Clarification from the agency

This position is open to current permanent employees of the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) and CTAP eligible applicants only.

Major duties of the position include, but are not limited to:

• Furnishes technical advice and lends assistance and guidance to Members of Congress and their staff in response to inquiries concerning their veteran constituency.
• Reviews and interprets legislation, procedures, policy and instructions in the administration of veterans benefits in order to assist Members of Congress and their staff.
• Interprets and clarifies instructions or explains and outlines appropriate VA procedures in answer to requests concerning casework matter.
• Studies and projects of a complex and difficult nature presented to the VA by House and Senate Members and their staff which also may involve business and professional groups and veteran service organizations.
• Acts on own initiative to establish and continually maintain a good rapport with House Members and their staff in order to effect the closest possible working relationship with House and Senate Members and their staff.
• Gives advice and assistance to House and Senate Members and their staff regarding options and/or courses of action open to veterans and their dependents in securing their statutory benefits.
• Assigns casework to subordinate staff members, ensures adequate coverage, assists subordinate staff members on complex assignments; deferring to the Director and Assistant Director as necessary.
• Articulate and communicate to the team the assignment, project, problem to be solved, actionable events, milestones, and/or program issues under review, and deadlines and time frames for completion.
• Research, learn and apply a wide range of qualitative and/or quantitative methods to identify, assess, analyze and improve team effectiveness, efficiency and work products.

Conditions of employment

Conditions of Employment

• 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
• 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

• 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/20/2026.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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 some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment]. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
  • Congressional Correspondence Management: Drafting, reviewing, and editing high-level, politically sensitive correspondence (e.g., for Congress, agency heads) to ensure accuracy, tone, and policy alignment.
  • Briefing and Advocacy: Preparing and delivering briefing materials, talking points, issue briefs, and decision products for senior officials ahead of hearings, meetings, or inquiries.
  • Coordinating Responses: Managing the flow of inquiries from Congressional offices, facilitating responses from agency subject matter experts, and maintaining suspense tracking.
  • Handling Sensitive Inquiries: Resolving complex constituent casework or high-level inquiries involving multiple agencies or sensitive information.
  • Leading Staff: Providing technical guidance or mentorship to junior staff regarding legislative procedures, correspondence guidelines, and agency protocols.

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Knowledge Management
• Oral Communication
• Organizational Awareness
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Teamwork

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: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list series and grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 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.

Physical Requirements: There are no prolonged strenuous activities. This is a desk job with infrequent standing, walking, etc.

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/.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications.

• Leading a Team with a 90-percentile submission rate of Congressional Inquiries and requests
• Drafting and completing necessary documentation for the Agency regarding policies, reducing potential legislative risk
• Leading briefings on case management processes to Congressional Members and Staff
• Providing necessary research to interagency organizations such as GAO and OIG
• Providing assistance to management regarding requests for information and case work from Member and Committee Offices
• Managing the workflow and administrative processes for the Congressional Liaison Service
• Ensuring leaders are aware of high visibility and sensitive information involving Congressional casework
• Providing analysis for highly complex inquiries regarding Veteran constituent issues
• Providing mentorship and oversight on complex legislative matters to junior staff, collaborative and efficient work environment while leading the team regarding sensitive Congressional staff inquiries
• Developing, reviewing and finalizing briefing material and responses to Congressional Committees and other specific audiences based on policy priorities

Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Washington, DC . This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 810 Vermont NW Ave, Washington, DC 20420.

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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. 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.

The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

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.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Knowledge Management
• Oral Communication
• Organizational Awareness
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Teamwork

Area of Consideration: Eligible applicants will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

• All current, permanent VA Employees in the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA)

During the application process, you will 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.