These positions are located in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Central Office (VACO) Human Resources Service Center (HRSC) that focuses on the establishment and transition of human capital services for VACO staff offices from VHA, VBA, and NCA. The primary purpose of these positions are to provide support to hiring managers and executives on various employee relations programs.

Duties

Major Duties Include: Functioning as a principal and senior advisor to all levels of management officials within the VACO Staff Offices for all Employee Relations matters and serving as an expert consultant on issues related to conduct, performance, attendance, and dispute resolution. Conducting research of complex legal or regulatory issues raised by Staff Office managers, supervisors, and employees and provides interpretation and guidance on issues of fact and law. Reviewing complaint and/or grievance actions and performing fact finding as necessary to advise management. Analyzing, evaluating, and developing major aspects of agency-wide ER/LR programs. Functioning as a principal and senior advisor to all levels of management officials within the VACO Staff Offices for all Labor Relations matters and serves as an expert advisor to management regarding the establishment and maintenance of effective relationships with relevant labor organizations. Providing advice to management on questions raised by unions in complying with terms of contracts, requirements of the statute, means of settling disputes, etc. and investigates disputes, unfair labor charges, and formal/informal complaints. Analyzing negotiated agreements and conducting special studies to develop improvements in management's positions and/or to respond to union's demands. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level (GS-13) without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Available Virtual/Remote: This is not a virtual or remote position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

• 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 period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/01/2023. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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. 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. The BASIC REQUIREMENT for the HR Specialist GS-0201 series is presumed met if found qualified at the GS-0201-7 level and above. To qualify for this position at the GS-12 level, you must meet one of the following listed Criteria: Criteria 1- Graduate Degree and Specialized Experience: Successful completion of a graduate level degree or higher and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical, or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: experience applying employee relations and labor relations principles, practices, laws, and regulations; advising managers and employees about relatively common issues or problems such as routine leave or attendance questions or disputes; researching applicable laws, policy, and agency precedent and apply factfinding techniques to gather clear-cut information and/or evidence specific to the cases; reviewing unit and employee representation, unfair labor practices, arbitration, negotiability, impasses, and other related issues. ~ OR~ Criteria 2- Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in federal service that demonstrates HR management knowledge, concepts and principles and the performance of work in one or more of the HR specialty areas. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical, or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: advising managers about appropriate disciplinary or other corrective techniques to a range of conduct and performance problems; conducting research on complex legal or regulatory issues involving ER/LR issues; providing labor relations consultative service on reorganizations, realignments, relocations, reduction in force, transfer of function and outsourcing to educate management on potential impact of these decisions on bargaining unit employees. To qualify for this position at the GS-13 level, you must meet one of the following listed Criteria: Criteria 1- Graduate level degree or higher and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical, or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: advising managers about appropriate disciplinary or other corrective techniques to a range of conduct and performance problems; conducting research on complex legal or regulatory issues involving ER/LR issues; providing labor relations consultative service on reorganizations, realignments, relocations, reduction in force, transfer of function and outsourcing to educate management on potential impact of these decisions on bargaining unit employees. ~OR~ Criteria 2- Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in federal service that demonstrates HR management knowledge, concepts and principles and the performance of work in one or more of the HR specialty areas. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical, or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: experience providing management consultative service involving ER/LR to render expert advisory service and/or authoritative policy interpretations on highly complex agency-wide issues; serving as a recognized ER/LR senior advisor by other senior HR staff and program managers; reviewing ER/LR policy to ensure consistency in their application and recommend modifications; resolving unfair labor practice charges and complaints, arbitration of grievances, resolution of negotiability issues, and conformance of labor agreements with applicable laws. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Customer Service Decision Making Influencing/Negotiating Reading Reasoning 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: Work is primarily sedentary and requires no special physical demands. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

Qualifying education for the GS-0201 series includes courses and programs in HR, HR development, HR management, business, business management/administration, industrial relations, labor relations, industrial psychology, organizational psychology, organizational development, management, organizational behavior, pre-law/law, legal studies, health care management/administration, public administration, public policy, human services, leadership and/or humanities.

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

Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix F1; Human Resources Specialist Qualification Standards GS-0201. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.

Contacts

• Address VA Human Resources Service Center 810 Vermont Ave NW Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: Cassie Noon
• Phone: 412-588-3926
• Email: [email protected]