Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open ONLY to current, permanent Philadelphia Insurance Business Line employees and current/former VA employees who are CTAP eligible.

The incumbent is assigned responsibility for the accounting of all life insurance funds to include the United States Government Life Insurance Fund, the National Service Life Insurance Fund, the Veterans Special Life Insurance Fund, the Veterans Reopened Insurance Fund, the Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance Fund, the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Fund, the Veterans Insurance and Indemnities Fund, and the Veteran Affairs Life Insurance Fund, in the capacity required.

Other duties include but are not limited to:

• The Supervisory Accountant is a technical expert in Insurance budget and accounting policy and procedure development, the quality and accuracy of financial reports, reconciliation, and processes concerning Insurance Service programs. They also provide technical accounting, budgeting and operational advice, guidance, and general management for the VA Insurance Service.
• Exercises supervisory responsibility for the planning, formulation, execution, and oversight of the
• Insurance program budget. Provides direction to staff on budget preparation, cost analysis, and financial reporting. Reviews, approves, and monitors expenditures to ensure compliance with federal fiscal policies and internal controls. Advises senior leadership on resource needs and funding impacts, and ensures the organization operates within authorized budget levels.
• Incumbent is delegated broad authority for planning and directing the overall Insurance Service budget program.
• Prepares department position documents on a variety of subjects dealing with the Insurance budget and planning process.
• Provides financial advice for internal business line operating accounting programs. This may include, but is not limited to research, operations, or program maintenance in direct support of the mission or organizational objectives. Assists Senior Leadership in implementing Organization-wide accounting and administrative policies and standards.
• Advises on and/or performs professional financial accounting duties. Develops accounting and financial procedures and resolves technical problems in executing a computerized, integrated accounting system.
• Responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the official accounting records and documents for all Insurance programs and reconciling the general ledger to subsidiary accounts.

Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period OR 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period OR 2-year trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

• 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.

Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:04/26/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT:
Time-in-grade (TIG) requirements apply to applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks. 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. Some applicants may have to submit more than one SF-50 to demonstrate their eligibility.

Applicants must submit their most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50):

• Official SF-50 that shows you held the grade (or higher) for the full performance level of the position you are applying for, or
• Official SF-50 that shows you held the next lower grade for at least one year for the position you are applying for. (Multiple SF-50 may need to be submitted to show this.)

Examples of appropriate SF-50s to include which show TIG requirements have been met include:

• Within grade increases (WGI) at the highest grade held; or
• Promotions with an effective date that occurred more than one year from the closing date of the job opportunity announcement; or
• Most recent appointment

NOTE: Do not submit Award of General Adjustment SF-50s, as they do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.

See the required documents section for more information.

The Supervisory Accountant series requires that all applicants meet both the Basic Requirement per the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) AND the Specialized Experience described below:

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS (IOR): To qualify for the Supervisory Accountant position, candidates must meet the following basic requirements:

1. 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

2. 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:
   1. Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;
   2. A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or
   3. 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.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade GS-13. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves discretionary/mandatory budgets, risk management principles, and accounting principles. Specialized experience is further defined as:

1. Advising senior officials on the development, presentation, execution, and operational direction of all budgeting functions, to include reviewing budget estimates, identifying changes, making recommendations to management, and developing administrative cost estimates.
2. Providing oversight to Accounting personnel in the preparation of accurate financial statements by completing manual transactions in the General Ledger and Completing monthly reconciliations.
3. Overseeing and assisting with the completion of financial audits and financial reporting.
4. Advising management on the development, presentation, and execution enterprise risk management programs.

There is no Educational Substitution for the GS-14 level.

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.

The Office of Personnel Management's group coverage qualification standards, associated individual occupational requirements (IOR), and individual qualification standards covering white collar occupations in the Federal competitive service can be found here.

How you will be evaluated

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:

• Accounting - Knowledge of traditional accounting practices including accrual, obligations, and costs methods.
• Budget Administration - Knowledge of the principles and practices of budget administration and analysis; including preparing, justifying, reporting on, and executing the budget; and the relationships among program, budget, accounting, and reporting systems.
• Financial Management - Prepares, justifies, and/or administers the budget for program area; plans, administers, and monitors expenditures to ensure cost-effective support of programs and policies.
• Analytical Reasoning - Analyzes (i.e. review and evaluate), comprehend and apply decisions based on data or complex information, weighs relevance and accuracy of information, generates and evaluates alternative solutions, makes recommendations or final determinations.
• Technical Competence - Understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise (for example, engineering, physical science, law, or accounting); maintains credibility with others on technical matters.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or an interview.

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 resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

Notice to Applicants: It is the policy of the Government not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. Information about an individual's employment experience will be used only to determine the person's qualifications and to assess his or her relative level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Although an individual's personal conduct may be relevant in any employment decision, including conduct during periods of unemployment or evidence of dishonesty in handling financial matters, financial difficulty that has arisen through no fault of the individual will generally not itself be the basis of an unfavorable suitability or fitness determination.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.