Program Management Office

Summary

This position is in the Office of Equity Assurance (OEA) in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) at the Department of Veterans Affairs and is assigned to the Executive Director and Staff. OEA is responsible for assessing program and process improvements so Veterans, Survivors, families, and caregivers can have equitable access to VA benefits and services, along with equitable benefit outcomes.

This job is open to

• Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
  
  Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
• Federal employees - Excepted service
  
  Current excepted service federal employees.

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open ONLY to current, permanent employees of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and Veteran Affairs (VA) CTAP eligibles.

Duties

Specific duties include:

• Serves as Program Management Officer and the point of contact for the Executive Director/Deputy Executive Director on designated matters of management, administration, coordination, and similar activities.
• Provides strategic planning advice to the Executive Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Equity Assurance in the implementation of all policies, practices, and management and operational approaches of the Veterans Benefits Administration.
• Conducts special program studies, analyses and surveys concerning VA benefits and services.
• Recommends program changes and new policies to improve delivery of benefits and services.
• Assists the Executive Director in discussions with high-level officials outside the Department including representatives of the White House, Congress, other Federal agencies, and state and local governments.
• Provides direct counsel and assistance to the Office of Equity Assurance Leadership on front office human resources and budget activities. This includes the budget formulation and execution requirements in the areas of travel/travel management, procurement of supply and equipment items, contract requirements, etc. Provides technical guidance to front office staff on budget formulation, human resources, and execution matters.
• Evaluates significant policies and proposals, prior to their consideration by the Executive Director of the Office of Equity Assurance, to ensure that balanced and accurate documentation of all options are presented.
• Performs recurring assignments involving high level contacts with public officials, professional organizations, societies, schools, etc., seeking information about VBA or wishing to voice positions or complaints regarding policies, plans and operations of VBA.
• Develops and recommends effective and efficient internal management controls and administrative practices for senior leadership.
• Serves as a member of various committees, e.g., Equity meetings, budget meetings, and human resources meetings, VBA leadership meetings.
• Works with the staff within the Office of Equity Assurance on accomplishment of short and long-term goals related to the mission of the office, including executive correspondence, reader-focused writing, congressional liaison, and public affairs issues.
• Establishes goals and objectives, ensuring front office staff are provided opportunities to develop the skills needed to perform their roles, and evaluating results.
• Provides management and technical staff with advice and guidance on preparation of written documents, including administrative issues, forms and form letters, communications, and records management and maintains history files.
• Supports the Executive Director in the oversight of resource use and allocations assessing the organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness of programs to stakeholders.
• Performs special assignments and participates in special projects and initiatives with responsibility for researching, planning, executing, and/or evaluating complex operations, programs, and policies which affect a variety of functional areas within the public affairs and legislative liaison arena.

Promotion Potential: None

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8am - 4;30pm

Compressed/Flexible: At the discretion of the agency

Telework: Yes

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Management Office; 41927-0

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• 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 period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• [INCLUDE IF POSITION IS SUPERVISORY] Selectees are required to service a one-year supervisory probationary period if not previously completed in a Federal position.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:09/13/2024.

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.

To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50). The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50 that indicates proof of status, and shows Time in Grade (for example, you were a career or career-conditional employee) and identifies your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). 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 also submit your most recent promotion or within-grade increase in addition to your recent SF-50. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. DO NOT submit Award SF-50's and/or General Adjustment SF-50's as they cannot be used to prove time-in-grade.

• For a GS-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14 level.

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

GS-15 Grade Level:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-14) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

• Specialized experience is the experience that includes experience providing executive-level support and leadership; formulating organization doctrines, reviewing executive correspondence, evaluating proposals, and conducting supervisory duties. Extensive experience developing and recommending effective and efficient internal management controls and administrative practices for senior leadership. Experience representing senior leadership in meetings and on task forces and working groups requiring management actions and making decisions. Experience establishing and monitoring an effective system for internal controls and developing detailed reports on integrity measures to assist leadership in determining effective business strategy, establishing priorities, and identifying methods of identifying potential risk focused on equity, programs, and services.

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. Some work may require walking and standing in conjunction with attending meetings and conferences. Work may require carrying light items such as papers, books, or small parts. The work does not require any special physical effort.

