This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/488762800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides a variety of benefits and services to service members, veterans, and their families. VBA has been undergoing a major transformation that is people-centric, results-oriented, and a forward-looking integration of solutions that will ensure total lifelong engagement with service members, veterans, and their families. For more information on the Department of Veterans Affairs, go to http://www.vacareers.va.gov/
Learn more about this agency01/22/2018 to 01/24/2018
$44,670 - $58,070 per year
GS 07
5 vacancies in the following location:
Occasional travel - Occassional travel required for training purposes.
No
Permanent
Full-time - Full Time
09
No
VB-2028229-NG
488762800
The Veterans Claims Examiner (VCE) is located in the Insurance Claims Division, Death Claims Section, of the Veterans Benefits Administration Insurance Center, Philadelphia, PA. The VCE's primary responsibility is to process applications for insurance benefits eligibility and entitlement. As a Veterans Claims Examiner, you will:
DUTIES:
Establish validity of beneficiary designations, considers issues such as designations obtained by fraud, duress, undue influence/coercion, or designations discovered after an insured's death.
Attempt to locate insured's beneficiaries through various resources (internet based, public records, telephone contacts, etc.).
Determines proper beneficiaries and their settlement shares under applicable state laws of descent and distribution.
Prepare and release developmental correspondence for beneficiaries and third parties.
Maintain controls on all claims requiring development.
Work Schedule: Tour of Duty Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.
Position Description Title: Veterans Claims Examiner GS-0996-07/07 full performance level 09
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.
Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.
Qualifications:
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Specialized Experience:
Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization interpreting regulations and applying laws required to explain, evaluate and recommend determinations of eligibility to claimant requests for services and benefits. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves (1) Requesting relevant medical or administrative evidence to make eligibility determinations; (2) Analyzing medical evidence, benefit and/or legal evidence to identify and recognize required actions for claim development, and (3) Experience explaining program benefit entitlements and requirements.
OR
You can substitute education for the specialized experience required:
Undergraduate Degree and Superior Academic Achievement. You have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study in any field leading to an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university or you possess an undergraduate degree in any field from an accredited college or university, AND you meet one of the following Superior Academic Achievement provisions:
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; OR
d. 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.
OR
Graduate Education. You must have at least one full academic year of graduate level education that demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to satisfactorily perform the work. One year of full-time graduate education is normally determined by the school you attended. If that number cannot be determined, 18 semester hours should be considered equivalent to one academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable on a pro-rated basis. If you qualify based on your education, you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position, an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date.
OR
Combination of Graduate Education and Specialized Experience. If you have some, but not all, of the graduate education AND specialized experience described above, you may still qualify by combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do have. To do so, first calculate the percentage of qualifying education you have as a percentage of the education required. Next, calculate the percentage of specialized experience you have as a percentage of the experience required. Then, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% for you to qualify for the position at the GS-7 grade 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 qualify based on a combination of graduate education and specialized experience, you must submit a copy of your official college transcript with your application.
A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Please see the required documents section for specific transcript requirements.
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.
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. 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.
The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.
Position Sensitivity: This position has a position-sensitivity level of Public Trust - Low Risk. Selections made under this announcement are considered upon favorable adjudication of a National Agency Check with Written Inquiries (NACI) per VA Handbook 0710; an investigation will be conducted after the effective date of the selection. An individual currently holding the appropriate clearance may not require additional investigation. An individual receiving an unfavorable adjudication will be ineligible to remain in this position. More information regarding investigations can be found here.
Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by selecting from this posting. The position may be otherwise be filled by promotion, reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
In describing your experience, please be clear and specific. We will not make assumptions regarding your experience. Applicants who do not fully address the specialized experience needed for the position (as described above in the job announcement) in their resume or who do not possess the education to substitute for it will not be referred for consideration.
After you have met the minimum qualifications, you will be rated on the following competencies based on your application for this position:
If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but is not limited to responses to the knowledge, skills, and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or an interview.
Your résumé and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
·Resume
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s),which may not be required for all applicants:
Résumé
Applicants claiming veterans preference must also submit:
Transcripts
Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP Eligibility must also submit:
Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted. You will not be contacted for additional information.
In addition to the information listed above, please use this checklist to ensure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), documentation to support veterans preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced federal employees).
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
All applicants are encouraged to apply online.
To apply for this position, you must complete the View Occupational Questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on Wednesday, January 24, 2018 to receive consideration.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Faxing Applications or Supporting Documents: You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. If you are unable to apply online or unable to upload your supporting documents to your online application, follow the directions located at the following site: Fax Options. The Vacancy ID of the job opportunity announcement is 2028229.
Please note the following information about applying via fax:
How you will be evaluated:
After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. During our review, if your résumé and application package do not support your questionnaire answers, we will adjust your rating accordingly.
Your application will be evaluated using the category rating method based on your responses to the assessment questions and the documents you submit. If you meet the basic requirements for the position, your application will be evaluated and placed into one of three categories:
1. Best Qualified Category - Candidates who meet the minimum qualification requirements and demonstrate a high level of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.
2. Well Qualified Category - Candidates who meet the minimum qualification requirements and demonstrate a satisfactory level of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.
3. Qualified Category - Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications requirements.
Note: Candidates eligible for veterans' preference will be placed ahead of other candidates in the appropriate category for which they have been rated. Additionally, preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent and who meet the minimum qualification requirements will automatically be placed in the best qualified category.
After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email (if provided). Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USAJOBS account and clicking on "Application Status." For a more detailed update of your status, click on "more information." Information regarding applicant notification points can be found in the USAJobs Resource Center.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/488762800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
Vacancy Identification Number (VIN): 2028229
OUR MISSION: To fulfill
President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the
battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the
men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a
part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?