Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current, permanent federal employees; persons eligible for non-competitive appointment under special appointment authorities; current or former employees eligible under CTAP/ICTAP or reinstatement; and veterans eligible to apply under Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) and/or 30% or more disabled veterans.

This position participates, with the Director, Front Office Operations in the development of long- and short-range plans, goals, and objectives of the organization. Maintains keen organizational awareness of all business functions for the Office of Management.

Conducts or oversees the conduct of policy analysis and/or special studies relating to offices under the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary's (PDAS) and Chief of Staff jurisdiction, both in VA Central Office and field offices. As a recognized expert, the incumbent reviews for the PDAS and/or Chief of Staff plans and policy proposals which may involve exception cost, controversy, and/or intensive outside interest. Serves on task groups with Department representatives to address specific issues. Ensures that timely and responsible solutions are obtained.

Serves as the organization's primary point of contact for managing the Department's correspondence tracking system. Performs intake of all assigned correspondence, conducting executive reviews to ensure the organization has equity. Tasks sub-office subject matter experts for review of all assigned correspondence requiring the concurrence or signature of an authorized signer. Tracks and resolves edits, comments, or significant problems relating to such correspondence with the originating and concurring offices. Briefs leadership on the nature and policy implications of the correspondence and recommend courses of action. Coordinates, consolidates, and directs final preparation of recurring reports, based on knowledge of the organization's programs.

Performs research on management topics and prepares documents for the PDAS and/or Chief of Staff. Certain topics may be sensitive and confidential. Prepares briefing documents (analysis, charts, special study reports) for the PDAS and/or Chief of Staff for use in briefings and/or presentations to the Secretary, other VA management officials, and other Government or private sector organizations.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: Ad-hoc telework (situational telework) available as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: PD55070A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
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
• 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, 07/02/2026.

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 as described below:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Performing intake activities on correspondence tasks, assignments, and inquiries to analyze the information and assign to the subject-matter office with accuracy and in a timely manner;
• Preparing and reviewing written products such as responses to Congressional and White House correspondence and inquiries, Government Accountability Office and Office of Inspector General Reports, briefing papers, talking points, and testimony responses; AND
• Demonstrating exceptional judgment, political awareness, strategic communication, and ability to operate effectively in a political sensitive environment, ensuring leadership has timely, accurate, and well-organized information to support executive decision-making.

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: The work is principally sedentary, and travel is normally not required. No special physical demands are required.

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/.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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 the formulation, critical review, and enterprise-level integration of policies, directives, program initiatives, and regulatory actions, including advising senior leadership on policy impacts, risk mitigation, and alignment with Departmental and Administration priorities.
• Resolving highly complex, cross-cutting policy and operational issues that span multiple organizational components and external partners, using advanced analytical techniques, stakeholder negotiation, and strategic problem-solving to drive consensus and implement sustainable solutions.
• Conducting in-depth research and synthesis of sensitive and high-risk management topics and producing executive-level decision memoranda, briefings, and strategic analyses for principal deputies, chiefs of staff, or equivalent officials, requiring sound judgment and strict confidentiality.
• Designing, structuring, and leading department-wide, congressional, and public messaging and outreach strategies, and representing senior leadership when providing authoritative guidance to internal and external stakeholders on matters involving oversight bodies, customer concerns, or high-visibility inquiries.
• Executing executive-level review and adjudication of complex correspondence requiring senior leadership concurrence or signature, resolving substantive policy conflicts with originating offices, briefing senior officials on implications and risks, and recommending defensible courses of action.
• Coordinating, consolidating, and directing the preparation of recurring and ad hoc reports under senior leadership jurisdiction, critically reviewing and editing contributions from multiple components to ensure technical accuracy, policy consistency, and readiness for external scrutiny.

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 Ave NW, 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.

You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Analytical Reasoning
• Communications
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Organizational Awareness

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

• All current, permanent VA Employees in the Office of Management
• All other current, permanent VA employees
• All other applicants (if status)

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.