Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
What you'd do
This is a Detail Not to Exceed One Year, however, the detail may be made permanent without additional competition. This position reports to the Director of VISN Financial Operations SES and aligns under the Department of Veteran Affairs' (VA) Office of Management (OM). The VISN CFO serves as the accountable financial management authority, providing enterprise-level financial stewardship to ensure resources align with Veteran care priorities, operations comply with statutory/policy requirements.
Major duties
Major Duties: Duties include, but are not limited to: Provides enterprise-level financial stewardship across the VISN, ensuring resources are aligned to Veteran care priorities, operations comply with statutory and policy requirements, and leaders have timely, accurate, and actionable financial information. Serves as the senior financial authority for the VISN, advising the Director of VISN Financial Operations, VISN Director, and senior leadership on affordability, resource trade-offs, multi-year financial planning, and the financial implications of proposed program and operational decisions. Develops new methods and analytical frameworks for long-range financial forecasting and multi-year budget planning, applying expert-level methodologies including regression-based trend analysis, scenario modeling, activity-based costing, and sensitivity analysis to project long-range funding requirements. Ensures financial governance and regulatory compliance across the VISN by overseeing funds control and internal controls. Ensuring all financial functions comply with applicable Federal law, VA regulations, VHA policy, and generally accepted accounting principles. Serves as the principal financial liaison between the VISN and the VHA Office of Finance, representing the VISN in matters of financial policy, audit findings, and regulatory compliance. Coordinates responses to Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews, external audits, and internal control assessments. Leads cost-benefit analyses, outcomes assessments, and business planning support for VISN programs and initiatives. Works with VISN leaders at all levels to provide financial return-on-investment (ROI) analyses, shaping the future of services and care delivery across the network. Providing direct supervision, consultation, and training for finance staff assigned to the VISN. Managing organizational changes within the financial operations and exercising discretionary authority in the allocation and distribution of funds within the VISN financial organization's budget. Identifying developmental and training needs of employees and arranging for needed development and training to build VISN financial management capacity and capability. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Compressed/Flexible Schedule: May be authorized. Telework: May be authorized in accordance with agency policy. Virtual: This position may be authorized for Virtual Work. Virtual Work eligibility is for current VA employees that are already subject to the return to in person work mandate in their current position. Definition of Virtual Work: Employee works outside of original hiring duty station at a VA owned or leased space. Return to Office (RTO): RTO mandates are in affect and selectees will be required to report to in person work unless they have an approved exemption already in place. Position Description/PD#: PD00344A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Required 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, 08/21/2026. 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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below Individual Occupational Requirements Basic Requirements Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.") OR Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicant's background must also include one of the following: Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law; A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements. AND Specialized Experience: For the GS-15 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Knowledge of planning and forecasting techniques for long-range financial projection and multi-year budget development Knowledge of the full range of administrative laws, policies, regulations, and precedents applicable to federal financial management and VHA health care program administration, including thorough knowledge of congressional legislation, OMB guidelines and directives, and VA and VHA financial policy. Knowledge of governmental accounting operations and requirements. Mastery of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods for the assessment and improvement of financial program effectiveness, including regression-based trend analysis, scenario modeling, activity-based costing, and sensitivity analysis. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations, not only with subordinates, but with all levels of key management officials, the latter particularly requiring the exercise of tact, ingenuity and resourcefulness 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. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. The position requires travel up to 25% of the time for site visits throughout the VISN geographic area and to headquarters. 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 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: Developed and defended a multi-year budget forecast for an organization with an annual operating budget of over $500 million. Applied quantitative methodologies such as regression-based trend analysis and scenario modeling, identifying decisions informed by these analyses. Held ownership of the forecast as the primary preparer/approver, rather than just a participant. Ensured compliance with federal appropriations laws, anti-deficiency act requirements, and OMB Circulars. Administered funds control and internal control processes across at least three distinct subordinate organizations or facilities.- Required experience with VA/VHA financial systems or a similar large federal agency, excluding private sector experience. Served as the primary point of contact for at least one audit or external regulatory examination.- Drafted or approved formal management responses to audit findings and tracked corrective actions to closure. Provided regular, documented financial advice to senior executives on trade-offs and resource allocations. Conducted at least one cost-benefit or ROI analysis that influenced funding or restructuring decisions for programs valued over $1 million. Held direct supervisory authority over a financial management staff of at least five employees, including supervisory roles. Managed discretionary authority over fund allocation within a financial organization's operating budget. Experience spans multiple facilities or units, not limited to single-site financial management. Identified training needs and designed formal initiatives for the financial staff with documented successful outcomes. Information about ICTAP and 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 of available VA office space.
Before you apply
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
Don't miss the next one.
Get an email the moment a similar federal job opens — postings can close in as little as 5 days.