This position is in the Veterans Benefits Administration, San Diego Veterans Affairs Regional Office, Support Services Division, National Transcription Center; and serves as a Program Specialist responsible for administrative and technical work. The incumbent is responsible for managing the efficient, effective coordination and accomplishment of the planning scope, development, design and the Supervisory Office Automation Assistant caseload and the progress forward to claims resolution.
Summary
This position is in the Veterans Benefits Administration, San Diego Veterans Affairs Regional Office, Support Services Division, National Transcription Center; and serves as a Program Specialist responsible for administrative and technical work. The incumbent is responsible for managing the efficient, effective coordination and accomplishment of the planning scope, development, design and the Supervisory Office Automation Assistant caseload and the progress forward to claims resolution.
This vacancy announcement is open ONLY to current, permanent San Diego VBA Regional Office employees and current/former VA employees who are CTAP eligible.
The Transcription Program Specialist (TPS) works within the Support Services Division of the San Diego VBA Regional Office and is responsible for supporting Management and the Supervisory Office Assistant. Specific duties include:
Responsible for the overall management control and execution of the office programs within the National Transcription Center (NTC). Provides advice and guidance to managers, staff and Veteran Service Organizations (VSO).
Conducts quality assurance reviews of final transcripts produced by NTC.
Analyzes reports regarding production, quality, and timeliness goals/standards offering suggestions to management for improvements.
Prepares and conducts formal training sessions for newly hired personnel, refresher training and training required due to changes in procedures or standards.
Dual responsibility with the NTC Supervisor for suspense and control action of all approved recurring reports or other scheduled reports; i.e. OT reports, follow-up correspondence to staff members as required, transferring of transcripts to Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS), and logs.
The incumbent transcribes the most difficult voice recordings of complex testimony, to include a wide-range of topics and specialized and complex medical and legal terms.
Serves as the equipment and technological subject matter expert, ensuring that equipment used by OA Assistants and 50+ regional offices is up-to-date and in working order.
Work Schedule: Full-Time. Monday through Friday, 7:00AM to 3:30PM. Compressed/Flexible: Not Available. Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist (Transcription) / 38200A, 38201A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required.
Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
Subject to background/security investigation.
Applicants must submit complete application packet before job closes. Required and accepted documents include resume and any other eligibility supporting documentation, (i.e. education, military service, and prior federal service SF-50's).
Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
If you receive a conditional offer of employment you will be required to complete an Optional Form-306 Declaration for Federal Appointment (OF-306).
You may be required to serve a probationary period.
REAL ID Compliant Identification - Offices will no longer be able to validate Driver’s licenses or state-issued (ID) cards that aren’t REAL ID compliant. REAL IDs are required if you plan to use as a primary identification for I-9 purposes.
All federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/24/2026.
If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS- 7/9(or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS- 9.
And,
1. TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" showing that you are in the competitive service and the highest grade or promotion potential held. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess (1) year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates (1) year time-in-grade. General Adjustment and Award SF-50's cannot be used for time-in-grade verification purposes.
For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05.
For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07.
2. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:In addition to the Time In Grade Requirement, all applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirements as described below:
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
GS-7: Specialized experience is defined as experience in a wide range of medical or legal transcriptions. This experience should document experience researching legal and/or medical terminology, and experience drafting documents with proper grammar, punctuation, spelling and the proper format for different types of hearings being transcribed.
GS-9: In addition to the skills for the GS-07 level, specialized experience for the GS-09 must document experience in the performance of program analysis and evaluation to meet goals, and experience conducting quality assurance reviews.
OR,
Education:
For GS-07, you must have at least 1 full year of graduate level education, or have earned superior academic achievement in your bachelor's degree.
For GS-09, you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree.
OR,
Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond graduate 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.
Note: 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.
A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.
Additional information
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.
VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
The 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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about 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/.
Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
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 on the following Competencies for this position:
Problem Solving- Identifies and analyzes problems; uses sound reasoning to arrive at conclusions; finds alternative solutions to complex problems; distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information to make logical judgements. Skilled in analyzing and prioritizing work, and the effectiveness of a program, to meet established goals and objectives.
Quality Assurance- Knowledge of principles, methods, and tools of quality assurance and quality control used to ensure a product fulfills functional requirements and standards.
Education and Training- Knowledge of teaching, training, research, making presentations, lecturing, testing, and other instructional methods.
Oral Communication- Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
Technology Awareness- Knowledge of developments and new applications of information technology (hardware, software, telecommunications), emerging technologies and their applications to business processes, and applications and implementation of information systems to meet organizational requirements.
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 contact for 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.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in lack of consideration for this job announcement.You will not be contacted for additional information.
Resume detailing specialized experience and competencies as they relate to this position.
For each position in your resume, you must specify the start and end dates (month/year) and a description of duties. If the position was Federal, you should also indicate the grade level. Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including documentation supporting Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications.
Your experience must be clearly stated in your resume. We cannot make assumptions on your experience based on your current, or former, position titles on your resume. Failure to clearly demonstrate your qualifying experience in your resume may result in disqualification for this position and your rating will be adjusted as necessary.
A copy of your transcripts if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
In addition to the document above, you must submit additional documents to prove your eligibility for the following:
CTAP: for displaced Federal/VA employees.
SF-50 showing Career or Career-Conditional status; AND
Reduction-In-Force (RIF) Notice or a certification of expected separation (not a resignation letter);AND
Most recent performance appraisal.
Current/Former Federal Employees -You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" showing that you are in the competitive service and the highest grade or promotion potential held. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess (1) year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates (1) year time-in-grade.General Adjustment and Award SF-50's cannot be used for time-in-grade verification purposes.
Please use this checklist to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50s (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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.
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 06/24/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12982582.
To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Application page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
San Diego VA Regional Benefit Office
8810 Rio San Diego Drive
San Diego, CA 92108
US
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in lack of consideration for this job announcement.You will not be contacted for additional information.
Resume detailing specialized experience and competencies as they relate to this position.
For each position in your resume, you must specify the start and end dates (month/year) and a description of duties. If the position was Federal, you should also indicate the grade level. Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including documentation supporting Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications.
Your experience must be clearly stated in your resume. We cannot make assumptions on your experience based on your current, or former, position titles on your resume. Failure to clearly demonstrate your qualifying experience in your resume may result in disqualification for this position and your rating will be adjusted as necessary.
A copy of your transcripts if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
In addition to the document above, you must submit additional documents to prove your eligibility for the following:
CTAP: for displaced Federal/VA employees.
SF-50 showing Career or Career-Conditional status; AND
Reduction-In-Force (RIF) Notice or a certification of expected separation (not a resignation letter);AND
Most recent performance appraisal.
Current/Former Federal Employees -You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" showing that you are in the competitive service and the highest grade or promotion potential held. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess (1) year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates (1) year time-in-grade.General Adjustment and Award SF-50's cannot be used for time-in-grade verification purposes.
Please use this checklist to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50s (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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.
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 06/24/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12982582.
To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.To verify your application is complete, log into your USA JOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Application page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USA JOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USA JOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
San Diego VA Regional Benefit Office
8810 Rio San Diego Drive
San Diego, CA 92108
US
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
