Duties

Summary

The Legal Administrative Specialist (Public Contact Outreach Specialist) position will serve as a member of the Public Contact Team located at the National Capital Region Benefits Office in Washington, DC. The incumbent will provide counseling services to veterans, their dependents, and beneficiaries regarding the full array of benefits available through the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as non-VA benefits available through other organizations concerned with veterans.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Act as advocate for veterans and their beneficiaries in their dealings with other organizational elements and or other organizations that may affect their claims.
• Explain to the claimant/client the necessary documents needed to facilitate timely processing of claims.
• Provide assistance in obtaining and completing such documents and forms as required by the type of claim being submitted.
• Explain decisions made by the VA and communicates the reasons to the claimant for these decisions, orally or in writing.
• Advises on the right to appeals and assist claimants in making appeals.
• Receive and prepares replies to general correspondence regarding benefits for veterans and their dependents.
• Prepare and releases certificates for use by other Federal, State and local agencies.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
10

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A probationary period may be required for employees and supervisors.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/14/2019

Minimum Qualifications: The Office of Personnel Management's group coverage qualification standards, and any associated individual occupational requirements (IOR), covering white collar occupations in the Federal competitive service can be found: here

Specialized Experience:
To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
Specialized experience is work that involves:
(1) Experience in explaining a variety of benefit programs and or entitlements as well as the statutory and policy requirements associated with them;
(2) Experience analyzing medical evidence, benefit and/or legal evidence to identify and recognize required actions for claim development; and
(3) Experience assisting clients/claimants with the application process, to claim benefits such as; education, hospitalization, life insurance, vocational counseling, small or disadvantaged business utilization, general Social security benefit, other state and local domestic relations and assistance programs.

OR

Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for GS-09 grade level: A Master's Degree or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

OR

Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-09 grade level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you can only use graduate level education that you have earned beyond the first 18 semester hours). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. For example, an applicant who has 27 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required beyond the first 18 semester hours of credit required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position.

Note : 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 you document, to include volunteer experience.

Note : 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.

Education

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

Only education or a degree recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from an accredited college, university, school, or institution may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education: here If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must include a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript(s) in order to receive credit for that education.

Applications submitted without the required supporting documents will not be accepted. An unofficial transcript; statement from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official; or equivalent documentation is acceptable at the time of application. Education submitted must be appropriately accredited by an accredited body recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. For additional information, refer to the U.S. Department of Education web site at: http://www.ed.gov/

Additional information

Work Schedule: Regular office hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Alternate work schedules may be available.

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.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending or carrying of light items such as papers and books. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. The Department of Veterans Affairs provides reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. A well-qualified candidate is defined as meeting all of the minimum qualification standards and eligibility requirements as well as possessing skills that clearly exceed the minimum qualifications requirements for this position. Specifically, a well-qualified candidate will score 90 or above within the assessment portion of this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility can be found: here

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.

Notice to Applicants: Itis the policy of the Government not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. Information about an individual's employment experience will be used only to determine the person's qualifications and to assess his or her relative level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Although an individual's personal conduct may be relevant in any employment decision, including conduct during periods of unemployment or evidence of dishonesty in handling financial matters, financial difficulty that has arisen through no fault of the individual will generally not itself be the basis of an unfavorable suitability or fitness determination.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

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. Applicants who do not fully address in their resumes the specialized experience needed for the position (as described in the job announcement), or who do not possess the education to substitute for it, will not be referred for further consideration.

If you are referred for consideration you will be rated on the following competencies based on your application for this position:

Analytical Reasoning, Attention to Detail, Computer Skills, Customer Service, Oral Communication, and Technical Competence

You may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities outlined in the announcement; and/or 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 your further consideration for employment.

After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. During our review, if your résumé and application package does not support your questionnaire answers, we will adjust your rating accordingly.

Your application will be evaluated using the category rating method based on your responses to the assessment questions and the documents you submit. If you meet the basic requirements for the position, your application will be evaluated and placed into one of three categories:

Best Qualified Category - Candidates who meet the minimum qualification requirements and demonstrate a high level of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.

Well Qualified Category - Candidates who meet the minimum qualification requirements and demonstrate a satisfactory level of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position.

Qualified Category - Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications requirements.

Note: Candidates eligible for veterans' preference will be placed ahead of other candidates in the appropriate category for which they have been rated. Additionally, preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent and who meet the minimum qualification requirements will automatically be placed in the best qualified category.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Sensitive Compartmented Information

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

• Resume

Resume

• Your resume may be submitted in any format, however, we strongly recommend using USA Jobs resume builder as it contains all of the information required on Federal resumes.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must reflect hours worked per week, the inclusive dates of employment, and the level of your experience. If your resume does not reflect this information you will not receive credit for the experience.
• If you submit more than one copy of your resume, the most recent version will be reviewed. The latest timestamp will be used to determine which version of your resume is "most recent." It is your responsibility to check the status and timestamp of all documents you submit as part of your application. We would recommend that you not submit more than one version of your resume.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, we will not use it to make eligibility and qualification determinations, and you may not be considered further for the vacancy.

Applicants claiming veterans' preference must also submit:

• A legible copy of your DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," showing all dates of service, as well as character of service (Honorable, General, etc.) is required. The member copy 2 or 4 of your DD Form 214 is preferable, as it provides the necessary characterization of service. Copies of DD-214's can be requested: here .
• Current active duty members must submit a signed statement of service from their commander dated within the last 120 days that reflects their expected discharge date, their release from active duty under honorable conditions, any medals awarded, and the timeframe of their service so that eligibility can be determined.
• Veterans and others (Spouse, Parents, Widows/Widowers) claiming 10 point preference must also submit an SF-15 and all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference. This includes a VA letter supporting your disability claim with the overall percentage listed.
• If you are unsure as to whether you qualify for veterans' preference, please consult the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Preference Advisor: here

Transcripts

• If you are basing all or some of your qualifications on education or if a degree is required for the position, a transcript must be included as part of your application package.
• An unofficial transcript may be submitted, however, it must reflect the course names, levels, credits earned, grades received, and degree conferred if applicable.
• Your transcript (official of unofficial) must reflect the degree conferred date if you are substituting a degree for experience.
• A photocopy of your degree is not acceptable in lieu of a transcript.
• An official transcript will be required at a later date if you are selected for the position.
• Whenever possible it is preferable that you submit copies of official transcripts. Unofficial transcripts may lack essential information necessary for a full evaluation of your qualifications.

Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must also submit:

• Certification of expected separation, reduction-in-force separation notice, or notice of proposed removal; and your most recent performance evaluation; and an SF-50 demonstrating your separation or the position you will be separated from; or
• Worker's compensation separation (agency certification of inability to place employee and notification of separation or a separation SF-50; or
• Disability annuity termination (notification from OPM of disability annuity termination and separation SF-50 of the last position held); or
• Military reserve or National Guard technician special disability retirement annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456 (certification of special disability retirement annuity from a military department or National Guard bureau and separation SF-50 of the last position held).

Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure that all required documents have been submitted by the closing date of the announcement. You will not be contacted for additional information.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.