The position is located at the Veterans Benefits Administration Finance Center (VBAFC), Hines, Illinois, and is organizationally aligned under the Office of Financial Management (OFM), VA Central Office. The incumbent in this position serves as a Supervisory Accountant within the VBAFC under the oversight and supervision of the Deputy Director.

Duties

Specific duties include: Performs a wide variety of administrative and analytical duties to assure the propriety and integrity of the VBA benefit payment systems and administrative functions of the VBAFC Directs and supervises the financial system functions as they relate to benefit program financial information Plans, assigns, and schedules work to be accomplished by subordinates, sets and adjusts priorities, and evaluates work performance of subordinates Estimates and monitors the flow of work, assignments, and projects and reports on the status and progress to ensure established milestones and deadlines are met Identifies, arranges, and provides developmental and training needs of employees Responsible for developing and maintaining performance standards and conducting performance evaluations for all subordinate employees Supervises the Division in assessing its strengths and weaknesses and provides leadership to explore alternatives and determine improvements Represents the Division in dealings with Management for the purpose of obtaining resources and securing information or decisions on major work problems and issues Performs and coordinates analytical reviews of fiscal processes for existing, developing, and new financial management systems within the VBA and recommends improved processes and procedures to higher management Assists responsible officials of VA staff offices, Regional Office and field stations, Department of Treasury, Federal Reserve branches, and financial institution activities in the analysis and solution of difficult and complex technical, financial, and/or procedural matters to ensure a smooth integration and interface of proposed system changes with existing systems Reviews and makes recommendations to manuals, directives, and instructions for the purpose of creating new systems/methods or improving/appraising the effectiveness of financial and reporting methods/procedures Ensures the organization's strategic plan, mission, vision, and values are communicated to personnel and integrated into the goals, objectives, and work products/services Articulates and communicates assignments, projects, problems to be solved, actionable events, milestones, and/or program issues under review, and deadlines/timeframes for completion Responsible for the application of appropriate problem-solving techniques, work methods, practices, and procedures, and identifies the parameters of a viable solution Researches, learns, and applies a wide range of qualitative and/or quantitative methods to identify, assess, analyze, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of work products Serves as the VBAFC business lead or as a team member in the development, implementation, and operation of all systems affecting VBAFC programs Responsible for Department of Veterans Affairs systems regarding new Department of Treasury initiatives and memorandums of understanding and their interplay with VA programs governed by Congressional laws and regulations / reviews and is responsible for the development of revisions needed due to legislative changes and the effects on Veteran payments and records Manages the day-to-day operational and processing requirements, administers proper internal controls, manages financial system processing, and assists in developing processing controls/procedures for new financial systems or business requirements Assists in developing, maintaining, and administering a complex set of automated systems/subsystems to produce accurate and timely financial information by applying knowledge of Federal legislation, VA regulations, information technology directives, and automated systems to assist in developing and defining system specifications Provides financial advice and assistance for internal agency operating programs / analyzes and develops plans for implementing national policy issues Evaluates complex financial systems such as Veterans Benefit Management System (VBMS) and Treasury's TCIS system relative to the VA Benefit Payment programs on a continuing basis / analyzes problems which are new or novel in nature Responsible for the development, oversight, and implementation of internal quality reviews for those programs supported by the VBAFC Performs as central point-of-contact in the development of financial systems that deal with payment/nonpayment of check claims and serves as the principal advisor Manages all audit activities including performance, operational, and compliance reviews conducted both internally and externally Responsible for organization initiatives demonstrating the benefits of enterprise risk management Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Available Virtual: This is a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Accountant; PD02330-A 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
• Selectees are required to service a one-year supervisory probationary period if not previously completed in a Federal position.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/08/2024. Individual Occupational Requirements Basic Requirements Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.") or Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicant's background must also include one of the following: Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law; A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements. 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. To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50). The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50 that indicates proof of status, and shows Time in Grade (for example, you were a career or career-conditional employee) and identifies your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). 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 also submit your most recent promotion or within-grade increase in addition to your recent SF-50. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. DO NOT submit Award SF-50's and/or General Adjustment SF-50's as they cannot be used to prove time-in-grade. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: In addition to the basic requirement above, you may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-13 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: The Supervisory Accountant requires a thorough knowledge of directing and supervising the financial system functions in support of Benefit Payment programs as they relate to financial information. Performs a wide variety of complex administrative and analytical duties to assure the propriety and integrity of VBA financial systems as they directly affect the nationwide Benefit systems. The incumbent is responsible for leading an effective Quality Assurance and Enterprise Risk Management program. The incumbent manages all audit activities including performance, operational, and compliance reviews conducted both internally and externally for the diverse and complex operations of the VBA Finance Center covering different and unrelated processes and functions. Activities include program planning and execution, program monitoring and reporting, inspection and review of fiscal and related accounts, and determination of compliance with regulatory requirements. The incumbent plans, conducts, and reports on audits and applying or adapting standard audit practices to the peculiarities of the assignment. The incumbent is key technical expert in policy and procedural development concerning these programs and serves as the principle advisor to VA Central Office officials. The incumbent performs and coordinates analytical reviews of accounting processes for these systems to recommend improved procedures for existing, developing, and new financial management systems within VBA. Demonstrates effective communication skills to articulate information, findings, and recommendations. The effect impacts several major VBA-wide Benefit programs in addition to programs outside the organization. Analyzes problems which are new or novel in nature. Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more 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 Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary although some slight physical effort may be required. 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

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.

Contacts

• Address VBA Financial Service Center 5000 S 5TH AVE. Hines, IL 60141 US
• Name: Chenele Coleman-Sellers
• Phone: 410-230-4400
• Email: [email protected]