The Assistant Veteran Readiness and Employment Officer (AVREO) supports the VREO to manage and operate the VR&E Division. The AVREO provides leadership and direction to the VR&E staff and coordinates activities with other divisions in the Regional Office and the VA Medical Centers.

Duties

Specific duties include: Assists the VREO and manages broad-based and multi-faceted programs through a team of supervisors and team leaders. Has delegated authority to make decisions on behalf of the VREO, including basic eligibility for programs administered by the VR&E. Maintains essential resources for referral for special rehabilitation procedures. Provides advice and recommendations to meet major goals and assists with the assessment of priorities. Provides administrative expertise in all phases of rehabilitation activities, including counseling, case management, rehabilitation plan development, and job development and placement. Plans, formulates, and implements operational procedures and policies to maintain efficient operating performance of professional and support staff. Provides internal policy direction and supervision of the RO VR&E staff through on- site visits and inspections, review, and analysis of standard or specifically requested data and individualized or telephonic and written communication. Assumes final responsibility for proper interpretation and uniform application of laws, regulations, and instructions in conformance with mandatory policies, procedures, and practices, reconciling divergent opinions. Provides oversight of Privacy Act/FOIA requests. Also, responsible for claims file and eFolder maintenance. Ensures staff responds timely to Congressional, White House and other special inquiries concerning VA benefits for Veterans and other claimants. Ensures performance plans for all VR&E employees are properly created and utilized. Gives advice, counsel, or instruction to individual employees on both work and administrative matters. Responsible for ensuring disciplinary actions are properly taken and employees are properly rewarded. Understands and sensitive to the objectives of the EEO program and promotes workforce diversity through recruitment, coaching, and developmental activities, consistent with the merit system principles. Responsible for maintaining effective communication and working relationship with labor representatives. Responsible for the development of subordinate supervisors regarding administrative, managerial, and leadership skills. Serves as a Regional Office consultant and expert on employment issues for Veterans with disabilities. Promotion Potential: This position is being announced at the full performance level. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday,8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Compressed/Flexible: Some compressed or flex tours may be available Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (Assistant VR&E Officer); PD#39403A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized. Relocation expenses and services (Permanent Change of Station - PCS) are authorized for this recruitment. PCS is the relocation of a household due to government convenience in connection with the transfer between duty stations or facilities. In consideration of the payment of expenses for travel and transportation, the selectee agrees to remain in federal service for twelve (12) months following the date of transfer. Failure to complete all conditions of the obligated service may result in repayment of travel/transportation expenses. Click here for more information. Financial Disclosure Report: Required. Selectee will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450, under 5 CFR 2634.904(a) prior to entering on duty and annually thereafter.

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.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• PCS (BVO) Relocation Expenses are ONLY authorized for selectee/s choosing to physically relocate to the Official Duty location of Houston, TX.
• In consideration of the payment of expenses for travel and transportation, the selectee must agree to remain in federal service for twelve (12) months following the date of transfer.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:10/18/2024. 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. For a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13 level. 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. Applicant must provide a copy of 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 the applicant possesses (1) year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, the applicant 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. BASIC EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENT: This position does have an IOR (Individual Occupational Requirement) that must be met in addition to the Time-in Grade and regular Specialized Experience qualifications. To qualify for this position, you must have the education listed below: Successful completion of a master's degree (or higher) in rehabilitation counseling, rehabilitation services, clinical rehabilitation counseling, counseling psychology, mental health counseling, career counseling or social work from an accredited college or university. Applicant's degree program must have included a supervised internship in vocational rehabilitation counseling. For programs without the required internship, applicant may substitute one year of post-degree work delivering vocational rehabilitation services to adults with disabilities in rehabilitation programs (other than those in correctional facilities). NON QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE: Vocational rehabilitation experience obtained prior to completion of the requirements for the master's degree is not qualifying. Supervised Internship - you must describe the duties and responsibilities performed during your supervised internship. Include the dates of the internship(s), where the internship(s) was performed, number of hours completed, and the name/title/phone number of the individual that supervised your internship. Awarded/Conferred Master's Degree is required and must be reflected on transcripts. Transcripts (unofficial and/or official) must show evidence of a supervised internship and must also show that the degree has been awarded/conferred and the date awarded. Grandfathering Provision. VRCs employed in VBA on the effective date of this qualification standard (July 28, 2023) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including certifications that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:(1) VRCs who are grandfathered into the GS-0101 occupational series may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level of a career ladder or changed to a lower grade within the occupation or placed in a supervisory or managerial position.(2) VRCs who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of this qualification standard may not be extended or reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of this standard.(3) If VRCs who are grandfathered under this provision leave the occupation, they lose protected status and must meet the full qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation. There is no substitution of work experience for the basic educational requirement. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and education as described below: GS-14 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Basic educational requirement AND Specialized Experience: In addition to meeting the Basic educational Requirements stated above, one year of post-graduate level professional vocational rehabilitation counseling experience, equivalent to the GS-13 level is required. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves: (1) One year of professional post-graduate level experience in rehabilitation counseling or as a professional counseling psychologist equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-13) level; (2) Experience using knowledge of laws, regulations, and procedures governing Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) programs; (3) Worked in a professional lead capacity in a vocational rehabilitation or counseling psychologist program and/or possess experience managing cases of individuals with disabilities; and must be able to demonstrate through work experience or training that you possess, or have the potential to develop, the qualities to successfully supervise. 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: The 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 Houston Regional Benefit Office 6900 Almeda Rd Houston, TX 77030 US
• Name: HRC Denver Centralized Recruitment Team
• Email: [email protected]