Director (Program Manager)

Clarification from the agency

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

The Director establishes Regional Office policies and procedures consistent with national mandates; provides executive leadership and direction for subordinates in the investigation and solution of problems arising in the Regional Office's administration of veteran's benefits programs and services.

• Establishes policies and procedures consistent with regulatory requirements and implements national policies and procedures.
• Plans and assigns work, sets priorities, and advises employees on program goals and objectives, and makes decisions on work problems presented by subordinate supervisors.
• Directs a comprehensive management analysis and improvement program designed to improve and strengthen management activities at all levels of the facilities through the use of a variety of techniques of executive control, such as analysis of weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports.
• Determines the resources required to meet goals and plans. Makes selections for key positions and approves selections made by subordinate supervisors.
• Ensures that an effective program is in place to identify training needs and developmental opportunities of the staff and that the needs are met in the proper time frames.
• Provides executive oversight of VBA programs and services, including: Compensation, Veteran Readiness & Employment, Human Resources, and Equal Employment Opportunity.
• Determines goals and develops long and short-range plans to achieve these goals. The Director determines the resources required, allocates available resources among subordinate units and is responsible for the effective and economical use of these resources.
• Promotes and maintains an effective labor-management relations program. Creates and maintains a working environment that is free of discrimination and one that assures diversity.

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday 7:30AM- 4:00 PM
Telework: Ad-hoc telework may be authorized as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#:37956A
Relocation Incentives: Authorized. Relocation expenses and services (Permanent Change of Station - PCS) are authorized for this recruitment. PCS is the relocation of a household due to government convenience in connection with the transfer between duty stations or facilities. In consideration of the payment of expenses for travel and transportation, the selectee agrees to remain in federal service for twelve (12) months following the date of transfer. Failure to complete all conditions of the obligated service may result in repayment of travel/transportation expenses. Click here for more information. *Temporary housing is authorized for this position within applicable regulations.*
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.

Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial 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.

• 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
• Selectees are required to serve 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.
• 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.

Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements I-9 Acceptable Documents.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/29/2026.

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 that you possess one year of 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 former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

• 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. Applicants must document experience delivering Veteran's benefits services in a Veterans Administration (VA) business line or a Regional Office setting, which includes all the following:
• • Establishing priorities and determining resource needs to meet program objectives;
  • Directing, coordinating, and approving a full range of personnel management actions and organizational change proposals;
  • Directing comprehensive and complex program reviews;
  • Monitoring and controlling program progression and effectiveness through analysis of policies, directives and organizational short- and long-range goals

Candidates must also have demonstrated in their work experience or training that they possess, or have the potential to develop, the qualities to successfully supervise subordinates (including managers and subordinate supervisors).

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. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: This work normally involves mental rather than physical exertion. This position is primarily sedentary with some walking, standing, bending, stooping, and carrying of lightweight items (i.e., folders, claims files).

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/.

How you will be evaluated

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

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):

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

• Decision Making- Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.
• 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.
• Planning and Evaluation - Determines objectives and strategies; coordinates with other parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors and evaluates the progress and outcomes of operational plans; anticipates potential threats or opportunities.
• Written Communication - Reviews and/or initiates written communications derived from complex and technical material effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information to present clear and concise written guidance/policy or other materials as needed.
• Leadership - Inspires, motivates and guides others toward goal accomplishment; coaches, mentors, and challenges subordinates; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations; models high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness, and respect for the individual by applying these values to daily behaviors.
• Oral Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations.

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.

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 contact for 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.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Resumes may not exceed two pages and must be legible for review of eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. 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:
  • Contact Information:
    • Name and how best to contact you, including email address and phone number
  • Relevant Work Experience:
    • For each relevant work experience, make sure you include:
      • Job Title and Employer (including series and grade for any Federal positions)
      • Start and end dates with month/year (e.g., 05/2019 - 08/2022)
      • The number of hours you worked per week
    • Ensure work experience descriptions are aligned with the job announcement and address all required qualifications. Brief descriptions should demonstrate your ability to perform the tasks at the required level as stated in the job announcement
  • Optional Details:
    • When relevant, include:
      • Current Security Clearance
      • Job-related training
      • Language skills
      • Organizations and affiliations
      • Professional publications
      • Eligibility for special programs (e.g., military spouses, individuals with disabilities, etc.
• A copy of your TWO most recent (2024/2025-VA Form 0750) performance appraisals (annual rating of record *with a documented rating*) and associated performance standards. NOTE: Applicants unable to provide your most recent performance appraisal MUST provide a valid written explanation for its absence.
• Current Federal Employees:
  • Your most recent APPOINTMENT SF-50. The most recent 1XX or 5XX SF-50 proving status. This SF-50 should identify your appointing legal authority, position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
  • Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade and step (e.g., Within Grade Increase, Promotion, Appointment, etc.) in order to verify time-in-grade requirements.
• Current VBA Employees: If you are seeking a reassignment/change to lower grade, you must submit a copy of your most recent appointment SF-50 and an SF-50 that reflects when you entered your highest grade and step as described above.

Additional Documents accepted:

• Award SF-50s
• 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.

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