Clarification from the agency

Current and permanent employees of VISN 21 Human Resources Management service (Station 497). A current Non-Award SF-50 must be submitted with application to meet the Area of Consideration requirement.

Videos

This position is responsible for improvement to HR service delivery will best support the needs of the VISN's diverse workforce and the expectations of management related to the acquisition, compensation, retention, and performance of staff as well as the consistent execution of HR-related administrative functions to benefit both staff and Veterans.

Major duties for the position may include but are not limited to:

• Incumbent serves as a VISN Shared Services Unit (SSU) R&P Team Lead with minimal supervision from the SSU R&P Supervisory HR Specialist. Responsible for the general working oversight of at least 5 HR Specialists (GS-0201-12) in the R&P SSU.
• Responsible for the general working oversight of at least 5 HR Specialists (GS-0201-12) in the R&P SSU.
• Distributes and balances workload among employees in accordance with staff work flow.
• Troubleshoots and resolves difficult and controversial internal and external staffing and placement problems.
• Evaluates applications and resumes using Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Veterans Administration (VA) qualification standards, verifies eligibility, and rates and ranks applicants.
• Adjudicates and makes decisions on applicant appeals and agency's request to pass over (or objects to) eligible(s) certified.
• Receives and reviews local and regional recruitment requests and contacts the Selecting Official to finalize the recruitment action.
• Reviews all Recruitment & Placement personnel actions to include reviewing and releasing actions.
• Coordinates with leadership stakeholders, to include local, regional and national leadership throughout the entire recruitment process.

Recruitment & Placement:

• Evaluates applications and resumes using Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and qualification standards.
• Responsible for drafting and preparing announcement(s); evaluating, rating and ranking applications; adjudicates veteran's preference.
• Prepares vacancy announcements based on Position Description (PD) and/or functional statements (FS) and Subject Matter Expert (SME).
• Identifies management problems and analyzes them from the management viewpoint.

Work Schedule: Full-time; Monday - Friday; Must work VISN 21 core hours; Subject to change to meet the needs of the Agency
Compressed/Flexible: 9/80 alternative work schedule available; ten hour shifts not authorized
Telework: Ad hoc telework authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Lead Human Resources Specialist (Recruitment & Replacement) - Detail/Temporary Promotion/PD99974A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary or 2-year trial 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 or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/10/2026.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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 former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

The BASIC REQUIREMENT for the HR Specialist GS-0201 series is presumed met if found qualified at the GS-0201-7 level and above.

To qualify for this position at the GS-13 level, you must meet one of the following listed Criteria:

Criteria 1: Graduate Degree and Specialized Experience: Successful completion of a graduate level degree or higher and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: kKnowledge of HR policies and procedures to address issues that require substantial interpretation. Develops reporting procedures, sampling techniques, and measurements to identify problem areas in work processes, procedures, and information systems. Provides authoritative management advisory service on supplements to qualifications standards.~OR~

Criteria 2: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in federal service that demonstrates HR management knowledge, concepts and principles and the performance of work in one or more of the HR specialty areas. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: Skill and ability to manage projects and facilitating groups to perform recruitment, placement, and staffing services efficiently and effectively; knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of HR concepts, principles, laws, regulations, and practices, to include OPM requirements, VHA specific policy and labor organization agreements for Title 5, Hybrid T38 and full Title 38 positions; Knowledge of current HR database systems to query, retrieve, and analyze information to complete and monitor routine and special assignments.

Impact of Time-in-Grade Restrictions: Unless excluded from coverage under 5 C.F.R. Part 300, Subpart F, current (and some former) Federal Grade employees must meet time-in-grade requirements to qualify for the grade level through Criteria 1: graduate degree and specialized experience.

How you will be evaluated

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

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

• Accountability
• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Employee Development
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Leadership
• Learning
• Managing Human Resources
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork
• Technical Credibility

Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR 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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.