Job opening: Program Specialist
Salary: $49 025 - 63 733 per year
Published at: Mar 11 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
This position is in the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) division of the St. Petersburg, FL Veterans Affairs Regional Office (VARO). The incumbent of this position will be responsible for assisting the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and Employment Coordinators with technical management of VR&E caseload and aiding Veteran clients.
Duties
Receive Veterans and other visitors to regional office and out-based sites making inquiries regarding Chapter 31 vocational rehabilitation issues.
Screen issues presented by the Veterans or other visitors, and within the scope of assigned responsibilities, serves as VA representative to resolve issues presented by veterans.
Provide administrative support in the responsibilities for personnel management, budget administration, procurement, office administration, and other related activities covering all facets.
Review all applications for VA Veteran Readiness and Employment benefits and services.
Assist vocational rehabilitation counselors with Chapter 31 enrollments by preparing certification lists for training facilities and preparing authorizing enrollments.
Resolve issues related to Chapter 31 training such as overpayment questions, class schedules, termination dates, remaining entitlement, training under other educational chapters and accounts receivable.
Review all cases in Rehabilitation to Employment and Interrupted Status to determine if case status change is required.
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.
- A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc.
- 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, 03/13/2024.
The Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) group qualification standards covering white collar occupations in the Federal competitive service can be found: Here
Specialized Experience:
GS-07: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the federal service. Specialized experience is work experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: (1) performing clerical duties such as, alpha-numeric filing, completing telephone outreach, responding to telephone and written inquiries; (2) scheduling appointments; (3) processing financial transactions to include computer data entry, and (4) foster appropriate customer and peer relationships/communication.
OR
Applicants may Qualify with Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) for grade GS-7. If you have been awarded a bachelor's degree (or equivalent undergraduate degree) in a curriculum that is qualifying for this position from an accredited college or university, AND that degree meets one of the following superior academic achievement provisions, you may qualify exclusively based on education:
a. Ranked in the upper 1/3 of your college class or major subdivision at the time you apply; OR
b. Earned election to a national scholastic honor society that meets the requirements of the Association of College Honor Societies other than freshman honor societies; OR
c. Earned a grade point average (GPA) of 2.95 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses or all undergraduate classes completed during the final two years (the final 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours); or earned a GPA of 3.45 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses in your major, or all undergraduate courses in your major completed during the final two years.
Regarding the superior academic achievement provisions, if more than 10% of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail or similar basis, you can qualify only on the basis of your class standing or membership in an honor society. If an applicant is claiming to qualify based on superior academic achievement, it is the applicant's responsibility to submit all documentation with their application that is appropriate in relationship to providing proof that the SAA criteria is met (i.e., ALL unofficial or official college transcripts that include GPA, proof of honor society membership, proof of class standing).
OR
Applicants may substitute Graduate Education to qualify for grade GS-7. Applicants may substitute education for experience with at least one full academic year (18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours) of graduate level education from an accredited college or university in a field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. If you are claiming to qualify based on your education, your application must include an official or unofficial copy of graduate level transcripts that demonstrate this information.
OR
Applicants may substitute a combination of graduate education and specialized experience to qualify for the position at the GS 7 grade level. If you have some, but not all, of the graduate education described above AND less than one full year of the specialized experience described above, you may qualify by combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do have. To calculate, first identify the percentage of qualifying education you have as a percentage of one year of study. Next, identify the percentage of specialized experience you have as a percentage of 12 months. Then, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% for you to qualify for the position at the grade GS-7 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 are claiming to qualify based on your education, your application must include an official or unofficial copy of college transcripts that demonstrate this information.
Note: 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 you document, to include volunteer experience.
Education
An unofficial or official copy of your transcripts 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:
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:
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html
Contacts
- Address St Petersburg Regional Benefit Office
9500 Bay Pines Boulevard
Bay Pines, FL 33744
US
- Name: HRC-Detroit DEU
- Phone: 313-596-7213
- Email: [email protected]
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