Summary Serves as a Lead Management and Program Analyst and principal advisor within VBA Compensation Service, leading complex, nationwide program and procedural initiatives. Provides authoritative advice to senior leadership; leads cross-functional and interagency efforts; evaluates program effectiveness; coaches and mentors teammates; and develops and implements processes, procedures, and data-sharing initiatives affecting Compensation benefit delivery.
Duties
Specific duties include:
- Monitors operating programs and activities supporting compensation and pension benefits and services provided to veterans, their dependents or beneficiaries. Works in close cooperation with other elements of VBA as it relates to Veterans benefits.
- Recommends objectives and operations for new and existing programs between Department of Defense and VBA within the scope of the process development activity. The incumbent serves as a historical research consultant when new information is released from agencies that may have an impact on the veteran population filing claims. Provides procedural background to other agencies regarding VBA work processes and how to integrate VBA and the other agencies' information systems to provide a seamless transition for Servicemembers from active duty to potential entitlement to VA benefits.
- Evaluates and recommends reduction of the duplication of effort that exists between VBA and other agencies. This includes but is not limited to the areas of disability evaluation, information gathering and exchange, service verification, and defense finance and accounting record information.
- Plans and develops activities and program initiatives designed to enhance VBA CS delivery. This includes developing and interpreting policies, devising alternatives and adopting procedures necessary to allow management to implement program decisions or changes. Serves as a liaison with field personnel and CO officials on matters dealing with the interaction of federal agencies and CS procedures.
- Researches customer service practices, evaluates performance in meeting customer service standards, and makes recommendations for improving service delivery and plans strategies, activities or other initiatives to increase customer satisfaction.
- Evaluates suggestions presented by field station personnel and recommends for approval/disapproval depending on the relationship of the suggestion to progran1 objectives, current guidelines, effective personnel utilization and cost analysis of implementation.
- Undertakes long- and short-range research and studies program activities within the CS Service to support the organization's business goals and objectives. am activities within the CS Service to support the organization's business goals and objectives. Gathers relevant data, analyzes it critically, and makes recommendations based on findings using available information resources such as Internet tools, manuals, and other reference material. Manages multiple projects or programs concurrently where effort involves coordination among multiple resources, other divisions, or agents outside of the organization, conducts investigations of evidence involved in resolving appealed cases and special interest cases.
- Conducts program evaluation and training visits to field stations to assist in improving operations and to identify areas where program directives require modification. Recommends appropriate corrective actions to improve noted deficiencies.
- Prepares for and gives oral presentations to various audiences within CS Service, VBA senior management, department level executives and outside agencies. Develops PowerPoint presentations covering highlights of new material and providing practical applications and examples.
- Prepares clear and concise documents. Assists in developing and updating procedural guidance for distribution to field offices. Drafts manual change requests, writes briefing papers, and answers Congressional and external stakeholder inquiries. Researches veteran-specific issues and prepares all necessary administrative materials, correspondence, and justifications detailing reasons for decisions.
- Represents the Assistant Director in meetings or conferences within VA, at other Government agencies, and with representatives of service, civic, and fraternal organizations and has the authority to speak for and commit the Assistance Director to courses of action involving established policy or resource expenditures.
- Serves as an advisor and consultant to the supervisor on precedent determinations involving decisions on individual cases and national issues regarding technical, regulatory, procedural, and operational aspects of the Compensation program. The incumbent may act for his/her immediate supervisor when called upon to do so.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
Compressed/Flexible: Not available
Telework: 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 a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Lead Management and Program Analyst; PD37646A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:11/04/2026.
TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: As a current Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
- For a GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13 level.
- If you are a current VBA employee requesting 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. 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 REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
GS-14 Grade Level:
- Specialized Experience: is experience that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform the duties of the GS-0343-14 Lead Management and Program Analyst and is typically acquired through work directly related to veterans' benefits administration.
- Applicants must demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of complex laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and Federal legislation governing the full range of VA benefits programs, as well as the ability to interpret and apply these authorities to resolve complex issues, provide authoritative technical guidance, and ensure consistent implementation of program requirements. Applicants must also possess extensive knowledge of Federal, state, and local benefits programs and demonstrate the ability to communicate complex benefits information effectively, both orally and in writing, to diverse audiences.
- Qualifying experience must also include leading a staff responsible for implementing veterans' benefits programs by planning and assigning work, providing technical direction and oversight, evaluating employee performance, ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and quality standards, resolving complex operational issues, and promoting the timely, accurate, and consistent administration of veterans' benefits programs.
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: Work is primarily sedentary, but involves use of a personal computer. No special physical demands are
required.
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 There is no education substitution for GS-14.
Requirements
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 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.
Additional Conditions of Employment are as follows:
- You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
- You may be required to serve a probationary or trial 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 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.
How you will be evaluated IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.
You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):
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- Accountability
- Attention to Detail
- Customer Service
- Decision Making
- Flexibility
- Influencing/Negotiating
- Integrity/Honesty
- Interpersonal Skills
- Learning
- Reading Comprehension
- Reasoning
- Self-Management
- Stress Tolerance
- Teamwork
- Analytical Reasoning- Identifies issues and analyzes information to draw accurate conclusions, ensuring careful attention to detail. Dissects problems and information into their meaningful parts, and uses logic and judgment to evaluate alternatives and develop solutions.
- Legal, Government and Jurisprudence- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, legal practices and documents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, government organization and functions, and the democratic political process.
- Writing - Ability to communicate in writing including the ability to interpret complex and/or technical information and concepts and communicate them to a wide variety of audiences with different backgrounds, education, and skill levels.
- Teaching Others- Helps others learn through formal or informal methods; identifies training needs; provides constructive feedback; coaches others on how to perform tasks; acts as a mentor.
- Oral Communication- Expresses ideas and facts to individuals or groups effectively; makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others; facilitates an open exchange of ideas.
- Problem Solving- Identifies and analyzes problems; uses sound reasoning to arrive at conclusions; finds alternative solutions to complex problems; distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information to make logical judgements.
Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.
To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13100943
The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.
Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or an interview.
Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.How to apply Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (EST) on 11/04/2026 to receive consideration. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
The application process is as follows:
- Click the Apply Online button.
- Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
- Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
- If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice.
- Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials.
- Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended.
- Set aside about two (2) hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link.
- Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused.
Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.
To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.
Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.
Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.
Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:
- Prioritize most relevant and recent experience
- Use concise, results focused language
- Align language from the job announcement
- Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies
- Remove outdated or unrelated experience
- Use the USAJOBS resume builder
Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at:
- USA Jobs Help Center - Resume Page Limit
- Applicant Guidance on the Two-Page Resume Limit
Other 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 your 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. 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.
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), https://www.va.gov/EMPLOYEE/documents/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf
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: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. (https://appsupport-usastaffing.opm.gov/hc/en-us/sections/45063131363475-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)
For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.