Summary

The Equal Employment Manager serves as a senior level manager responsible for the Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Employment (EEO/AE), EEO case Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and external Civil Rights (CR) functions in a major organization within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS).

Duties

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The incumbent has staff engaged in EEO functions. This position requires expert knowledge of federal EEO regulations and principles, compliance, and enforcement skills, administrative, management and consulting skills, and knowledge of federal personnel administration.

Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Serves as the principal advisor to the head of the organization, subject matter expert, and spokesperson for the organization in the area of EEO/AE (including reasonable accommodation services) and CR external programs.
• Proposes and develops policy and responses to correspondence for the organization on all EEO/AE, EEO case ADR, and CR matters.
• Consults with the Office of Resolution Management (ORM), the Office of Employment Discrimination Complaint Adjudication (OEDCA), the Office of General Counsel (OGC) and other senior level officials regarding the direction, design, and implementation of VA national policies and programs in the area of EEO/AE, EEO case ADR, and CR in accordance with the aforementioned laws, regulations, executive orders, and directives.
• Responsible for assembling, consolidating, and submitting timely and accurate plans, information, and reports on the organization's EEO/AE, EEO case ADR, and CR programs and status.
• Conducts periodic evaluations of the workforce by analyzing data and evaluating the effectiveness of the program.
• Performs demographic analyses and identifies appropriate benchmarks for the organization's workforce, including major occupations, grade levels, and other categories, by race, ethnicity, and gender as compared to the Relevant Civilian Labor Force (RCLF) and other appropriate benchmarks.
• Ensures that the organization's workforce completes mandatory training in Prevention of Workplace Harassment and No FEAR, and that the organization's managers and supervisors complete mandatory EEO and Conflict Management training.
• Responsible for coordinating, providing, and conducting ad hoc/ elective training and consultation for managers and employees in EEO/AE and CR including areas such as Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Workplace Harassment prevention, cultural competency, unconscious bias, generational diversity, disability employment, anti-retaliation, Whistleblower Protections, and other related areas.
• Manages the EEO case ADR function which provides an array of alternative strategies used to resolve disputes voluntarily without resorting to formal complaint investigative or adjudicative processes and during administrative processes such as the EEO complaint process.
• Serves as technical expert and manager responsible for the processing of external complaints {Title VI, Title IX, Section 504) alleging discrimination in VA programs receiving Federal assistance on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability in accordance with the aforementioned Federal laws.
• Typically serves as the organization's liaison to ORM to respond to ORM investigators' document requests and related needs.
• Collaborates with staff of EEO, facility ADR, analysts, trainers, and administrative personnel to accomplish the work of the EEO program in the organization.
• Reviews completed work for accuracy, timeliness, responsiveness to total program needs, results attained and compliance with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Department of Veterans Affairs regulations.
• Establishes short and long-term priorities, performance measures, and individual development plans and performance appraisals for staff.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Equal Employment Manager/PD02831O

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work is normally sedentary in an office environment. The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/31/2026.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Use of Federal EEO laws, regulations, Executive Orders, policies, and principles governing Federal EEO/AE, ADR, and CR programs and practices; plans, organizes, directs staff, carries out, and evaluates an equal employment opportunity program that, in addition to meeting basic regulatory requirements, focuses on the solution of systemic problems, elimination of barriers to equal employment including agency management policies and practices, and provision of management advisory and consulting services ; knowledge in human resources management principles and equal employment opportunity sufficient to plan, direct and evaluate the agency's outreach and retention programs, policies, and reports; performs compliance and enforcement activities, administrative management, and technical consulting in order to develop, review, and evaluate policies and programs impacting equal opportunity.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and 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 well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. 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/.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.