Supervisory Human Resources Specialist (ER/LR)
What you'd do
The purpose of the Supervisory HR Specialist (ER) position is to supervise a VISN Work-Life Benefit (WLB) and Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Shared Service Unit (SSU) that provides services, support, and advice in WLB and RA in support of all VHA medical centers and the Network. This position is assigned to the VISN 16 Employee/Labor Relations (ER/LR) Unit, and will supervise the Work-Life Benefits (WLB) team.
Major duties
NOTE: This is a temporary promotion opportunity NTE 1 year. Major duties include but are not limited to: Responsible for supervising and administering the VISN's Federal Work-Life/Employee Benefits Program, including Federal Leave Programs, employee group life insurance, health benefits, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and other Work-Life programs. Serves as the WLB subject matter expert (SME). Possessing thorough knowledge and mastery of best practices in WLB in federal government, VA/VHA/VISN policies and regulations and consistently be abreast of changes, modifications, and revisions to laws, regulations, and policies pertaining to WLB. Advising employees, applicants for employment, supervisors, and members of management regarding laws, regulations and procedures for Work Life Benefits and Reasonable Accommodation. Promote organizational efforts to support a balance between work and personal life that fosters employee engagement and productivity by providing federal leave program and Work-Life/Employee Benefits services to VHA employees and supervisory/ managerial staff. Brief management and all VISN leadership on the status of WLB programs, and train staff and management regarding the latest information. Prepare communications regarding current and future requirements and information, and serving as the VISN's policy and regulatory subject matter expert for WLB programs. Coordinates with other areas of Human Resources, including Recruitment & Placement, Employee/Labor Relations, Retirement Shared Service Office (RSSO) and Workers Compensation to ensure that the employee is advised of their rights under benefit programs which may be appropriate to them. Participates in integrated solutions of WLB problems and issues that cross functional lines and/or have VISN-wide implications. As the VISN's SME, resolves the more complex and unusual problems and provides technical advice to specialists. Identifies the need for special projects to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and initiates milestones and goals. Promotes an environment in which employees are empowered to participate in and contribute to effective mission accomplishment. Assists the ER/LR Chief or Associate HR Officer with section-related strategic planning and budget development. Provides advice involving staffing strategies for their programs. Goals encompass a wide range of different conditions and expectations from a variety of diverse VISN customers in an environment characterized by consolidation of functions. Evaluates unit productivity, quality, regulatory compliance, and technical competence. Makes changes in work assignments and workflow; balances workload among positions to increase effectiveness of operations. Meets with subordinates to discuss production reports, offers and solicits recommendations for improvement, and ensures staff maintain optimum case load management. Assures maximum efficiency, economy, and effectiveness in the delivery of WLB services. Evaluates and modifies policies and procedures and makes changes as needed to respond and adapt to the changing environment. Meets with VISN management to advise on new and innovated VHA and private industry Human Resources WLB trends, challenges, directives, and/or regulations. Act as liaison to stakeholders in VHA HR Center of Expertise, Workforce Management and Consulting, VISN senior executive leadership, VISN HR leadership. Ensures uniform application of administrative and operational policies and procedures, coordination of all related responsibilities, and resolution of problems encountered in daily operations. Recommends programs to meet WLB training and development objectives and goals. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm CST, subject to change based on the needs of the facility. Telework: This position may be authorized for Ad-Hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Human Resources Specialist (ER/LR)/PD99934S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/13/2026. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: 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 (copy of unofficial transcript required) 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. NOTE: You must still meet the Time-In-Grade requirement of having served 52 weeks at the GS-11 grade level, and a copy of your unofficial transcript is required. 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. Qualifying specialized experience includes: Researching, analyzing, and applying knowledge of laws, regulations, and rules to provide guidance and resolution on issues related to employee benefits (health and life insurance, vision, dental insurance, retirement, and Flexible Spending Accounts); Meeting with employees to explain benefit programs, and training employees and supervisors regarding the latest information on all federal benefits; Preparing communications on current and future requirements related to employee benefits, and responding to benefit inquiries from attorneys and courts on divorce cases and other civil matters; Experience utilizing office automation equipment and a variety of software applications to successfully process employee leave requests for special leave programs, to include: HR Smart, USA Staffing onboarding, Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook; Conducting research on HR regulations and other pertinent directives for the improvement of federal work-life regulations, policies, and procedures. ~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. NOTE: 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. Qualifying specialized experience includes: Administering a federal work life/employee benefits program to include federal leave programs, employee group life insurance, health benefits, Thrift Savings Plan, and other Work-life programs; Serving as a Work Life Benefits subject matter expert (SME) advising employees, applicants for employment, supervisors, and members of management regarding laws, regulations and procedures for Work Life Benefits; Developing and conducting training to increase employee awareness regarding the latest information on Federal Benefits and Worklife Benefit Programs; Reviewing and analyzing data and regulations and identifying trends to develop operating procedures or processes; Performing quality control reviews on various benefits processed documents to ensure accuracy, completeness, and compliance with applicable regulations, and resolving more complex and unusual problems and providing technical advice. 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/.
Before you apply
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