The incumbent serves as an Insurance Specialist on the Quality Assurance Staff. The staff is responsible for the oversight of the Insurance Quality Assurance program. This Insurance Specialist position is established at less than the full performance level for recruitment and training purposes. Upon successful completion of training and demonstrated ability to perform the duties at the higher level, the incumbent may be promoted without further competition. The full performance level is GS-11.

Duties

Major Duties: Conducts in-depth reviews of the Insurance Policy holders Services and Insurance Claims divisions task inputs to ensure the accuracy of Operations processing and disbursements. As part of those reviews, makes recommendations to improve the Insurance Program's overall Quality Assurance program as it relates to disbursements and policy procedures. These recommendations may have a good deal of impact throughout the Insurance program and may represent significant departures from established work practices. Analyzes trends in error returns and SQC review evaluations of Insurance Operations actions taken, to identify the need for, and develop and deliver refresher training, and to institute services recovery practices geared toward quality improvement to include a feedback loop. Responds to questions by stakeholders regarding life insurance matters; stakeholders include but are not limited to OIG, GAO, congressional liaisons, and other central office and VBA elements, and may be called upon to assist the Chief and Assistant Chief in preparing responses to audit reports completed by the Inspector General's Office or the Government Accounting Office. Analyzes computer generated listings of insurance transactions to examine for possible fraudulent activities. Monitors computer generated listings to verify the appropriateness of certain account transactions. Analyzes transactional histories, source documents and other documentation in cases where fraud or inappropriate processing of insurance transactions is suspected. Periodically conducts formal training to newly assigned personnel or training on new procedures to the Quality Assurance Staff, and refresher training to Operations staff. Advises and assists lower grade Insurance Specialists in Operations on more difficult cases they may encounter and provide refresher training for such. Assists the supervisor with feedback on performance reviews on lower grade and/or new employees. Provides input to the supervisor for performance appraisals and supervisory evaluations. May be called upon to draft memoranda on behalf of the Chief or Assistant Chief Quality Assurance Staff. Performs work independently utilizing judgment and follows assignments through to completion, prepares reports and recommendations to the Assistant Director and/or Staff Chief(s).

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation
• Selective Service registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A probationary period may be required for employees and supervisors

Qualifications

Time-in-grade: Applicants who are/were 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7 level. To support your claim of time in grade, you must submit your most recent appointment, promotion, or within grade increase SF-50 (not an award or general adjustment SF-50). Some applicants may have to submit more than one SF-50 to demonstrate their eligibility. See the required documents section for more information. And Specialized Experience: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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. The Office of Personnel Management's group coverage qualification standards, associated individual occupational requirements (IOR), and individual qualification standards covering white collar occupations in the Federal competitive service can be found here. To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-7) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: (1) experience that may have been gained in technical assignments and review of case work that involved the application of laws, rules, regulations or procedures involving the VA Life Insurance program, (2) the maintenance and upkeep of VA Life Insurance Account, (3) responsibility for examination, investigation, authorization and verification of VA life insurance claims or other related programs. OR Applicants may substitute education for the experience required to qualify at the GS-9 level: 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 Applicants can combine education and specialized experience to qualify for the position. If you have some, but not all, of the graduate education AND specialized experience described above, you may still qualify by combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do have. To do so, first calculate the percentage of qualifying education you have as a percentage of the education required. Next, calculate the percentage of specialized experience you have as a percentage of the experience required. Then, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% for you to qualify for the position at the GS-7 grade level. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate education (i.e., 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of acceptable specialized experience (i.e., 50% of the experience required) would satisfy the qualification requirements for the position. If you qualify based on a combination of graduate education and specialized experience, you must submit a copy of your official college transcript with your application.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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.

Contacts

• Address Philadelphia VBA Regional Office 5000 Wissahickon Ave Philadelphia, PA 19144 US
• Name: Janelle Phillips
• Phone: (313) 471-3888
• Email: [email protected]