The Veterans Service Representative (VSR) (Authorizer) works as an employee in the Veterans Service Center (VSC), Pension Management Center (PMC), Benefits Eligibility Support Team (BEST), or Integrated Disability Evaluation system (IDES) Program Division explaining benefit program and entitlement criteria, conducts interviews, identifies issues, gathers relevant evidence, adjudicates claims, authorizes payments and inputs data necessary to generate the award and notification letters.

Duties

Major Duties: The incumbent will serve as a Veterans Service Representative (Authorizer) at a VA Regional Office. The incumbent of this position will adjudicate claims, authorize payments, and input data necessary to generate the award and notification letter to the veteran describing the decision and the reason for it. Specific duties are as follows: Serves as an Authorizer reviewing all required work of other Veterans Service Representatives when a second signature is required. Reviews and approves work for technical accuracy, clarity, thoroughness, and sensitivity of notification. Ensures that notices of decisions are prepared with an empathetic tone and are complete and phrased in terms that the claimant can understand. The VSR (Authorizer) must be familiar with rating procedures to ensure proper notification to the claimant. Makes administrative decisions and special determinations relating to qualifying military service, character of discharge, domestic relations contested claims, homicide, presumed death, line of duty, or willful misconduct, corpus of estate, and violations of U.S. Penal Code, related attorney fees, administrative error, and fraud. Authorizes administrative decisions made by other Veterans Service Representatives including character of discharge, line of duty, or willful misconduct, corpus of estate, and apportionment decisions. Explains a final decision if a veteran expresses an indication of dissatisfaction with a determination (filed in person, by telephone, or by mail). The VSR (Authorizer) will explain the decision in question in an effort to gain acceptance of the determination, and also explain the post-decision review process. Uses electronic data processing (EDP) systems for inputting data related to claims adjudication, processing, monitoring, and correspondence preparation. Acts as an advocate for veterans and their beneficiaries in their dealings with other VA elements and organizations that affect their claims. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. Telework: Available Virtual: This is NOT a virtual position Position Description Title/PD#: Veterans Service RepresentativeGS-11; PD02105A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Available Financial Disclosure Report: Not 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
• 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: 05/29/2024 Time-in-Grade Requirements: Applicants who are/were federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks must meet the time-in-grade requirements. For a GS-11 position, you must have served at least 52 weeks at the GS-10 level. Note: You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" showing that you are in the competitive service and the highest grade or promotion potential held. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess (1) year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates (1) year time-in-grade. General Adjustment and Award SF-50's cannot be used for time-in-grade verification purposes. If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-11 and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-11. AND Specialized Experience: To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-10) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes but is not limited to experience that demonstrates competence in adjudicating and authorizing veterans' claims. The experience should be substantive and relevant and may have been gained in the federal, military, or private sector. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to: Experience in the development, examination, investigation, adjudication, and authorization of claims for disability compensation, disability pension, death compensation, death pension benefits, life insurance benefits, etc. Such experience is to be substantive and relevant and may have been gained in the practice of law or working with a Federal or state agency, insurance company, retirement, disability, or insurance program. OR Applicants may substitute Graduate Education to qualify for grade GS-11. Applicants may substitute education for experience with an awarded Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (such as an LL.M.) from an accredited college or university, or three full years (54 semester hours or 81 quarter hours) of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a doctoral degree. This graduate degree or education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities 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 grade GS-11. 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. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-11. To calculate, first identify the education you have earned beyond your first two years of study as a percentage of a total of three years of study. Then identify the number of months of specialized experience you have as a percentage of 12 months. Add the two percentages. The total must equal at least 100 percent in order to be qualifying. For example, an applicant who has 45 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e., 50% of graduate education required beyond the first two years) and who has 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e., 50% of the one year of specialized experience required) would meet 100% and thus be qualified for the 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. Volunteer Experience: 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. Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week. Physical Demands: The work is mostly sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as papers or books. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. 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

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: Here

All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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: Here

Applications submitted without the required supporting documents will not be accepted. An unofficial transcript; statement from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official; or equivalent documentation is acceptable at the time of application. Education submitted must be appropriately accredited by an accredited body recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. For additional information, refer to the U.S. Department of Education web site at http://www.ed.gov/

Contacts

• Address Detroit Regional Benefit Office Federal Building, 477 Michigan Ave Detroit, MI 48226 US
• Name: Hussein Chammout
• Phone: 313-596-7206
• Email: [email protected]