Employment Specialist

About the role

The Employment Specialist position provides employment assistance to job-ready disabled Veterans within an assigned VARO. The incumbent will oversee the activities of job readiness, job seeking services, job development, and job placement that entails consideration of diverse state, regional and local employment laws, and regulations. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/06/2026. 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. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS- 9 . For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS- 11. If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS- 11 (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 REQUIREMENTS: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-11 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level or higher. Specialized experience is defined as meeting all the following: Explaining legal provisions, regulations, and decisions to a variety of audiences; outlines the necessary documents for processing claims and appeals, assists in obtaining and completing these documents based on the submitted type of claim or appeal; and initiating inquiries to resolve errors, delays, or other problems in obtaining benefits. Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-09) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience working with individuals with disabilities and providing individuals with work experiences, internships, or volunteer experiences related to overall employment goal. The experience may have been gained in the federal, military, or private sector. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Employment assistance duties for state or federal vocational rehabilitation offices, Account management/liaison for staffing or employment firms in the public or private sector, Federal Human Resources experience in staffing, employee relations or reemployment assistance. OR Graduate Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related. OR Combination: A combination of specialized experience as described in A, and more than two years but less than three years of education as described in B. (To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then 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. NON-QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE: Vocational rehabilitation experience obtained prior to completion of the requirements for the master's degree is not qualifying. If one year of work experience is credited for the Basic Requirement, that year cannot also be used for qualifying at the GS-11 level. GS-12 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Direct delivery of vocational rehabilitation services to adults with disabilities in rehabilitation programs, other than those in correctional facilities. Specialized experience is defined as experience involving coordination of federal, private, and public hiring authorities, working with Veterans with disabilities to access Veteran's employment goals and aligning them to the employment track that best meets their needs. The experience may have been gained in the federal, military, or private sector. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Human Resources experience in the Department of Veterans Affairs or related organization that involves staffing and/or employment law, Employment Specialist duties for private, public or government entities that involve coordinating targeted outreach at various career fairs, jobs clubs, and/or job labs. Combining Education & Experience: If you do not f

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