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Lead Program Analyst

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Benefits Administration
Office of Field Operations
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Office of Field Operations (OFO). This position serves as the Lead Program Analyst within a team of analysts within the Administrative, Budget and Communications Staff responsible for supporting OFO, Regional Offices, senior leadership and stakeholders.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open date: 07/30/2026
Closed date: 07/30/2026
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy. THIS IS A VIRTUAL POSITION. Appointee will be expected to report to the nearest VA Regional Office.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$107,446 - $139,684 per year

Salary shown is the base salary for a GS-14 Step-1 thru Step-10. Actual salary to be determined upon selection.

Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Other
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
101-OFO-13022168-26-ZG-NBU
Control number
878496000

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open to current Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees within the Office of Field Operations (OFO).

Duties

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Specific duties include:

  • Ensures strategic plan and overall mission and goals are incorporated into the team's work products and services.
  • Formulates and presents multi-year budget estimates for assigned business areas and ancillary programs. Coaches team members in preparing budget narratives to explain appropriation requests in a clear and concise manner. Communicate deadlines to team members and ensure deadlines are met.
  • Assists supervisor in managing workload and prioritizing work among the team to ensure timely and effective accomplishment of tasks. Monitors the progress of work and notifies management in advance of any expected delays to completion.
  • Conducts thorough analysis of the budgetary impact of legislation, regulations, and management initiatives. Works closely with regional offices to request data, develop assumptions based on program expertise, and incorporate other relevant information into cost estimates. Works with team members in applying problem solving methods and practices with the development of cost estimates. Ensures consistent and accurate caseload and average payment data are used and that a sound methodology is written to document calculations.
  • Provides cross training to team members with accomplishing certain tasks. Trains team members to effectively accomplish tasks. Provides mentoring to other team members. Facilitates team building by improving communication and collaboration among the team.
  • Serves as a liaison between OFO and Department-level budget staff. Collaborates with other VA budget staff and VA actuaries projecting liabilities. Works with team to develop an agreement on recommendations and findings and presents the information to supervisor and/or in meetings with other leaders and program officials.
  • Serves as the lead on special projects and ad hoc requests, such as cost estimates for regulations and legislation that would impact various business lines. Provides flexibility for the staff in completing urgent and emerging requests.
  • Provides expert advice on specific tasks and makes available written instructions, reference materials, and relevant background material and obtains needed information on decisions from supervisor on major problems and issues that come up.
  • Performs a wide variety of administrative and analytical duties connected with budget formulation, justification, presentation, execution, and review of VBA's field operations.
  • Executes the budget for OFO and regional offices, to include reviewing apportionment requests, allocating funding authority, monitoring available funding in fiscal systems, formulating expenditure plans, analyzing monthly obligation/outlays and caseload reports, and updating the status of funds.
  • Ensures the appropriate funding source is used and that funding requests are reasonable.
  • Participates in briefings as needed and prepares briefing materials for management and VBA leadership upon request.
  • Reviews and recommend modifications and improvements in management reporting systems pertaining to OFO's budget. Directs and conducts special studies regarding budget operations and procedures. Recommends changes and improvements in VA's budget process to higher level supervisors.
  • Provides feedback to OFO leadership to improve complex processes, monitor progress, adjust in accordance with established priorities, and more timely complete assignments.
  • Prepare executive correspondence and briefings; leads discussions with VBA senior leaders, congressional staff, VSOs, and other stakeholders.
  • Performs other duties, as assigned.
Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.
Virtual: This is a virtual position. Appointee will be expected to report to the nearest VA Regional Office
Position Description/PD#: Lead Program Analyst; 42239A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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.
  • 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
Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/03/2026.

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.

  • For a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13 level.
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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
GS-14 Grade Level:
  • Specialized Experience: Applicants 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. Specialized experience is defined as formulating, justifying, and executing multi-year budgets for an organization. Providing oversight of and adjustment to existing budgets through cost-benefit analyses and long-range analyses. Preparing executive level briefing related to budget execution.

Volunteer Experience: 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.
Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week.
Physical Requirements: Employment is sedentary; the employee sits comfortably to do the work. There may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying light items, such as papers, books, small parts; or boxes. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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/.

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.

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 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/.

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.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

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.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement.

To determine if you need a RA, please review the
Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.
https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/28980686389652-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

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 (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Financial Management
  • Problem Solving
  • Communication
  • Self-Management
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.

This position will utilize a Structured Interview Assessment which includes a pass/fail score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the pass score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the pass 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.

Veterans Benefits Administration

OUR MISSION: "To fulfill President Lincoln's promise to care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors." How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?

Agency contact information

Zachary Gordon
Phone
313-596-7200
Email
Zachary.Gordon@va.gov
Address
VBA Human Resources Center - Central Office
810 Vermont Ave NW
Washington, DC 20420
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Veterans Benefits Administration, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

http://www.va.gov/jobs

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