Field Examiner
What you'd do
You will serve as a Field Examiner (FE) for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), located in the Fiduciary Hub. The FE determines the payee (fiduciary) best suited to the needs and situation of VA beneficiaries who are incompetent due to legal, mental, or physical disability or minority. The Field Examiner ensures that beneficiaries receive all the benefits they are entitled to, and takes necessary actions to protect their assets.
Major duties
Specific duties include: Performs visits to Veterans and beneficiaries to evaluate physical and mental conditions or capacity; independently determine ability to handle or manage funds. Conducts field examinations to determine who to appoint as fiduciaries for incompetent or minor beneficiaries. Verify the welfare and adequate living conditions of Veterans under fiduciary care and make arrangements for deficiencies. Conduct background investigations on proposed fiduciaries. Reviews and reports on fiduciary performance; conduct investigations involving the misuse of VA funds. Explain laws and regulations governing fiduciary responsibilities to Veteran, beneficiary and fiduciary. Investigate and make determinations on identified misuse, complaints, allegations, contested claims for benefits, special apportionments, eligibility for VA compensation, etc. 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. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday Compressed/Flexible: The hours for this position are 8:00am-4:30pm. Telework: No -This position is not eligible for telework. Remote/Virtual: This is not a remote/virtual position. This is a mobile position. Position Description/PD#: Field Examiner; 36002A, 35902A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Required.
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/17/2026. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Applicants who are current Federal employees and who are current/former Federal employees must also meet time-in-grade requirements. 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. 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: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or higher. Specialized experience is defined as use of fact finding sources (i.e., conducting interviews, researching court records, etc.) to verify facts and obtain specific pieces of information; or, experience applying Federal, state and/or local laws and regulations to administer benefits programs or services; or, financial management experience for individuals or businesses. Examples include, but are not limited to: Conducting investigations into allegations of misconduct, compiling findings, and composing reports of recommended action. Determining an applicant's eligibility for welfare programs in accordance with state laws and program regulations. -OR- Education Substitution: You must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education or LL.B or J.D., if related.-OR- A Combination of specialized experience and education: Equivalent combinations of Specialized Experience and Graduate level education. To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then, divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. If you qualify based on your education, you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position, an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date. GS-11 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or higher. Specialized experience is defined as experience conducting interviews in a state and/or Federal benefit/ services program capacity to obtain essential information and assess an individual's competency to make valid decisions; or, expertise in personal financial management for individuals in exceptionally unique or complex financial situations. -OR- Education Substitution: You must have a PhD. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher level graduate education or LL.M., if related. -OR- A Combination of specialized experience and education: Equivalent combinations of Specialized Experience and more than two years, but less than three years of education, as described above. To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. The divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond two years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. If you qualify based on your education, you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position, an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date. 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: This job requires driving in government owned automobiles, often very long distances requiring overnight lodging. Some walking and climbing of stairs is required since interviews with VA beneficiaries are conducted at the residences of the beneficiaries. 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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