Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open ONLY to current, permanent Veterans Affairs (VA) employees and current/former VA employees who are CTAP eligible.

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Duties are divided between counseling duties and case management which include the following, but are not limited to:

• Supervises Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) staff at out-based locations and within the Regional Office. The AVREO is responsible for the administration and workflow of the VR&E Division program.
• Facilitates operations with major public and private universities, community colleges, and vocational/technical institutes in the state to resolve training issues. Works closely with division teams in planning, designing, and carrying out programs, projects, studies, or other work to support the mission.
• Serves as a technical representative in developing, awarding, implementing, and evaluating contracts to provide professional counseling, evaluation, case management, employment, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) services. Gathers and interprets a wide range of data addressing service concerns and is able to recommend appropriate action based on that data.
• Evaluates the work performance of subordinates, make recommendations to fill division positions, receive employee complaints, approve employee travel, recommend awards and determine alternative courses of action to reduce work backlogs and barriers to production.
• Develops multi-year plans for scheduling in-service and contract work. The incumbent provides supervision of contract quality reviews and ensures that all contracting activity in the out-based offices or under the division control is consistent with regulatory requirements.
• Possess extensive knowledge about Department of Veterans Affairs laws, regulations, policies, and procedures and their proper utilization and application and must be aware of the full scope of benefits and services available through the Department of Veterans Affairs and other agencies or sources.
• Serves as the professional and technical expert to advise higher management in areas of education, training, psychology, testing, evaluation, counseling, rehabilitation, job development, and job placement in this capacity is responsible for implementing the counseling, training, and related rehabilitation services under Chapter 31 and other VA rehabilitation, educational, and training programs as well. Assists the VR&E Officer by providing professional and technical expertise in all phases of rehabilitation activities, including counseling, case management, rehabilitation plan development, and job development and placement.

Promotion Potential: This position is being selected at the full performance level.
Work Schedule: Full time, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Hours to be determined by hiring office.
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Hours to be determined by hiring office.
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.
Remote/Virtual: This is not a remote/virtual position.
Position Description Title/PD#: Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, PD002760
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Applicable
Bargaining Unit: No

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.
• Selectees are required to service a one-year supervisory probationary period if not previously completed in a Federal position.
• You may be 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 identification 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: Resume, transcripts, and any other required documents.
• 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

1. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: As a current Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

• For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 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.

Note: This series has a Basic Requirement per the following Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), and applicants will be required to meet both the IOR and the Specialized experience as listed on the announcement.

The IOR for this position is as follows:

2. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: To be eligible for this position, candidates must meet the following basic requirements:

1. 1. Supervised Internship: The education in the Basic Requirements above must have included a supervised internship in rehabilitation counseling or case management specialization. The internship must have been supervised by a professional in vocational rehabilitation or a closely related professional field that typically has oversight for vocational rehabilitation programs.

OR

2. 2. Experience: One-year post-master's degree experience in direct delivery of professional vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities.
3. Grandfathering Provision: VRCs employed in VBA on the effective date, July 28, 2023, of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including certifications that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:
4. 1. VRCs who are grandfathered into the GS-0101 occupational series may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance level of a career ladder or changed to a lower grade within the occupation or placed in a supervisory or managerial position.
   2. VRCs who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of this qualification standard may not be extended or reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of this standard.
   3. If VRCs who are grandfathered under this provision leave the occupation, they lose protected status and must meet the full qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

Reference: Additional information on the qualification requirements for this position can be located on the OCHCO VA Qualifications Standards website found here.

3. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: In addition to the time-in-grade and education/internship requirements, you must also meet the following grade-specific qualification requirements. Creditable experience must have been obtained post-graduate and be directly related to the duties to be performed to qualify to work as a professional VRC.

NOTE: If work experience is credited for the basic requirement, that experience cannot also be used for qualifying at the GS-13 level.

GS-13 Grade Level: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements stated above, one year of post-graduate level professional vocational rehabilitation counseling experience, equivalent to the GS-12 level is required.

• Specialized Experience: One year (52 weeks) of specialized vocational rehabilitation experience in a federal, state, and/or private vocational rehabilitation setting equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level. Specialized experience is defined as:
• (1) Specialization in vocational rehabilitation and employment programs;
• (2) Possessing knowledge and proficiency in the regulations of vocational and rehabilitation law;
• (3) Having the skills needed to administrate and counsel in the areas of entitlements for career development, job placement, psychology, rehabilitation, and counseling and;
• (4) The authority to control budgetary resources for approving and monitoring financial expenditures.

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.


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; religious; 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. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: The position is primarily in an office setting. Some travel may be necessary on occasion for training, meetings, or customer interactions.

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/.

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):

• Accountability
• Customer Service
• Decisiveness
• Flexibility
• Interpersonal Skills
• Problem Solving
• Resilience

• Customer Service - Works with clients and customers (that is, any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit produces, including the general public, individuals who work in the agency, other agencies, or organizations outside the Government) to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations; knows about available products and services; is committed to providing quality products and services.
• Planning and Evaluating- Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of planning, coordination, and execution of business functions, resource allocation, and production.
• Analysis and Problem Solving - Applies the process of discovery that involves the diagnosis of a problem or issue, identification and gathering of relevant information, formulation and evaluation of alternative solutions or courses of action, and selection or recommendation of the preferred solution or course of action.
• Management and Organizational Information - Identifies a need; gathers, organizes, and maintains information; determines its importance and accuracy, and communicates it by a variety of methods.

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.

To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13034427

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.

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.