Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Summary

Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (SVRCs) The SVRC Functions as first level supervisor for the VR&E personnel located at the Regional Office or out-based facility, providing advice and guidance on unusual or unprecedented problems. The work supervised is vital to the processes through which VBA directly serves the public.

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Duties

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Specific duties include: Candidates must also demonstrate experience or training they possess, or have the potential to develop, the quality of successful supervision as follows:

• Assign to and review work of subordinates, train, and work effectively with subordinates from a variety of backgrounds and with different levels/areas of training. Accomplish the quality and quantity of work expected within set limits of cost and time.
• Plan own work and carry out assignments effectively.
• Communicate with others effectively both orally and in writing in working solutions to problems or questions relating to the work.
• Understand and further management goals as these affect day-to-day work operations; AND Develop improvements on or design new work methods and procedures.

Work Schedule : Full time, Monday through Friday, 8 am - 4:30 pm

Compressed/Flexible: 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# : Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor; PD39814-A

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Bargaining Unit: No

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

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 supervisory 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.

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 or trial period
• You may be required to serve a supervisory 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: 07/27/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT : Applicants who are current/former Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements.

• For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level.

The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. A Standard Form 50 (SF-50) that shows your TIG eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

Applicants must submit their most recent Notification of Personnel Action, SF-50:

• Official SF-50 that shows you held the grade (or higher) for the full performance level of the position you are applying for, or
• Official SF-50 that shows 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 which show TIG requirements have been met 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 job opportunity announcement; or
• Most recent appointment

NOTE: Do not submit Award or General Adjustment SF-50s, as they do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying TIG.

The Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor series requires that all applicants meet both the Basic Requirement per the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) AND the Specialized Experience described below:

IOR: To qualify for the Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor position, candidates must meet the following basic requirements:

BASIC REQUIREMENT:

Education. Successful completion of a master's degree (or higher) in rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation services, clinical rehabilitation counseling, counseling psychology, mental health counseling, career counseling or social work from an accredited college or university.

Internship or Experience Requirement. The required (1) supervised internship or (2) post-master's degree experience is described as follows:(1) Supervised Internship: The education must have included a supervised internship in rehabilitation counseling or case management specialization. The internship must have been supervised by a professional in vocational rehabilitation or a closely related professional field that typically has oversight for vocational rehabilitation programs.

OR

Experience: One-year post-master's degree experience in direct delivery of professional vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities.

Grandfathering Provision: VRCs employed in VBA on the effective date, July 28, 2023, of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including certifications that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

VRCs who are grandfathered into the GS-0101 occupational series may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level of a career ladder or changed to a lower grade within the occupation or placed in a supervisory or managerial position.

1. VRCs who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of this qualification standard may not be extended or reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of this standard.
2. If VRCs who are grandfathered under this provision leave the occupation, they lose protected status and must meet the full qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

Reference: Additional information on the qualification requirements for this position can be located on the OCHCO VA Qualifications Standards website found here.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT : In addition to meeting the basic requirements, applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade(s) GS-12 .

GS-13 Grade Level: MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-12). Specialized experience is defined as one (1) full year of experience in Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment programs. Examples of specialized experience would typically include:

• Expertise with employment and vocational rehabilitation programs.
• Possessing knowledge and expertise in the procedures for vocational and rehabilitation law.
• The expertise to administer and counsel in the areas of counseling, rehabilitation, psychology, career development, and job placement entitlements.

Your resume/application must support your response. To meet the specialized experience, your resume should reflect experience that has provided a thorough knowledge of general laws affecting Veterans and/or people with disabilities testing and evaluation, rehabilitation, job development and job placement and a full and complete knowledge of Chapters 18, 30, 31, 34, and 35 of Title 38, USC. Documented specialized experience will illustrate the ability to conduct, administer and advise in areas of education, training, counseling, and psychology affecting the entire field of VA's VRE program.

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 sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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.

There is no educational substitution for Specialized Experience at this GS-13 grade level.

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 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 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.

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 the 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.

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.

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.