Summary

The Assistant Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Officer (AVREO) supports the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Officer (VREO) manage and operate the VR&E Division. The AVREO provides leadership and direction to the VR&E staff and coordinates activities with other divisions in the Regional Office and the VA Medical Centers.

Duties

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Specific duties include:

• Assists the VREO and manages broad-based and multi-faceted programs through a team of supervisors and team leaders.
• Maintains essential resources for referral for special rehabilitation procedures.
• Provides advice and recommendations to meet major goals and assists with the assessment of priorities.
• Provides administrative expertise in all phases of rehabilitation activities, including counseling, case management, rehabilitation plan development, and job development and placement.
• Plans, formulates, and implements operational procedures and policies to maintain efficient operating performance of professional and support staff.
• Provides internal policy direction and supervision of the RO VR&E staff through on- site visits and inspections, review, and analysis of standard or specifically requested data and individualized or telephonic and written communication.
• Assumes final responsibility for proper interpretation and uniform application of laws, regulations, and instructions in conformance with mandatory policies, procedures, and practices, reconciling divergent opinions.
• Provides oversight of Privacy Act/FOIA requests.
• Responsible for maintaining effective communication and working relationship with labor representatives.
• Responsible for the development of subordinate supervisors regarding administrative, managerial, and leadership skills.
• Serves as a Regional Office consultant and expert one employment issues for Veterans with disabilities.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Compressed/Flexible: Available

Telework: Yes - This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (AVREO); PD39403A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Required - Selectee will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450, under 5 CFR 2634.904(a) prior to entering on duty and annually thereafter.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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 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.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selectees are required to service a one-year supervisory probationary period if not previously completed in a Federal position.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/20/2026.

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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13 level.
• If you are a current VBA employee outside of the commuting area seeking reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-14 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least 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.

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT:

To be eligible for this position, you must meet one of the following requirements. If qualifying based on education, your application must include transcripts.

• Degree: Behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position; OR
• Combination of education and experience that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field; OR
• Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

GS-14 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level (GS-13) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves:

(1)One year of professional post-graduate level experience in rehabilitation counseling or as a professional counseling psychologist equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-13) level;

(2) Experience using knowledge of laws, regulations, and procedures governing Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) programs;

(3) Worked in a professional lead capacity in a vocational rehabilitation or counseling psychologist program and/or possess experience managing cases of individuals with disabilities; and

(4) Must be able to demonstrate through work experience or training that you possess, or have the potential to develop, the qualities to successfully supervise.

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: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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/.

Education

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

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.

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 (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.

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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. 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/.

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.

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.

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

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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.

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. 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.