route documents or correspondence; process incoming and outgoing mail and publications; maintaining logs, directories, or tracking systems for documents, mail, or records; perform clerical tasks such as date-stamping, counting mail, assembling packets, or preparing materials for distribution; responding to requests for information in a clerical setting; and operate basic office equipment such as copiers, fax machines, scanners, or postal processing equipment.

Note : Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title; series and grades for all federal positions held (if applicable); duties performed; month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week. Failure to do so will results in a Non-Qualification Determination.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (Transcript Required): Successful completion of two (2) years of education above the high school level in any field. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. One year of full-time undergraduate study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial or technical school.

OR

COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (Transcript Required): Combination of successfully completed post high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. Determine the total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determine education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level.

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.

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

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.

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.