Human Resources Specialist (Labor Relations)
What you'd do
This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Chief, Human Capital Officer (OCHCO), Office of Labor-Management Relations. The mission of the office is to promote labor management throughout the Department to improve the delivery of service to Veterans and their families and create a positive work environment for employees.
Major duties
Provides managers and employees with information about the organization's labor- management policies, procedures, and guidelines. Provides agency management with interpretations of negotiated agreements and on policy and procedures when the issues involved are new, highly controversial, precedent setting and/or involve more than one area of personnel policy. Provides useful information and advice to agency or high-ranking managers and national or regional union officials when appropriate. Ensures issues relative to the agency are adequately addressed. Issues include interpretations of subordinate organizations/installation's negotiated agreement as well as precedent cases and other binding guidance and agreements. Issues are addressed for employees in an entire agency and may be with several different labor organizations. The labor relations environment varies by location and individual labor organizations. The incumbent serves as the agency technical expert and or chief negotiator on program, policy, or practices at the national level. As the agency technical labor expert, responds to issues where there is the potential for serious impact on the agency's mission. Develops solutions to extremely complicated problems with potential to impact all employees or the organization. Reviews third party involvement in negotiations and represents the agency in appropriate cases. Serves as a point of contact on third party proceedings arising from the labor management program, such as Unfair Labor Practices charges, negotiations, and arbitrations. Serve as a subject-matter-expert (SME) in the development of training to include various modalities such as live virtual classrooms, computer-based, as well as face-to-face training. Other duties may be assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: PD40271-A 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, 07/16/2026. 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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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 some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade. The BASIC REQUIREMENT for the HR Specialist GS-0201 series is presumed met if found qualified at the GS-0201-7 level and above.You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Criteria 1: Graduate level degree or higher and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level. 1. Working knowledge of the national bargaining agreements affecting operational and personnel issues. 2. Utilizing applicable case laws, arbitration case decisions, and skill in applying these decisions and principles to complex situations. 3. Applying the concepts, principles, and methods of labor relations programs, to develop broad guidelines or regulations, or conduct projects to resolve complex systemic problems. AND/OR Criteria 2: Specialized Experience; One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-14. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: 1. Advising management and employees on requirements and effects of labor management agreements. 2. Utilizing applicable case laws, arbitration case decisions, and skill in applying these decisions and principles to complex situations. 3. Applying the concepts, principles, and methods of labor relations programs, to develop broad guidelines or regulations, or conduct projects to resolve complex systemic problems. 4. Participating in collective bargaining and negotiations to resolve various conflicts within an organization. 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: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list series and grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 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: The employee works primarily in an office setting involving everyday risks or discomforts. 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/. The 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 found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications: At least one year of experience participating as a management representative in collective bargaining negotiations, including term, mid-term, impact and implementation bargaining, or other negotiations to resolve labor-management disputes and organizational conflicts. Information about 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/. Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Washington, DC. The local commuting area for this position is defined as being within 50 miles of available VA office space." The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information. Cover Letter DD-214/ Statement of Service Disability Letter (Schedule A) Disability Letter (VA) Other (1) PCS Orders Performance Appraisal Professional Certification Proof of Marriage Status Resume Separation Notice (RIF) SF-15 SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action Transcript
Before you apply
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