Program Specialist

Summary

This position is in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Louisville, KY, New Orleans, LA & Jackson, MS Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) division; and serves as a Program Support Specialist responsible for administrative and technical work.

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Duties

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Typical duties include, but are not limited to:

• Serves as the Program Support Specialist responsible for the over all management, control and execution of the office Programs. Develops a plan of action to ensure established goals are met. Analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of the program to meet established goals and objectives. Consults/coordinates with activities, subject matter experts or representatives of other Federal Government agencies, school certifying officials, local state agencies, etc.
• Provides advice and guidance on program specifications to veterans, managers, staff, line managers and representative from other Federal agencies. Develops support agreements and Memoranda of Understating with other Federal agencies supporting the program and monitors supporting agency compliance with agreements.
• Conducts outreach assistance to candidates and provides program information. Determines candidates' eligibility for the program and refers out for placement.
• Represents the organization in contacts with community elements to obtain support for the VA Program. Organizes and participates in community outreach programs. Visits medical facilities, conferences and numerous types of gatherings to brief, discuss or inform the public of the program and services provided. Also facilitates group orientation sessions including scheduling Veterans for these sessions, orienting applicants on eligibility and entitlement for benefits.
• Incumbent's decisions and judgement directly influence guidance of the VA wide program. Develops and recommends programming decisions affecting the long and short-range goals of the Program. Ensures individual program objectives and milestones are accomplished within the overall program objectives. Ensures program compliance. Collects, reviews and analyzes program information data and provides comprehensive assessment of the program. Approximately 70%.
• Prepares and answers correspondence relevant to program. Incumbent prepares briefing charts, fact sheets and issue papers as necessary. Markets program and designs brochures, pamphlets and flyers. Attends high level meetings with key stakeholders to coordinate, explain and provide guidance on the program. Serves as an expert and primary point of contact for the program assigned. Keeps management informed of program progress, issues and any resolutions. Approximately 30%.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

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

Compressed/Flexible: Available

Telework: Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist GS-09: PD# 397510

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Bargaining Unit: Yes

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness & 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 or trial 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
• 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:06/18/2026.

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.

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.

• Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-7). In addition to the skills for the GS-7 level, specialized experience at the GS 9 level must document experience in the following:
• a. Experience working with Vocational and Rehabilitation and Employment Chapter 31 and Chapter 36 programs;
• b. Experience working with contracting practices and procedures;
• c. Experience working with Veteran Readiness & Employment operations.

OR

• Graduate Education: To qualify at the GS 9 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: Applicants may combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-09 grade level: When substituting you can only use graduate level education you have earned. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned. Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. For example, an applicant who has 27 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education in excess of the first 18 semester credit hours earned) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the GS-09 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 work is primarily sedentary. There may be some walking, standing, bending and carrying light items and shall involve travel to other locations.

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.

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.

Note: You may submit unofficial transcripts when applying. However, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to provide an official transcript or a statement from the institution (e.g., from the registrar, dean, or other appropriate official) or equivalent documentation prior to the start date.

Additional 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 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.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members : Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

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. (

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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