The Senior Veterans Claims Examiner works as a member of one of the teams in the Education Division at the Regional Processing Office. Explains benefit programs and entitlement criteria, conducts interviews, identifies issues, develops, and gathers relevant evidence from multiple sources, independently adjudicates claims and authorizes payments, and inputs data as necessary to generate award and notification letters to Veterans and claimants describing the decision and the reason for it.

Duties

Specific duties include: Authorizes claims for education benefits involving unusually complex or novel issues. The GS-11 VCE will review and authorize the claims of GS-9 and GS-7 level of difficulty. They will be assigned several GS-9 or lower graded examiners and will be responsible for the final disposition of those cases sent for authorization. They must assure consistent application of laws, regulations and policies are applied. They are responsible for training, providing technical guidance, and mentoring GS-9 or lower graded examiners. Provides performance related quality reviews of other employees. A high degree of independence, ingenuity and resourcefulness is required in the development of information and the evaluation of evidence. The GS-11 VCE must make determinations where decisions may be debatable because of the complexity of information and interpretation of law. GS-11 VCE is responsible for reviewing a variety of military orders from 14 different components (with potential incompatible data) and determining what is acceptable evidence to be used for establishing entitlement in specific unusual and complex claims. The GS-11 VCE must determine what evidence is sufficient to support the adjudicative action. The GS-11 VCE on his or her own initiative develops facts and evidence. They define legal and factual issues, search precedent decisions and other reference material; applies laws, regulations, policies and procedures; drafts letters, decisions, notices and other documents to effect actions required. The GS-11 VCE acts with limited technical guidance from GS-12 VCEs, trainers or management. They are expected to research, review and implement changes in law or policies. The GS-11 VCE accurately and efficiently reviews and controls incoming claims and evidence from claimants, schools and the DOD. They make determinations on questions relating the adequacy of military service, adequacy of education information and lay testimony to establish a claim, and evaluates evidence of dependency and relationships of claimants. Adjudicates claims for sensitive or complex issues such as mitigating circumstances, overlapping terms, multiple source Transfer of Entitlement (TOE), appeals, notices of disagreement, compliance survey correction, Inspector General (OIG) audits, Committee on Waivers and Compromises (COWC) decisions, incarcerated claimants and audits of benefits received. The GS-11 VCE analyzes, develops and requests required evidence for miscellaneous inquiries which do not require an adjudicative action. They prepare administrative decisions and special determinations relating to qualifying military service, character of discharge, domestic relations, line of duty deaths, new discharge information from DOD or the Veteran, dependency issues, VEAP and $1800 refunds. They are assigned reconsideration cases; serve on special committees or panels (ie School Liability Committee, Committee on Waiver and Compromises). Consistent with the Appeals Modernization Act, they make determinations on appeal cases as to whether reconsideration of an appeal is necessary and/or conduct/participate in hearings. Conducts interviews in person, via phone or electronically with Veterans or claimants, their representatives or stakeholders (Veterans School Certifying Officials or DOD). The incumbent explains the full range of VA benefits and related programs, as they relate to the Education processing (ie: Vocational Rehabilitation, Disability/Compensation, Death Claims). Occasionally, a Veteran, claimant or stakeholder may become upset, unruly or inappropriate. In these cases, the incumbent exercises good judgement and professional demeanor in maintaining calm in the situation Follows station protocol for control of claims and workload. Responsible for timeliness of claims under their control. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday determined between 6am CST and 6pm CST Compressed/Flexible: Upon Supervisor Approval Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Veterans Claims Examiner (Education); 37815A 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
• 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:11/22/2024. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 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. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-11 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Applicant must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in the normal line of progression. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: experience with Veterans education programs in processing, authorization, and evaluating outcomes of Veterans education claims, and the ability to assess problems or complaints, and resolve them in a professional manner. Education Substitution: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. Combination of Education and Specialized Experience: To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond two years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. 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: The work is mostly sedentary with occasional walking and bending. Work requires lengthy periods viewing video display terminals and extensive use of computer keyboarding. 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 Muskogee Regional Benefit Office 125 South Main St Muskogee, OK 74401 US
• Name: HRC Denver Muskogee RO Servicing Team
• Email: [email protected]