Duties

The focus of the services will be to promote optimal occupational functioning of clients within the community by utilizing appropriate counseling, job search, job development, and job placement interventions.

Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Responsible for working with Veterans/Clients and/or customers to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations;
• Responsible for teaching and helping others to learn by identifying training needs; provides constructive reinforcement; coaches others on how to perform tasks; acts as a mentor;
• Documents all vocational interventions, goals, objectives and outcomes through the writing of an individualized employment plan and actively participates in the implementation of this employment plan;
• Collaborates with existing community partners and employers and to demonstrate unique expertise in the ability to forge new relationships with such entities;
• Provides and coordinates rehabilitation counseling, on the job training and placement services to disabled veterans;
• Works with treatment teams and functions in the capacity of a case manager for referred veterans to assess limitations, strengths, special needs and progress;
• Works with veterans to identify barriers to successful reentry into the community and provides necessary counseling and/or training to deal with such deficiencies;
• Provides follow-up with veterans and employers once job placement is made, ensuring a successful transition to community employment.
• Develops new insights into situations and applies new solutions to problems; designs new methods where established methods and procedures are not suitable or are unavailable;
• Receives and records information from employers regarding employment opportunities participates in job fairs and may take a leadership role in coordinating employment fairs and similar events for homeless Veterans.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday-Friday from 8:00AM to 4:30PM
Telework: Yes, this position is Telework Eligible and may be granted based on the needs of the Service-Line
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist - HUD/VASH Employment Specialist/PD101-00755A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/19/2022.
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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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.

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series, and it is something that can't be waived. The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. To qualify for the GS 1715 occupational series, applicants MUST possess one of the following:

• Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position; OR
• Specialized Experience: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:
  • Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program;
  • Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention.
  • Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems.

GS-11 Specialized Experience: In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) as listed above, applicants must also meet the Specialized Experience that is directly related to that of the position.

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: general knowledge and experience in job development, marketing and securing jobs, ability to contact and work creatively with community employers, working knowledge of a broad range of occupations, ability to identify Veteran strengths, interests, skills and needs, ability to match Veterans to jobs, and ability to identify and arrange long-term supports to help Veterans maintain employment; Working knowledge of the local job market and familiarization with Internet job sites. OR ,
Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience for the GS-11 grade level. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree with major study in vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling or other fields related to position or LL. M., if related. Based on the Individual Occupational Requirement, if education is used, the major study should be vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position; OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 grade level if the creditable education hours and experience combined equal 100% of the required experience for the position. A transcript must be submitted with your application packet if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university.

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

• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Customer Service
• Education and Training

Preferred Qualifications: Preferred experience in community networking and knowledge of the local job market and skill requirements needed to determine appropriate vocational services for Veterans with a variety of disabilities.

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.

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.

Physical Requirements: Light lifting (under 15 lbs.); light carrying (under 15 lbs.); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; both hands required; walking (intermittent); standing (intermittent); hearing (aid permitted); hearing without aid. Intermittent Driving a Vehicle (-/+ 2 hours); The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending and carrying of light items like papers or books. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ .

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

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 Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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 for this vacancy. To be well-qualified : applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. 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/ .

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

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .