Lead Human Resources Specialist (Recruitment & Placement) - Detail/Temporary Promotion

Clarification from the agency

Current and permanent employees of Legacy VISN 7 Human Resources Management service. A current Non-Award SF-50 must be submitted with application to meet the Area of Consideration requirement.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: HR Specialist Total Rewards

Major duties for the position may include but are not limited to:

• Incumbent serves as a VISN Shared Services Unit (SSU) R&P Team Lead with minimal supervision from the SSU R&P Supervisory HR Specialist. Responsible for the general working oversight of at least 5 HR Specialists (GS-0201-12) in the R&P SSU.
• Responsible for the general working oversight of at least 5 HR Specialists (GS-0201-12) in the R&P SSU.
• Distributes and balances workload among employees in accordance with staff work flow.
• Troubleshoots and resolves difficult and controversial internal and external staffing and placement problems.
• Evaluates applications and resumes using Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Veterans Administration (VA) qualification standards, verifies eligibility, and rates and ranks applicants.
• Adjudicates and makes decisions on applicant appeals and agency's request to pass over (or objects to) eligible(s) certified.
• Receives and reviews local and regional recruitment requests and contacts the Selecting Official to finalize the recruitment action.
• Reviews all Recruitment & Placement personnel actions to include reviewing and releasing actions.
• Coordinates with leadership stakeholders, to include local, regional and national leadership throughout the entire recruitment process.

Recruitment & Placement:

• Evaluates applications and resumes using Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and qualification standards.
• Responsible for drafting and preparing announcement(s); evaluating, rating and ranking applications; adjudicates veteran's preference.
• Prepares vacancy announcements based on Position Description (PD) and/or functional statements (FS) and Subject Matter Expert (SME) analysis of the position.
• Identifies management problems and analyzes them from the management viewpoint.
• Receives and reviews local and regional recruitment requests and contacts the Selecting Official to finalize the recruitment action.
• Provides technical advice and assistance to the human resources staff and management officials in all areas of staffing and recruitment, including priority placement, direct hiring, special hiring authorities, etc.
• Troubleshoots and resolves difficult and controversial internal and external staffing and placement problems.
• Consults on and ensures all pre-employment requirements are met, such as: position management and organizational design; pay administration such as physician market pay; setting pay for Title 5, Title 38 and Hybrid employees, using multiple pay scales and various information sources; VetPro Credentialing; position descriptions, functional statements, scopes of practice, crediting plans, and job analysis.

Recruitment & Placement Quality Review:

• Serves as a Senior Quality Reviewer for the assigned R&P SSU. Reviews all facets of HRSmart work for their team including staffing, recruitment and retention.
• Responsible for the quality review of Staffing, Recruitment and Placement information management systems and its management to ensure compliance with regulations and interpretation of the organization's Personnel Accountability, HR policies and procedures to address issues that require substantial interpretation.
• Conducts quality reviews of documents to ensure compliance and collaborates and coordinates with supervisor on corrections and internal process improvement measures.
• Provides independent and sound judgement to perform complex, sensitive, project work characterized by a high degree of difficulty related to the Quality Review Management of Personnel Actions Request (PAR) within the Human Resources Management Service applicable database (HR Smart).
• Reviews all Recruitment & Placement personnel actions to include reviewing and releasing actions. Conducts thorough reviews on personnel actions processed to ensure the actions are in adherence with all regulatory and legal requirements.
• Ensures data fields on personnel actions are coded appropriately, to include verifying the correct nature of action and legal authority codes are being utilized. Ensures employee data is accurately captured, i.e., veteran's preference, tenure, FEGLI, annuitant indicator, pay rate determinate, retirement plan, service computation date, work schedule, etc.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm (subject to change based on agency needs).
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Lead Human Resources Specialist (Recruitment & Placement) - Detail/Temporary Promotion/PD99974S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/02/2026.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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.

The BASIC REQUIREMENT for the HR Specialist GS-0201 series is presumed met if found qualified at the GS-0201-7 level and above.

To qualify for this position at the GS-13 level, you must meet one of the following listed Criteria:

Criteria 1- Graduate Degree and Specialized Experience: Successful completion of a graduate level degree or higher and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: conducting recruitment and placement activities for a variety of professional, administrative and technical positions; interpreting and applying qualification standards and/or requirements to determine applicant qualifications; providing technical guidance and consultation regarding rules and regulations laws, policies and procedures pertaining to recruitment and staffing and personnel actions; explaining recruitment and placement policies, processes, and rules to managers in developing recruitment packages including job analysis, crediting plans, and performance-based interview questions; resolving a wide variety of HR issues or problems; utilizing USA Staffing (or other automated staffing programs) to prepare vacancy announcements, issue referrals to managers, and onboard selectees.

~OR~

Criteria 2- Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in federal service that demonstrates HR management knowledge, concepts and principles and the performance of work in one or more of the HR specialty areas. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: providing expert level human resources advice and guidance on recruitment, placement, and staffing programs to the VISN and/or medical centers' management and staff; comprehensive knowledge of and skill in applying a wide range of advanced recruitment, placement, and staffing principles, concepts, practices, and regulations; leading or serving as team member on special projects or comprehensive studies to examine recruitment, placement, and staffing problems or issues to find solutions, evaluate alternatives, and make recommendations to complex problems and situations; advising management on a wide range of recruitment, placement, and staffing issues such as workforce shaping, special placement programs, recruitment methods, special pay incentives, and national collective bargaining agreement requirements; and reviewing data from automated platforms, performs analyses, summarizes information, identifies trends and develops and implements recommendations.

How you will be evaluated

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

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 for this position:

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

Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

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

• Resume

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

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

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.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

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