Education Compliance Survey Specialist (ECSS)

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open ONLY to current, permanent Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) OR Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees and current/former VA employees who are CTAP eligible. For the purpose of this job announcement, Fiduciary Hub bargaining unit employees in the commuting area are considered facility employees.

Specific duties include:
This position serves as an Education Compliance Specialist (ECSS) on the Investigations, Compliance, and Enforcement team within the Program Oversight & Accountability Division and is located geographically disbursed across the United States and responsible for providing compliance oversight of educational and training institutions within an assigned portfolio in support of EDU's mission. This position reports directly to the Supervisory Program Oversight Specialist.

Typical duties will include (not all inclusive):

• Prepares for compliance survey (audit) of an education and training program by examining and reviewing various informational sources.
• Examines education records for enrolled students and ascertains enrollment data and award actions.
• Verifies institution has provided appropriate forms for compliance with Equal Opportunity Laws, Conflicting Interest and other documents required for SAA program approval of Veteran education benefits.
• Conducts investigation and evaluations pertaining to compliance with provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 404 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975. Interviews students and school administrators or employees during the course of investigation to substantiate or refute allegations.
• Complete assigned Targeted Risked Based Reviews (TRBR) and Risk-Based Surveys (RBS).
• Conducts entrance and exit-briefings at educational and or training establishments, delineating results of survey findings with School Certifying Officials.
• Prepares compliance survey report which indicates whether discrepancies found on a prior survey have or have not been corrected, report any discrepancy found on the current survey and explains what additional action, if any, is required.
• Record payment discrepancies to include direct overpayments or underpayments made to the educational institution on behalf of a GI Bill beneficiary.
• Refer institution approval and payment discrepancies for action, as appropriate, to other VA personnel, and/or other regulatory agency and provides recommendations in cases of egregious or negligent reporting errors or possible fraud.
• Assists with liaison visits to educational institutions and training establishments. Aids in the preparation and dissemination of necessary compliance information, conducts face to face training, addresses deficiencies found during a compliance survey, and presents at school conferences and workshops advising school officials about VA regulations and directives.
• Other duties as assigned.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. The grade progression for this position is GS-09 and GS-11.

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
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.
Position Description/PD#: Education Compliance Survey Specialist (ECSS); 38798-A and 38799-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

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 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
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Applicants must submit complete application packet before job closes. Required and accepted documents include resume and any other eligibility supporting documentation, (i.e. education, military service, and prior federal service SF-50's).
• 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 dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• All federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.
• You may be required to serve a one year Supervisory Probationary Period.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/24/2026.

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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level.
• For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 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: To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves:
• Demonstrates experience and knowledge of Federal and State laws, regulations, executive orders, agency rules and policies for benefit programs.
• Demonstrates knowledge identifying 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.
• Demonstrates knowledge of procedures for assessing, evaluating, and monitoring programs or projects for compliance with laws, regulations, and guidance.
• Demonstrates knowledge of generally accepted auditing standards, procedures, and reports. -OR-
• Education Substitution: You must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related.

GS-11 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: To qualify at the GS-11 grade, you must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level or higher. Specialized experience should include demonstrated experience and knowledge of Federal and State education laws, regulations, executive orders, agency rules and policies for VA Education benefits; identifying issues and analyzes information to draw accurate conclusions, ensuring careful attention to detail by dissecting information into their meaningful parts and uses logic and judgment to evaluate an organization's records management; Demonstrated experience with procedures for assessing, evaluating, and monitoring programs or projects for compliance with laws, regulations, and guidance; Knowledge of generally accepted auditing standards and procedures for conducting financial and/or record keeping reviews/audits. Demonstrated experience providing management with detailed reports of discrepancies/findings based on review/audit.
  -OR-
• Education Substitution: You must have at least a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related.

Combining Education & 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 job requires driving in government owned automobiles, often very long distances requiring overnight lodging. Some walking and climbing of stairs is required since interviews with VA beneficiaries are conducted at the residences of the beneficiaries.

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.

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.

• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork
• Knowledge of Laws & Regulations
• Analytical Reasoning
• Compliance
• Writing
• Auditing

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 an interview.

To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13004851

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Failure to submit the required documents may result in your application being considered incomplete and you being deemed ineligible. It is your responsibility to ensure your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. We will not request additional documentation or accept late or missing documents after the announcement has closed.

• Resume, limited to 2 pages, 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.
• Transcript if you are using education to qualify.
  • Your transcript must show coursework and the total number of credits earned to include graduation date and degree. A diploma is NOT sufficient to determine qualifications.

Additional Documents accepted:

• Most recent Performance Appraisal (VA Form 0750)
• 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.

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Next steps

Additional locations