Summary

This is what was sent over- This position serves as Director of the Worklife and Benefits Service (WLB), Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO). The incumbent supervises a team HR professionals responsible for developing and implementing Department-wide policy for WLB programs such as hours of duty, leave administration, health & wellness, telework/remote work, employee assistance, and retirement & benefits.

Duties

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Duties include but are not limited to:

Provides Department-level policy development, guidance, and oversight for the full range of WLB programs, which include hours of duty, leave administration, health & wellness, telework/remote work, employee assistance, and retirement & benefits.

Advises senior executives, supervisors, HR Offices, and employees on the laws, regulations, and policies regarding programs in the WLB portfolio. Serves as senior action officer, analyzes Department initiatives, and develops strategies to achieve OCHCO objectives.

Supports the accomplishment of goals and outcomes set forth in the President's Management Agenda, Office of Management and Budget Directives, Office of Personnel Management Memoranda, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Strategic Plan.

Supervises a team of senior HR professionals. Selects or recommends selections for vacancies, establishes work schedules, assigns and reviews work, trains and develops staff and ensures commitment to efficient work execution. Models self-accountability and holds subordinates accountable for high-quality results, recognizes, supports, and rewards excellent work from employees supervised. Timely and efficiently addresses less than acceptable performance and takes appropriate action when employees report concerns of illegal conduct or waste, fraud, or abuse.

Serves as advocate for and promotes a customer focus within the WLB Service and throughout OCHCO. Assesses HR needs of customer organizations and ensures that these needs are met through existing or new HR programs, policies, and initiatives.

Advises and consults with management at all levels throughout the agency's headquarters and field activities on HR matters and keeps higher level personnel officials informed of key issues, concerns, and potential precedent setting matters. Represents the VA on agency committees and work groups.

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

Telework: Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#:PD41041-0

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• 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.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be serving in a position in Schedule Policy/Career of the excepted service. You will obtain competitive status after two years of service in this position. Your employment in this position will be at will. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) appeals of adverse actions concerning performance, discipline, and other matters arising under chapters 23, 43, and 75 of title 5, United States Code will not be available to an individual serving in this position. Prohibitions on prohibited personnel practices will be enforced by the Office of General Counsel [or agency equivalent position] and not the Office of Special Counsel.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/24/2026.

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.

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:

Criteria 1: Graduate Degree and Specialized Experience; graduate level degree or higher and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 grade level.

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: Overseeing, supervising and leading a staff of senior HR professionals responsible for developing HR policies, guidance and proposed legislation supporting a Departmental-level (e.g., Department of Labor, Department of Energy, etc.) or Agency-level (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics Space Agency, etc.) Worklife and Benefits Program; Experience independently advising senior executives and leaders on the laws, regulations and policies regarding Worklife and Benefits such as CSRS and FERS Retirement Program, Thrift Savings Plan, Federal Employees Health Benefits, Federal Employees Group Life Insurance, Child Care Subsidy, alternative work schedules, hours of work, leave administration, telework and remote work, health and wellness, etc.; Led the development and revision of Worklife and Benefits policies and guidance.

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 Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and 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 supervising and performing work directly related to the Work Life and Benefits portfolio that includes: CSRS and FERS Retirement Program; Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Long Term Care Program; Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB); Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) and Child Care Subsidy.. 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 from Washington, DC. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20420 .

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office.

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 (HRA) at The Fair Chance Act.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR [redacted](u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

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

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

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 here:

https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/[redacted]2-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information

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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. Open