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Program Specialist (VRE)

Veterans Benefits AdministrationPortland, Oregon

About this role

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/12/2026. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).

NOTE: All current or former Federal employees must provide a copy of their SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one), "Notice of Personnel Action" that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position, title, series, grade, step, tenure (1 or 2), and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level. 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 and/or education as described below: GS-09 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or higher.

Specialized experience is defined as: The incumbent has substantial experience working within a clerical setting in a fast-paced environment. Incumbent should have excellent customer service skills and be a team player. The incumbent is highly organized and capable of monitoring and managing multiple projects, tasks, and assignments. The incumbent is capable of gathering and interpreting a wide range of data addressing service concerns, preparing spreadsheets and graphs, reports, power points, and recommends appropriate actions based on the data.

Incumbent must be familiar with all aspects of VRE processes to include initial evaluations ,case management, and employment services. OR Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed a Masters Degree or equivalent doctoral degree OR two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.

Combining Education substitution & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information 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 in offices and similar areas for meetings and to conduct HR work. Work may also require walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and attendance at meetings and conferences away from the worksite. 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/.

Source listing: usajobs