OIG is organized into seven operational units: the Immediate Office of the Inspector General, Office of the Counselor, Office of Audits and Evaluations, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Office of Investigations, Office of Management and Administration, and Office of Special Reviews. In addition to the Washington, DC, headquarters, OIG has offices located in more than 60 locations throughout the country.
OIG is organized into seven operational units: the Immediate Office of the Inspector General, Office of the Counselor, Office of Audits and Evaluations, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Office of Investigations, Office of Management and Administration, and Office of Special Reviews. In addition to the Washington, DC, headquarters, OIG has offices located in more than 60 locations throughout the country.
All Candidates who are: Internal employees of VAOIG who are Status Candidates or currently serving on a Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA), OR CTAP eligibles.
This position will be located in ONE following locations: Arlington, VA; Asheville, NC; Aurora, CO; Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Bay Pines, FL; Bedford, MA; Canandaigua, NY; Cleveland, OH; Columbia, SC; Dallas, TX; Atlanta, GA; San Diego, CA; Decatur, GA; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Fayetteville, NC; Gainesville, FL; Hines, IL; Houston, TX; Jackson, MS; Kansas City, MO; Katy, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Lyons, NJ; Manchester, NH; Martinez, CA; Miami, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Montgomery, AL; Nashville, TN; New Orleans, LA; Oakland, CA; Orange, CT; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; Richmond, VA; Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; San Antonio, TX; Seattle, WA; Spokane, WA; Tallahassee, FL; Trenton, NJ; Washington DC; West Palm Beach, FL.
OIG's Office of Investigations (OI) investigates crimes and other violations of law committed against Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs and operations by employees and non-employees. These criminal and civil investigations involve a wide range of subject areas, including health care, procurement, education benefits and construction fraud; cyber-crime; bribery, embezzlement and conflicts of interest; narcotics offenses; and violent crimes. OI is composed of seven regional field offices and seven headquarters divisions.
As a/an Investigative Analyst, you will:
- Investigative leads are identified through pre-established investigative initiatives or developed on an ad hoc basis from OI support requests or referrals from other sources. These leads are then resolved by the investigative analyst using multiple research tools. Research will result in either a referral to the appropriate headquarters program manager, investigative field division, or a determination that there is no evidence that a criminal, civil, or administrative violation has occurred.
- Independently monitor, review, and update assigned national and local investigative initiatives to determine whether initiatives are generating productive leads for VA OIG and acts when necessary to modify the investigative steps to ensure productive leads are generated or makes recommendations to OI when the initiative is no longer productive.
- Independently prepare and conduct briefings on new analytical tools and techniques, common education, healthcare, procurement, and/or contracting fraud schemes as well as models/frameworks utilized to detect fraud schemes and potential new fraud trends ; incumbent acts as a resource for agents in the chosen division as well as for personnel in the field. Provide analysis information to VA OIG Special Agents and VA OIG leadership.
- Conduct valid and reliable research to analyze internal and external information to assess risk factors and identify high-risk areas. Evaluate complex systems, controls information, and provides sufficient, competent and reliable evidence to support issues on integrity situations, and provides expert level advise on changes to programs or areas of weakness within the selected program area. Interviews VA and VA OIG stake holders as needed to fully evaluate business process internal controls. Ensure all elements of findings are developed and provides appropriate recommendations to senior leadership and explains possible changes to the programs.
The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé.
Key Requirements:
You must meet the following requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
For the GS-14, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-13grade level in the Federal service.In addition to the above requirements, you must meet the following time-in-grade requirement, if applicable: For the GS-14, you must have been at the GS-13level for 52 weeks.
Time After Competitive Appointment: Candidates who are current Federal employees serving on a nontemporary competitive appointment must have served at least three months in that appointment.
This positions does not have an education requirement.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
How You will be Evaluated:
Your application includes your résumé, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your résumé includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.
Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas: Analytical, Communication and Technical.
Your application will be rated and ranked among others, based on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, training, performance appraisals and awards relevant to the duties of this position. Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.
Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview and/or a writing assessment. Applicants who are selected for an interview may ask questions about the evaluation process at the time they are contacted for an interview.
If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)) you must receive a score of 92 or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.
A complete application includes 1. A résumé, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).
It is anticipated that there will be significant interest in the announcement. As a result, the announcement will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on the date of receipt of the 200th application or at 11:59 p.m. ET on 01/24/2023; whichever occurs first. Any required documents should be submitted at the time that you apply as documents will not be accepted after the vacancy closes.
All applicants are required to submit a résumé either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your résumé. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your résumé to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view résumé tips.
CURRENT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES -- Documentation Relating to Your Federal Employment: Submit a copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which shows your current (or most recent) grade and competitive service status. (The "position occupied" block on the SF-50 should show a "1" and your "tenure" block should show a "1" or "2".)
- If you are currently on a Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA), submit a copy of an SF-50 showing that. Also, you must submit a copy of your DD214 or other documentation showing dates of service and type of discharge and any other applicable documents such as SF-15, VA letters, etc.- Indicate on your application the highest permanent grade you have held; if this grade is different from your current grade, submit a copy of an additional SF-50 showing this grade.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: Submit a copy of your most recent completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application.
Recommended Documents: In addition, we recommend that you submit copies of the following:
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.
VAOIG has partnered with the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service to provide certain personnel services to its organization. Fiscal Service's responsibilities include advertising vacancies, accepting and handling applications, and extending job offers.
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.
The Bureau provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.
Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. We will review your resume and transcript(s) (if appropriate) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each applicant who meets the basic qualifications on the information provided and may interview the best-qualified applicants. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct any required suitability and/or security background investigation.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.