Field Examiner

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open ONLY to current, permanent VA employees and current/former VA employees who are CTAP eligible.

Specific duties include:

• Performs visits to Veterans and beneficiaries to evaluate physical and mental conditions or capacity; independently determine ability to handle or manage funds.
• Conducts field examinations to determine who to appoint as fiduciaries for incompetent or minor beneficiaries.
• Verify the welfare and adequate living conditions of Veterans under fiduciary care and make arrangements for deficiencies.
• Conduct background investigations on proposed fiduciaries.
• Reviews and reports on fiduciary performance; conduct investigations involving the misuse of VA funds.
• Explain laws and regulations governing fiduciary responsibilities to Veteran, beneficiary and fiduciary.
• Investigate and make determinations on identified misuse, complaints, allegations, contested claims for benefits, special apportionments, eligibility for VA compensation, etc.

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-GS-11.

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday
Compressed/Flexible: The hours for this position are 8:00am-4:30pm.
Telework: No -This position is not eligible for telework.
Remote/Virtual: This is not a remote/virtualposition. This is a mobile position.
Position Description/PD#: Field Examiner; 36002A, 35902A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Financial Disclosure Report: Required.

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
• 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 dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• A complete application package must be submitted by 08/17/2026: Resume, transcripts, SF-50s etc.
• You will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/17/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Applicants who are current Federal employees and who are current/former Federal employees 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: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or higher. Specialized experience is defined as use of fact finding sources (i.e., conducting interviews, researching court records, etc.) to verify facts and obtain specific pieces of information; or, experience applying Federal, state and/or local laws and regulations to administer benefits programs or services; or, financial management experience for individuals or businesses. Examples include, but are not limited to:
• Conducting investigations into allegations of misconduct, compiling findings, and composing reports of recommended action.
• Determining an applicant's eligibility for welfare programs in accordance with state laws and program regulations. -OR-
• Education Substitution: You must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education or LL.B or J.D., if related.-OR-
• A Combination of specialized experience and education: Equivalent combinations of Specialized Experience and Graduate level education. To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then, divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.

If you qualify based on your education, you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position, an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date.

GS-11 Grade Level:

• Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or higher. Specialized experience is defined as experience conducting interviews in a state and/or Federal benefit/ services program capacity to obtain essential information and assess an individual's competency to make valid decisions; or, expertise in personal financial management for individuals in exceptionally unique or complex financial situations. -OR-
• Education Substitution: You must have a PhD. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher level graduate education or LL.M., if related. -OR-
• A Combination of specialized experience and education: Equivalent combinations of Specialized Experience and more than two years, but less than three years of education, as described above. To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. The divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond two years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.

If you qualify based on your education, you must upload or fax a copy of your college transcript along with your application. If you are selected for the position, an official college transcript(s) will be required at your start date.

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: This 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.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

• INVESTIGATION: Conduct interviews, interrogations, investigations and inspections involving issues such as contested benefit claims, fraud, abuse, embezzlement, special apportionment, dependent status, etc.
• JUDGMENT/DECISION: Demonstrate cognitive thinking for the purpose of reaching a decision, drawing sound conclusions, or making critical distinctions about people, situations, ideas or events through assessment, comparison and/or deliberation.
• ORAL COMMUNICATION: Verbally explain laws, programs and processes clearly to individuals/corporations; communicate to obtain info, coordinate services/benefits; verbally report facts and findings to represent claimant and/or government.
• FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT/BUDGETING: Apply basic budget, accounting and fund control principles to estimate spending and manage funds.
• CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: Demonstrates objective, unbiased views, promote calm dialogue/cooperation, exhibit foresight to identify and defuse conflict before it occurs.
• RESEARCH/ANALYSIS: Conduct research by reviewing information/records of financial/bank statements, case files, correspondence for compliance or investigative purposes, analyze information/data to make appropriate decisions and referrals.
• SELF-MANAGEMENT: Sets well defined and realistic goals: monitors progress and time, self-motivated to achieve and deal with stress effectively/appropriately.
• TECHNICAL COMPETENCE: Knowledge of Federal, state and local laws, regulations, policies, guidelines, procedures and judicial determinations applicable to benefits programs. (Describe situations in which you assessed benefits eligibility and applied applicable laws, rules, regulations, and procedures.)

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/13022499

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, 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.

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 50s do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50s include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Next steps

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