Program Specialist (Human Resources Liaison)
What you'd do
This position is in the Veterans Benefits Administration, San Juan Regional Office. The incumbent serves as a Program Specialist (Human Resources Liaison) in the Office of the Director, supporting HR priorities and program objectives. Responsibilities include providing technical and performance management support for HR programs and coordinating with the Human Resources Center.
Major duties
The incumbent serves as a member of the HR Liaison team and is responsible for providing advice and assistance in the following areas: Staffing/Recruitment, Employee Development, Employee Benefits/Relations, Labor Relations, Awards and Recognition, and administrative functions related to these areas. Duties include, but are not limited to: Assists the staff and managers to develop and implement policies, procedures, and guidelines which institute processes for work to run as effectively and efficiently as possible. Tracks any lag time with recruitment or classification actions. Provides solutions to management on how to improve processing times for recruitment actions. Provides technical advice and assistance and disseminates human resource information to organization. Review's classification standards, guides, to assist and coordinate classification assignments. Coordinates new hire pre-employment functions, separations, and retirements. Assists in the development of initiatives to improve management processes and systems using the most efficient utilization of human resources. Reviews and provides solutions to issues and topics where local factors contradict established policy or procedures. Provides advice and assistance in the areas of discipline, adverse actions, grievances, performance management and recognition, employee counseling, and related functions. Reviews, analyzes, and advises managers and employees on performance, awards, and recognition. Completes technical review, analysis and collaboration among internal and external stakeholders to ensure accurate processing and distribution of workers' compensation claims and reasonable accommodation requests. This position and assignments are developmental to the GS-0301-12 Level. At the GS-09 level, the incumbent will have greater supervision and guidance. The work will be less complex and have limited scope and effect. The employee will work under the guidance of a higher-level specialist. 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, GS-11, GS-12. Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. Compressed/Flexible: Not 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. This is not a Remote position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist (Human Resources Liaison); PD39565A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/20/2026. 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. 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-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. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-09 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: You 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. Examples of qualifying specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: Experience that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Knowledge of state and federal employment laws, regulations, guidelines, and legal precedents related to hiring practices, equal employment opportunity, and wage and hour restrictions. Experience in a Human Resources (HR) office applying basic HR regulations to complete duties. Education Substitution: You may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education you must have: A master's or equivalent graduate degree in an accredited or pre-accredited college or university; or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or possession of a LL.B. or J.D degree, if related. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position 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 is sedentary. Some work may require walking in offices and similar areas for meetings and to conduct HR work. Work may also require walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and attendance at meetings and conferences away from the worksite. The work does not require any special physical effort. 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/. What is a local commuting area? Local commuting area means the geographic area that usually constitutes one area for employment purposes. It includes any population center (or two or more neighboring ones) and the surrounding localities in which people live and can reasonably be expected to travel back and forth daily to their usual employment.). This definition is from OPM's Reduction In Force (RIF) regulation at 5 CFR 351.203
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