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

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

MUST BE IN THE LOCAL COMMUTING AREA.

VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

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.

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/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf

• Benefits
  
  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.
  
  Review our benefits
  
  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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants who do not fully address the specialized experience needed for the position (as described above in the job announcement) in their resume will not be referred for consideration.

After you have met the minimum qualifications, you will be rated on the following competencies based on your application for this position:

• Manages and Organizes Information - Identifies a need; gathers, organizes, and maintains information; determines its importance and accuracy, and communicates it by a variety of methods.
• Organizational Awareness - Knows the organization's mission and functions, and how its social, political, and technological systems work and operates effectively within them; this includes the programs, policies, procedures, rules, and regulations of the organization.
• Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and make recommendations.
• Interpersonal Skills - Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, cooperation, concern, and politeness to others; relates well to different people from varied backgrounds and different situations.

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.

• Benefits
  
  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.
  
  Review our benefits
  
  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.
• Required Documents
  
  As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.
  
  To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in loss of consideration for this job announcement.
  
  • Resume detailing specialized experience and competencies as they relate to this position.
    
    • For each position in your resume, you must specify the start and end dates (month/year) and a description of duties. If the position was Federal, you should also indicate the grade level. Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including documentation supporting Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications.
  • Your most recent NON-AWARD SF-50. The SF-50 must indicate proof of status and should identify your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
  • Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade (e.g. Promotion, Appointment, etc.) in order to verify time-in-grade requirements.
  • 2 most recent Annual Performance Appraisals (2022 & 2023) *required to be eligible
  • CTAP documentation - RIF notice, SF-50 showing VA employee, and performance appraisal
  
  Please use this checklist to make sure you have included all documents required for your application. You will not be contacted for additional information.
• How to Apply
  
  To receive consideration, your complete application package must be submitted by 11:59pm (EST) on 09/13/2024 or on the day the applicant count limit is reached, whichever comes first. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12540215.
  
  
  1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
  2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
  
  Click here for instructions on viewing your application status.
  
  If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in the Job Opportunity Announcement.
  
  Agency contact information
  
  Lakeisha Davis
  
  Phone
  
  410-230-4400
  
  Email
  
  Lakeisha.davis4@va.gov
  
  Address
  
  VBA Human Resources Center - Central Office
  
  810 Vermont Ave NW
  
  Washington, DC 20420
  
  US
  
  Next steps
  
  Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
  
  You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
• Fair and Transparent
  
  The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
  
  
  • Criminal history inquiries
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
  • Financial suitability
  • New employee probationary period
  • Privacy Act
  • Reasonable accommodation policy
  • Selective Service
  • Signature and false statements
  • Social security number request

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in loss of consideration for this job announcement.

• Resume detailing specialized experience and competencies as they relate to this position.
  
  • For each position in your resume, you must specify the start and end dates (month/year) and a description of duties. If the position was Federal, you should also indicate the grade level. Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including documentation supporting Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications.
• Your most recent NON-AWARD SF-50. The SF-50 must indicate proof of status and should identify your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
• Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade (e.g. Promotion, Appointment, etc.) in order to verify time-in-grade requirements.
• 2 most recent Annual Performance Appraisals (2022 & 2023) *required to be eligible
• CTAP documentation - RIF notice, SF-50 showing VA employee, and performance appraisal

Please use this checklist to make sure you have included all documents required for your application. You will not be contacted for additional information.

How to Apply

To receive consideration, your complete application package must be submitted by 11:59pm (EST) on 09/13/2024 or on the day the applicant count limit is reached, whichever comes first. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12540215.

1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.

Click here for instructions on viewing your application status.

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

Agency contact information

Lakeisha Davis

Phone

410-230-4400

Email

Lakeisha.davis4@va.gov

Address

VBA Human Resources Center - Central Office

810 Vermont Ave NW

Washington, DC 20420

US

Next steps

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.

You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.

Fair & Transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

• Criminal history inquiries
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
• Financial suitability
• New employee probationary period
• Privacy Act
• Reasonable accommodation policy
• Selective Service
• Signature and false statements
• Social security number request