The Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist is assigned within the Compensate Work Therapy program within Mental Health Service. The incumbent provides a wide range of vocational services to veteran patients with disabilities of varying types and severity; many of these Veterans have multiple disabilities and major barrier of employment.

Duties

Major duties and responsibilities: The incumbent determines client needs which is based on referrals from professional staff and interview the client to determine the vocational goals and training needs of the client. The incumbent finds suitable employment opportunities, monitors placements, and promotes successful adjustment. The incumbent will develop strategies to engage clients who may be reluctant to actively pursue employment or risk a reduction of benefits. The incumbent identifies strengths and/or weaknesses that facilitate the development of short and long term goals. The incumbent support clients in all work related tasks, including but not limited to: transportation, on the job training, dealing with co-workers and supervisors, ongoing and continued clinical supports. The incumbent collects and organizes data on veterans served. The incumbent provides vocational rehabilitation services to individuals whose employability or job adjustment is impaired by polytrauma. The incumbent ascertains the training/job placement requirements to meet the training/job placement objectives, and coordinates with various resources to find, evaluate and select a training facility or employer. The incumbent maintains awareness of community educational and vocational training resources and develops community contacts. The incumbent will find suitable employment opportunities, monitor placement, and promote successful adjustments. The incumbent maintains day-to-day contact with potential employers, placement personnel, or other likely placement resources. The incumbent makes sound professional arguments for recommended program changes. The incumbent will find suitable employment opportunities and troubleshoots problems in the workplace that may require vocational rehabilitation specialist to support the client through a situation related to work performance or co-worker/supervisor relationships. The incumbent will prepare clients for employment. Severely disabled veterans and those with poor work histories or work attitudes need special pre-employment preparation .The incumbent utilizes all resources available to assist all appropriate referrals in preparing for a vocational plan. The incumbent carries full responsibility for diagnosing a job applicant's disabilities and weighing these against job demands. The incumbent conducts individual and group counseling sessions to prepare veterans for employment. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: Maybe available to highly qualified applicants Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist/PD50083-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/31/2023. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: providing vocational rehabilitation services to individuals whose employability or job adjustment is impaired by polytrauma such as a physical, mental, emotional or other disability, or by lack of basic education and job skills. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have possession of 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related, which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond Masters degree level. 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the position are minimal. The physical work is sedentary although the stress related to providing services to clients In emotional distress or who may be demanding and uncooperative can be more significant than that of most sedentary positions. there is some expectation of touring various worksites as needed to perform assessments and to provide coaching and workplace support to veterans and employers. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. 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. 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. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the position are sedentary to light. In addition to performing work in office settings, the position requires that the employee visit patients at CWT worksites around the Medical Center. The position also requires that the incumbent drive on a regular basis, in developing community work experiences and jobs, networking, and providing follow-up support to veterans who are in training and employment situations. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Memphis VA Medical Center 1030 Jefferson Avenue Memphis, TN 38104 US
• Name: Priscilla Bolding
• Phone: 407-463-5211
• Email: [email protected]