Skip to main content
U.S. flag
 

Veterans Service Rep (Authorizer)

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Benefits Administration
San Juan Regional Office (RO), Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Operations Center

Summary

This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs, San Juan Regional Office (RO), Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Operations Center, which is remote.

IMPORTANT-PLEASE READ BEFORE APPLYING: To meet the minimum eligibility requirements, applicants must be current, permanent employees of the MST Division or CTAP-eligible.

Overview

Help
Accepting applications
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Not applicable, this is a remote position.
Remote job
Yes
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$74,678 - $97,087 per year

Salary noted is based on the "Rest of US" Pay table; salary may be adjusted based on the location of the selectee.

Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Promotion potential
11
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
25% or less - 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
Yes
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Other
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
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
355-27-CR-13088932-BU
Control number
888761100

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open ONLY to current, permanent San Juan Regional Office Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Division employees and current/former VA employees who are CTAP eligible.

Videos

Duties

Help

As a Veterans Service Representative in the Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Operations Center, the incumbent is responsible for processing and authorizing claims for VA benefits and works as a member of one of the MST teams.

Primary responsibilities include serving as the authorizer for claims; explaining benefit programs and entitlement criteria; conducting interviews and hearings; identifying issues, gathering relevant evidence, and adjudicating disability claims; inputting data necessary to generate the disability award and notification letter to veterans and claimants and their representatives describing the decision and the reason for it into various electronic data processing (EDP) systems; providing guidance on interpreting laws, regulations, and guidance; and, as required, serving as an advocate for veterans and their families.

Additional tasks include:

  1. Make determinations as to the eligibility for the type of benefit sought, to include questions relating to adequacy of military service, medical evidence, and the evaluation of evidence of income, employability, dependence, and relationship
  2. Request examinations, re-examinations, or opinions to evaluate disabilities resulting from diseases or injuries
  3. Review claims cases to assure all issues have been addressed, applies and interprets VA laws, including veterans' case law, existing statutes and procedures, precedent rulings and state law in the adjudication process
  4. May conduct interviews in person or by phone with veterans, representatives and advocates to explain the full range of VA benefits and related programs
  5. Prepare and release correspondence for use by other federal, state and local agencies
  6. Utilize various electronic data processing systems to input data for processing claims and generating automated correspondence.
  7. Adjudicate award actions for compensation benefits to include release of retroactive, suspended, resumed, or terminated awards. - Authorizes, reviews, and approves the pending award action for technical accuracy, clarity, and thoroughness.
  8. Prepares Statements of the Case for authorization appeals.
  9. Prepares administrative decisions relating to Character of Discharge (COD), contested claims, line of duty, administrative error, etc.
  10. Mentors and develops Veteran Service Representative (VSR) Trainees
Promotion Potential: None
Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Remote: Yes
Position Description/PD#: Veterans Service Representative Authorizer GS-11: 02105A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Bargaining Unit: Yes

Salary: The salary range indicated in this announcement reflects the 2026 "Rest of US" Pay table. The actual salary range will be based on the applicable locality pay for the actual duty location. View the OPM 2026 Locality Pay Tables for more information.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

Additional Conditions of Employment are as follows:

  1. You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  2. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  3. You may be required to serve a probationary or trial period
  4. Subject to background/security investigation
  5. Required to attend an 8-week training session, which may require travel.
  6. VSR Skill Certification required at the GS-10 level
  7. 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.
  8. 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement10/22/2026.

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-11 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-10 level.
The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. Submit an SF-50 showing your time-in-grade eligibility 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 REQUIREMENTS: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-10 level or higher.

Specialized experience is defined as:

  1. The ability to request relevant medical or administrative evidence to make eligibility determinations.
  2. Experience analyzing medical evidence, benefit and/or legal evidence to identify and recognize required actions for claim development and adjudication.
  3. Experience in explaining program benefit entitlements and requirements.
  4. Technical assignments related to claims or benefits processing or eligibility determinations.
  5. The interpretation of laws, rules and/or regulations and the analysis of documents to determine eligibility for benefits, quality assurance or perform auditor functions.

Education Substitution:

  • Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. (Must submit transcripts.)

OR

Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g., have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information.

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; when including part-time employment in your resume, you must specify the average hours worked per week.

Physical Requirements:The work normally involves mental rather than physical exertion. The work is mostly sedentary; however, there may be some walking, standing, and carrying of light items.

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 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

VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides 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 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 Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), https://www.va.gov/EMPLOYEE/documents/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf

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
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


Additional Competencies to be assessed:
  1. Knowledge of Federal, State, and Local laws, regulations, policies, guides, procedures, and judicial determinations applicable to Veterans Benefits Programs or similar programs.
  2. Uses computers, software applications, databases, and automated systems to accomplish work.
  3. Effectively expresses information to multiple audiences through clear dissemination of information and ideas; actively listens to others and demonstrates understanding of their comments and/or questions.
  4. Identifies rules, principles, or relationships that explain facts, data, or other information; analyzes information and makes correct inferences or draws accurate conclusions.
  5. Helps others learn; identifies training needs; provides constructive reinforcement; coaches others on how to perform tasks; acts as a mentor.
  6. Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals

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/13088932

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 is 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.

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

Crystal Russell
Phone
601-364-7271
Email
crystal.russell4@va.gov
Address
San Juan Regional Benefit Office
50 Carr 165
Guaynabo, PR 00968-8024
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://vacareers.va.gov/

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.