Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to current, permanent employees in the Rehabilitation Care Line at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center.

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The Major Duties of the Recreation Specialist position include, but are not limited to:

Spinal Cord Injury & Dysfunction (SCI&D) Team Coach:

a. This position is exclusively responsible for sports training, activities, and attendance at all minor and major sports activities and athletic activities that expand outside the facility at local, state, and national levels.
b. This position must know the physical and psychological factors in individual and team sports, and the nature, purpose and organization of individual and team sports activities.
c. This position is the key to the success of activities directed toward developing and teaching spinal cord injury patient athletes in the skills, techniques, and rules of individual and team sports.
d. This position must possess knowledge of the planning, organization, and conduction of inter-facility, local, state, and national competitions and tournaments.
e. This position bears heavily upon the success of team relationships and of public relations with officials, the press, competitors, fellow patients and the general public.
f. This position is responsible for developing individual athletes and teams of athletes with varying level skills based on disabilities who can compete in competitive sports activities that range from mild to highly competitive.
g. This position must possess and apply a basic knowledge of the goals, principles, methods, and techniques of the broader field of recreation, including not only sports, but a great variety of other leisure time activities.
h. Is responsible for planning and carry out of local, state, and national team sporting events under the direction of the Recreation Therapy Supervisor.

Community Living Center (CLC) Activity Coordination:

a. Responsible for planning, organizing and directing activities and recreation programs (including such activities as games, parties, music, social programming, electronic gaming, sports, and arts and crafts) to effect improvement and achievement in the physical, mental and social well-being of the patients. This meets the therapeutic objectives of diminishing emotional stress, providing a sense of achievement, channeling energies and interests, aiding physical and mental rehabilitation, and promoting successful community re-entry.
b. Administers a wide variety of recreation treatment, modalities and procedures outlined in the plan of care provided by a Recreation Therapist as part of the total plan of care of patients which range from spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, rehabilitation short stay/long stay, dementia, and respite/end of life.
c. Uses recreation or creative art activity modalities to maintain or achieve rehabilitation of physical and/or mental health.
d. Conduct group and individual recreation activities according to patients' needs, capabilities and interests; determine and implement necessary precautions in exercising responsibility for the care and safety of patients. Consult with certified therapeutic recreation therapists (CTRS), nursing personnel, medical staff and other members of the health team to assess the recreational needs of patients.
e. Collaborates in the development, implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of the patient's comprehensive plan of care to achieve anticipated outcomes.
f. Uses advance practice skills to plan, develop, implement and evaluate outcomes of individual and group activities for all patients.
g. Serves as a mentor and clinical resource for staff and students to promote an atmosphere of continual learning.
h. Participate in patient care conferences and makes recommendations concerning new recreational therapy methods and techniques.

Additional Responsibilities of Duties Described Above:

a. Documentation: Responsibility for the documentation associated with the programs like plans of care and individual, group and special group sessions.

b. Equipment and Work Areas: Utilize equipment for patient treatment, assess equipment needs and maintains stock and inventory by ordering and receiving the needed supplies.

c. Administrative Responsibilities: Maintain records, report ideas to improve operations, participate in weekly section care planning meetings, and assist with workload data entry, tracer methodology and peer review.

d. Purchase Card Holder: Serve as an additional purchase card hold for the service, as directed by the Administrative Officer.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm
Telework: Ad-Hoc only, per agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Recreation Specialist/PD928670
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/29/2026.

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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Individual Occupational Requirements:

Recreation Specialist, GS-9. Undergraduate and Graduate Education (This would be a Bachelor's Degree or higher): Major study -- general recreation, or one of the appropriate fields of recreation such as outdoor recreation; recreation and parks leadership; wild land recreation management; natural resources recreation; youth recreation; public, urban, or community recreation; special populations recreation (e.g., senior citizens, institutional, etc.); or physical education.

OR,

Specialized Experience: Experience that demonstrated the ability to apply the principles of one or more specialty areas of recreation. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:

• Planning, organizing, coordinating, supervising, or evaluating community, industrial, outdoor, institutional, or other recreational programs.
• Planning, establishing, or evaluating a recreational curriculum for junior college or higher academic levels.
• Instructing in the principles and techniques of recreational program planning and management.
• Serving in a leadership role in the programs and activities of local, regional, and/or national recreational organizations.

Grade Level Requirements, GS-9 Recreation Specialist.

Specialized Experience: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-7, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience for this position would include:

1. Knowledge of physical and psychological factors in individual and team sports activities.
2. Knowledge of planning, organization, and conduction of inter-facility, local, state, and national competitions and tournaments.
3. Ability to maintain public relationships with officials, the press, competitors, fellow patients and the general public.
4. Skill in working individually with each patient to ensure schedules and training sessions are set up based on the patient's expertise or programming/sporting event categories.
5. Ability to maintain financial account information, data on attendance, and class participation.

OR,

Education: A Master's or equivalent graduate degree

or,

2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree

or,

LL.B. or J.D.

(Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work and transcripts must be provided.)

OR,

A Combination of Experience and Education. Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 year of graduate level education may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-09. The education and experience must be directly related to the work of the position to be filled.

Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion such as standing or walking for prolonged periods of time; frequent bending, reaching, stooping, and stretching to set up and take down equipment and apparatus; lifting and repositioning patients; and pushing or pulling heavy objects. The work may require specific physical characteristics and abilities such as above-average dexterity to perform intricate activities/procedures. Moderate to heavy lifting (between 5-50 pounds) is required for assisting patients. The work involves standing, lifting, and walking, with some physical exertion required to assist the patients in wheelchairs, power mobility or specialty sporting device and/or with impaired mobility.


For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Reading Comprehension
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.