Clarification from the agency

First area of consideration is current FSC Facility employees on permanent appointments. Second area of consideration is current VA employees on permanent appointments.

Major Duties:

• Exercising overall responsibility for the FPS strategic plan to include agency wide payroll and timekeeping support, payroll centralization, and other high visibility payroll projects.
• Oversees and directs the development of the FPS Business Plan which is Service's annual budget and the organizational input to the overall FSC Business Plan.
• Uses expert knowledge on financial matters and operations to prepare reports, papers, and studies on a wide variety of payroll-related topics for special use by the Service Director and the FSC executive leadership team.
• Reviews, analyzes, and streamlines payroll centralization processes to help facilitate a smooth transition of payroll services from stations to the FSC.
• Use expert knowledge of payroll operations to provide solutions to eliminate or reduce significant bottlenecks and barriers to production, promote team building, or improve business practices.
• Advises the FPS Director and provides recommendations in the decision-making process regarding FPS policies and processes.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents).
• 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.

• 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/27/2026.

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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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.

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. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade.

AND

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as acting as an organizational expert responsible for planning, assessing, and coordinating resolution on a wide variety of payroll issues; leading the development and expansion of Service business lines, developing organizational strategic plans and annual business plans; developing and recommending the framework for organizational procedures and payroll programs.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Administration and Management
• Planning and Evaluating
• Communication
• Analysis and Problem Solving

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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: The work is principally sedentary. Work may requires walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and attendance at meetings at converse away from the work site.

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/.

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 for this vacancy. To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications:

• Develops and oversees the organizational strategic plan for agency-wide payroll and timekeeping support; establishes metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and milestones; leads senior leadership planning sessions; and communicates plan progress to FPS and FSC leadership.
• Oversees and directs the development of the FPS annual Business Plan; coordinates with Division Chiefs and product line managers on budget estimates; prepares briefing materials; and presents the Business Plan to FSC Executive leadership to support franchise fund operations.
• Leads payroll centralization efforts by coordinating Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with transitioning stations; streamlines transition processes; coordinates station leadership meetings; and oversees post-deployment success reviews to capture lessons learned.
• Applies expert knowledge of payroll operations and federal financial policies to prepare complex reports, white papers, and studies for the Service Director and FSC executive leadership team on highly complex, cross-organizational payroll-related matters.
• Conducts analysis of FPS entities and systems to identify and eliminate operational bottlenecks; develops standard metrics and measurement processes; and ensures organizational compliance with FSC policies, directives, and higher headquarters requirements through review of reports, operational plans, and accountability instruments.

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/.

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Austin, Texas. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from Austin, Financial Services Center, 7600 Metropolis Dr, Building 5 Austin, TX 78744.

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):

• Accountability
• Arithmetic/Mathematical Reasoning
• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Area of Consideration: Eligible applicants will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

• All current, permanent VA Facility Employees
• All other current, permanent VA employees

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

• Cover Letter
• Other (1)
• Performance Appraisal
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

• Current Federal Employees must provide their most recent SF-50 which must be dated within one year of the closing date of this announcement.
  • ATTENTION: You may need to submit more than one SF-50 if we cannot verify that you meet time-in-grade by your most recent SF-50. For example, if your most recent SF-50 is a General Adjustment, we need your most recent SF-50 dated 1-11-2026 and another SF-50 to verify time-in-grade. Examples of SF-50s for time-in-grade verification include your last within-grade increase or promotion to highest grade held. A promotion SF-50 shows when you started the grade level and a within-grade increase verifies that you were at that grade level for at least one year. Failure to provide your most recent SF-50 dated within one year of the closing date and other SF-50s to verify time-in-grade will result in you being disqualified. We cannot verify time-in-grade based on the grade and step you are currently on alone.
• Former federal employee applying under reinstatement eligibility must supply their latest SF-50 as well as any additional SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade as stated in the above bullet.
• Award SF-50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50s to include in addition to your most recent 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.

• Resume
• Agency Reduction in Force notice;
• Most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location
• Most recent performance appraisal (must be fully successful or above)

Next steps