The Community Employment Specialist (CES) provides information, pre-employment assessment and workforce re-entry planning and community-based follow-up services to integrate Veterans into the community through competitive employment. Provides guidance and training to all homeless programs and staff across the VAMC on resources that enhance and result in competitive employment outcomes for Veterans, those who are homeless or have other barriers to employment which is determined by evaluations.

Duties

Duties of the position include but are not limited to: Establishes respectful, effective relationships with Veterans and with the clinical and administrative staff from a range of institutions and agencies, including community employers Works with local staff in developing templates for concise, individualized Veteran ­centered assessments to determine the needed intensity level of employment services and supports for homeless Veterans. Serves as a liaison to local community providers of employment placement and support services for homeless Veterans. Develops employment opportunities for homeless Veterans Insures that through the collaborative, competitive employment resources of varying levels of intensity are currently available for homeless and chronically homeless Veterans Determines what services may be required in order to successfully obtain suitable employment. Provides services targeting chronically homeless Veterans who may benefit from a more intensive individualized job development and placement model. Provides employment services available to Veterans, include but are not limited to: Access to job listings Resume preparation Counseling regarding the impact of employment income on both VA and non-VA benefits and entitlements Coordination of and transportation to job interviews Interview skills training Job placement Negotiations with employers for reasonable accommodations Assistance with completion and submission of job applications And other related services Coordinates with homeless, CWT and community program managers on rapid access and placement strategies Conducts bi-monthly conference calls with all the members of the local employment collaborative Monitors performance and progress through review of cases referred to the members of the collaborative Insures that Veterans are receiving services leading to competitive employment and appropriate follow-up supports. Provides feedback to the homeless program staff and VAMC leadership Serves as an advocate on behalf of Veterans with members of the employment collaborative and community employers Other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: 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. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Vocational Development Specialist/PD107930 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

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/02/2024. 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. This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. OR, Specialized Experience: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program. Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention. Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems. In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement, 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: familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, recognizing problem areas needing special attention, general knowledge and experience in job development, marketing and securing jobs, selecting the pertinent techniques for data collection, applying a variety of fact-finding techniques to identify objectives, applying a variety of fact-finding techniques to identify objectives and training concepts and principles of vocational rehabilitation. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 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. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. 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 a Master's degree. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer ServiceData ManagementDeveloping Others 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 this position are moderate. Although some of the physical work is sedentary, there will be significant (50 - 70% of the time) local travel for support purposes. The stress related to providing services to Veterans in emotional distress or who may be demanding and uncooperative, can be more significant than that of most sedentary positions. 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 CW Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 10000 Bay Pines Boulevard Bay Pines, FL 33744 US
• Name: Necory Smith
• Phone: 608-372-3971 X63901
• Email: [email protected]