Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Office of Operations, Security, & Preparedness, Personnel Security Adjudication Center (PSAC)

This position reports to the Director of the PSAC and carries out the day-to-day responsibilities of the Director when the Director is absent. The PSAC is responsible for determining eligibility for national security clearances and eligibility to hold positions of public trust for all VA employees. The PSAC also determines eligibility for all contractors supporting VA work under contracts that are determined to be public trust (Moderate and High Risk) as well as overall contractor fitness (Low Risk). As one of the eight Franchise Fund Centers within VA, the PSAC is responsible for supporting the security and suitability line of business, within the Security and Law Enforcement Enterprise of the Fund and providing common administrative support services for the entire VA and other government agency customers.

DUTIES:

• Serves as the Deputy to the Director of the PSAC, which is one of the Department's Franchise Fund Enterprise Centers.
• Responsible for the day-to-day management and supervision for a team consisting of one (1) Senior Financial Management Specialist, two (2) Financial Management Specialists, an Administrative Officer, and three (3) Information Technology Specialists.
• Responsible for the day-to-day management of the PSAC, PVCM, OSP Operations in the absence of the Director of the PSAC.
• Serves as the first line supervisor of his subordinate staff with full supervisory authority.
• As the Deputy Director of the PSAC in the execution of the PSAC's mission which, on a nationwide basis, includes processing and adjudicating all personnel security clearances for VA, as well as processing and adjudicating all requests for Public Trust eligibility for VA personnel and all contractor(s) requests.
• Provides policy and guidance to the PSAC staff on the maintenance of records for personnel security clearances, suitability adjudications, and continuity of operations.
• Responsible for assisting the Director in the development of objectives, establishment of goals, and the assignment of projects, the formulation and implementation of procedures, regulations, etc. and for providing technical guidance for and about the VA Personnel Suitability and Security Program.
• Participates in meetings, seminars and conferences within VA and throughout the federal government.
• Presents the PSAC position with respect to any facet of personnel security and suitability processes and procedures.
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge on changes to statutes and regulations and technical requirements for the background investigation application process requirements; initiation of background investigation process; and the concepts, methodology, and techniques applied to the adjudication of background investigations.
• Responsible for working directly with the Administrative Officer regarding all PSAC personnel actions. Maintains liaison with the Deputy for the Personnel Vetting and Credential Management and the Deputy for the Office of Resource Management regarding promotions, within grade increases, announcing positions, reviewing program descriptions, etc.

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, 06/08/2026.

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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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 and/or education as described below:

Specialized Experience GS-14: Must have one year equivalent to at least the grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation 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. Specialized experience includes:

• Experience working with requirements (e.g. forms, documentation, fingerprints, etc.) necessary to obtain any type of background investigation (e.g. T1/NACI, T2/MBI, T4/Bl, etc.) and assisting employees, contractors, affiliates, and volunteers with any questions they may have about these requirements.
• Working with regulations, policies, procedures, principles, and concepts that govern VA's Personnel Security and Suitability Program.
• Working with wide range of personnel security and suitability concepts, principles, and practices to independently review, analyze, and resolve difficult and complex problems.
• Applying a wide range of personnel security and suitability theories, principles, laws, rules, regulations, and procedures to identify interrelated problems, draw conclusions, and recommend appropriate courses of action.

• Conflict Management
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Manages Resources
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating

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: Work is often sedentary. Some work may require walking and standing in conjunction with inter-office and staff coordination, staff conferences, and other action requiring frequent visits to other offices and departments and/or agencies.

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: Experience working with requirements (e.g. forms, documentation, fingerprints, etc.) necessary to obtain any type of background investigation (e.g. T1/NACI, T2/MBI, T4/Bl, etc.) and assisting employees, contractors, affiliates, and volunteers with any questions they may have about these requirements. Working with regulations, policies, procedures, principles, and concepts that govern VA's Personnel Security and Suitability Program.

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 North Little Rock, AR 72114. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 2200 Fort Roots Drive, North Little Rock, AR 72114 .

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.

Supervisory Situational Judgement Test. Applicants will be required to complete a Supervisory Situational Judgment Test (SSJT) as part of the assessment process for this position. The SSJT evaluates judgment, decision-making, and leadership competencies associated with effective supervision in a Federal work environment. Assessment results may be used as part of the evaluation, ranking and referral process. This is not a timed test, however, the assessment is expected to take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete.

• Conflict Management
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Manages Resources
• Partnering
• Planning and Evaluating

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

• All current, permanent VA Employees in Office of Operations, Security, & Preparedness, Personnel Security Adjudication Center (PSAC)

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.