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Field Examiner

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Benefits Administration
Indianapolis Regional Office

Summary

You will serve as a Field Examiner (FE) for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), located in the Fiduciary Hub. The FE determines the payee (fiduciary) best suited to the needs and situation of VA beneficiaries who are incompetent due to legal, mental, or physical disability or minority. The Field Examiner ensures that beneficiaries receive all the benefits they are entitled to, and takes necessary actions to protect their assets.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Location
5 vacancies in the following locations:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$52,727 - $82,938 per year

Salary will be set based on the locality rate of the selectee.

Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Promotion potential
11
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
50% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
Yes
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Other
Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
Yes
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
326-FY26-MES-13022499-BU
Control number
879877100

Duties

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Specific duties include:

  • Performs visits to Veterans and beneficiaries to evaluate physical and mental conditions or capacity; independently determine ability to handle or manage funds.
  • Conducts field examinations to determine who to appoint as fiduciaries for incompetent or minor beneficiaries.
  • Verify the welfare and adequate living conditions of Veterans under fiduciary care and make arrangements for deficiencies.
  • Conduct background investigations on proposed fiduciaries.
  • Reviews and reports on fiduciary performance; conduct investigations involving the misuse of VA funds.
  • Explain laws and regulations governing fiduciary responsibilities to Veteran, beneficiary and fiduciary.
  • Investigate and make determinations on identified misuse, complaints, allegations, contested claims for benefits, special apportionments, eligibility for VA compensation, etc.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. The grade progression for this position is GS-09-GS-11.

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday
Compressed/Flexible: The hours for this position are 8:00am-4:30pm.
Telework: No -This position is not eligible for telework.
Remote/Virtual: This is not a remote/virtualposition. This is a mobile position.
Position Description/PD#: Field Examiner; 36002A, 35902A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Financial Disclosure Report: 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.

Additional Conditions of Employment are as follows:
  • 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 or trial 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 I-9 Acceptable Documents.
  • Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
  • A complete application package must be submitted by 08/17/2026: Resume, transcripts, SF-50s etc.
  • You will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/17/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Applicants who are current Federal employees and who are current/former Federal employees must also meet time-in-grade requirements.

  • For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level.
  • For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 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. 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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
GS-09 Grade Level:
  • Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or higher. Specialized experience is defined as use of fact finding sources (i.e., conducting interviews, researching court records, etc.) to verify facts and obtain specific pieces of information; or, experience applying Federal, state and/or local laws and regulations to administer benefits programs or services; or, financial management experience for individuals or businesses. Examples include, but are not limited to:
  • Conducting investigations into allegations of misconduct, compiling findings, and composing reports of recommended action.
  • Determining an applicant's eligibility for welfare programs in accordance with state laws and program regulations. -OR-
  • Education Substitution: You must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education or LL.B or J.D., if related.-OR-
  • A Combination of specialized experience and education: Equivalent combinations of Specialized Experience and Graduate level education. To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then, divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.
If you qualify based on your education, you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position, an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date.

GS-11 Grade Level:
  • Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or higher. Specialized experience is defined as experience conducting interviews in a state and/or Federal benefit/ services program capacity to obtain essential information and assess an individual's competency to make valid decisions; or, expertise in personal financial management for individuals in exceptionally unique or complex financial situations. -OR-
  • Education Substitution: You must have a PhD. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher level graduate education or LL.M., if related. -OR-
  • A Combination of specialized experience and education: Equivalent combinations of Specialized Experience and more than two years, but less than three years of education, as described above. To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. The divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond two years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.
If you qualify based on your education, you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position, an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date.

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: This job requires driving in government owned automobiles, often very long distances requiring overnight lodging. Some walking and climbing of stairs is required since interviews with VA beneficiaries are conducted at the residences of the beneficiaries.

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/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency: https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications with your transcript to receive credit.

Note: You may submit unofficial transcripts when applying. However, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to provide an official transcript or a statement from the institution (e.g., from the registrar, dean, or other appropriate official) or equivalent documentation prior to the start date.

Additional 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. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

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.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

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), https://www.va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf

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.

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.

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.

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

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork
  • INVESTIGATION: Conduct interviews, interrogations, investigations and inspections involving issues such as contested benefit claims, fraud, abuse, embezzlement, special apportionment, dependent status, etc.
  • JUDGMENT/DECISION: Demonstrate cognitive thinking for the purpose of reaching a decision, drawing sound conclusions, or making critical distinctions about people, situations, ideas or events through assessment, comparison and/or deliberation.
  • ORAL COMMUNICATION: Verbally explain laws, programs and processes clearly to individuals/corporations; communicate to obtain info, coordinate services/benefits; verbally report facts and findings to represent claimant and/or government.
  • FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT/BUDGETING: Apply basic budget, accounting and fund control principles to estimate spending and manage funds.
  • CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: Demonstrates objective, unbiased views, promote calm dialogue/cooperation, exhibit foresight to identify and defuse conflict before it occurs.
  • RESEARCH/ANALYSIS: Conduct research by reviewing information/records of financial/bank statements, case files, correspondence for compliance or investigative purposes, analyze information/data to make appropriate decisions and referrals.
  • SELF-MANAGEMENT: Sets well defined and realistic goals: monitors progress and time, self-motivated to achieve and deal with stress effectively/appropriately.
  • TECHNICAL COMPETENCE: Knowledge of Federal, state and local laws, regulations, policies, guidelines, procedures and judicial determinations applicable to benefits programs. (Describe situations in which you assessed benefits eligibility and applied applicable laws, rules, regulations, and procedures.)
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.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. 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 an interview.

To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13022499

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?

The VA has adopted Core Values and Characteristics that apply universally across the Department. The five Core Values define "who we are," our culture, and how we care for Veterans, their families and other beneficiaries.

The Values are Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence ("I CARE").As a VA professional, your opportunities are endless. With many openings in the multiple functions of VA, you will have a wide range of opportunities and leadership positions at your fingertips.

Agency contact information

Maeve Costello
Phone
313-596-7207
Email
maeve.southward@va.gov
Address
VBACO HRC Detroit
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.

https://www.vacareers.va.gov/

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