Program Specialist
What you'd do
This position is in the Veterans Benefit Administration, Veterans Readiness and Employment division (VR&E), Regional Office, Providence, RI. The Veteran Readiness & Employment programs help Veterans with service-connected disabilities and employment handicaps prepare for, find, and maintain suitable careers. For Veterans with service-connected disabilities so severe that they cannot immediately consider work, VR&E provides services to improve their ability to live independently.
Major duties
The Program Specialist advises and counsels the VR&E Officer and Assistant VR&E Officer on program operations, strategies, and objectives. This position is responsible for performing a wide range of program analyses and review studies relative to the organization primarily in the following areas : functional processes, staffing, workflow efficiency, work measurement, manpower utilization and control of cost, and effective utilization of equipment, material, and supplies. In additions the Program Specialist is responsible for the following duties but are not limited to: Evaluating, processing, or making recommendations for effective organizational changes. Performs organizational analysis for changes in the functional areas of division. Assimilating data for the VR&E Officer and developing graphs and charts for Quarterly Briefings, Trip Packs, and other technical reports. Compiling monthly reports from professional and para-professional staffers. Reviewing information, reconciling conflicting data and devises new or modified methods to analyze findings. Processing invoices and SAM awards ensuring the relationship between VRE and the Finance section focus is on the schools and the Veterans receiving their benefits payments. 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. The grade progression for this position is GS-09/11. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist, 380030, 380040 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Bargaining Unit: Yes
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/15/2026. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level. If you are a current VBA employee outside of the commuting area seeking reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-09 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-11. 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. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-09 Grade Level: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level or higher in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes but are not limited to: (1) Identifying needs for problems and determining corrective actions; (2) Obtaining facts for recommendations; (3) Developing procedures improve efficiency; (4) Developing briefings, project papers, status/staffing reports and correspondence. OR Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required to qualify at the GS-9 grade level. Master's or equivalent graduate degree, if related (You must provide transcripts); OR Two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B. or J.D., if related (You must provide transcripts) GS-11 Grade Level: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level or higher in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes but are not limited to: (1) Developing briefings, project papers, status/staffing reports and correspondence; (2) Identifying and solving problems by gathering and applying information from a variety of materials; (3) Providing recommendations to complex problems utilizing policy and procedures; (4) Evaluating and providing feedback on performances due to recent change to workflow management. OR Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required to qualify at the GS-11 grade level. Education substitution of a Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree (You must provide transcripts); OR Three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M, if related. (You must provide transcripts) 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; 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. 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. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; and carrying of light items, such as papers or books. 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/.
Before you apply
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