The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is recruiting for a Equal Employment Specialist. The Equal Employment Specialist will function in the Executive Director's Office under the Chief of Organizational Compliance.

Duties

The Equal Employment Specialist duties include, but are not limited to: Interview aggrieved individuals and advise them of the EEO rights, responsibilities and conflict resolution options. Conduct pre-complaint counseling and consultations, assist EEO counselors and investigators with gathering information and documents for complaints. Maintain complaint files, produces effective investigative work. Responsible for preparing report of inquiries with established timeframes. Research and/or analyze problems, issues, or program requirements. Research and/or analyze unstable or uncommon administrative issues received from Congressional inquiries and other administrative offices. Determine pertinent issues and collect relevant information from a wide variety of sources. Review information and apply standard analytical techniques. Develop recommendations, taking into account unanticipated changes and unusual factors. Ability to serve as a technical expert for processing federally conducted Title VI complaints of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (also called external complaints)in accordance with agency policy. Responsible for creation of new Medical Center Policies based on new program rollout's and/or updating current MCP based on new EEO Law or precedent setting cases. Assist the Local Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator (LRAC) with the processing of all reasonable accommodation requests to ensure time frames are met and procedures are followed. Ability to serve as a certified mediator for "workplace disputes" among co-workers and managers that are not covered by the EEO process. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Equal Employment Specialist/PD73100O and PD63101A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, you must meet the following requirements within 15 calendar days of the closing date listed on the announcement: 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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. Applicants must be eligible under the VA Interchange Agreement, having served continuously for at least one year in the other merit system under this interchange agreement. For more information regarding the VA Interchange Agreement please visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-authorities/competitive-hiring/. All Title 38 Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) employees must have served in their Excepted Service position for at least 90 days in order to be eligible for a position within the Competitive Service. Applicants who were previously selected under a Competitive Delegating Examining Office (DEO) announcement must have served in their position for at least 90 days prior to being eligible for other positions within the Competitive Service. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-9 Specialized Experience: You 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Applying employee relations principles, practices, laws, and regulations sufficient to identify, consider, and advise managers and employees about relatively common issues or problems such as routine leave or attendance questions or disputes; Researching applicable laws, policies, and agency precedents and applying fact finding techniques to gather clear-cut information and/or evidence specific to the cases; Provides broad program support and administrative responsibilities, such as coordinating and planning the logistics for meetings, training, correspondence, and record keeping; Establishing and maintaining effective relationships with management to gain confidence and cooperation of supervisors and managers for the management advisory service provided; Locating appropriate and applicable precedents, legal documentation, and legislative history; Interpreting and analyzing basic issues of fact and law, developing and preparing clear explanations of case facts, and selecting the appropriate basic legal and regulatory provisions applicable to the case; Identifying and analyzing numerous facts and allegations to determine accuracy and applicability to the cases. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or an LL.B. or J.D., if related to the work of this position. (Transcripts must be submitted). 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 one year of graduate level education. GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Explaining rules and procedures to employees and help them understand their rights and obligations; Maintaining and encouraging objectivity in situations that may be charged with emotion and involve assumptions; Resolving disputed facts, including those which require credibility determinations; Communicating agency wide labor relations policies and procedures to management and staff of the local organization or organizational segments serviced; Assisting the parties in problem definition and assessment of alternative approaches to resolving the problem; Assuring that managers are aware of the interaction of different laws, such as those related to leave or reasonable accommodation, and of their obligations under those laws; Assisting managers identify actions that are consistent with the facts and the organization's policy on discipline when discipline is warranted. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related to the work of the position. (Transcripts must be submitted). 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 two years of graduate level education. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Interpersonal Skills Integrity/Honesty Communication Analysis and Problem Solving Planning and Evaluating Education and Training Stress Tolerance 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 regular and recurring work performed involves sitting at a desk, sitting in conferences and meetings, or riding in an automobile or public transportation, etc. No special physical demands are involved in performing the work. However, there may be occasional brief visits to worksites during fact finding. 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 VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System 10701 East Boulevard Cleveland, OH 44106 US
• Name: Karrie Kole
• Phone: (269)873-3563
• Email: [email protected]