Clarification from the agency

This position is open only to current, permanent employees of the VA Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network - VISN 6 HRMS Technical Review Team. The VA Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network VISN 6 has one (1) Lead Human Resources Specialist (Technical Review) vacancies Not to Exceed (NTE) one (1) year. This vacancy may be used to fill future permanent recruitments.

The length of this temporary promotion is NTE 1 year, with the possibility of becoming permanent without further competition.

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

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.

Work Schedule: Full Time, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: This position may be authorized for Ad Hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Lead Human Resources Specialist (Technical Review)/PD99852A
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.

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Serves as team leader over a group of Technical Reviewer Human Resources Specialists. Responsible for assigning, monitoring, and reviewing the work performed by subordinate team members.
• Ensures that the organization's mission and vision are communicated to the team and integrated into the team's goals, work plans, and work products.
• Articulates and communicates to the team the assignment, project, problem to be solved, actionable events, milestones, and deadlines.
• Identifies, distributes and balances workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow, skill level and/or occupational specialization and adjusting to accomplish the workload in accordance with established priorities to ensure timely accomplishment of assigned team tasks.
• Provides advice on work methods, practices and procedures, and assists the team and/or individual members in identifying the parameters of a viable solution.
• Trains or arranges for the training of team members in methods and techniques of technical skills and team building and working in teams to accomplish tasks or projects.
• Coaches team members in the selection of problem-solving methods and techniques, provides advice on work methods and procedures and assists team members in identifying factors needed to resolve problems.
• Provides independent and sound judgement to perform complex, sensitive, project work
  characterized by a high degree of difficulty related to the Technical Review Management of
  Personnel Actions Request (PAR) within the Human Resources Management Service
  applicable database (HRSmart). Reviews all facets of work for all areas of HR including
  Staffing, ER/LR, Benefits, etc. across all medical centers within the region.
• Serves as a technical reviewer for all personnel actions to include reviewing and releasing
  actions. Conduct a thorough review on personnel actions as assigned 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. Will review personnel actions to ensure employee data is accurately captured, e.g. Veteran's preference, tenure, FEGLI, annuitant indicator, pay rate determinate, retirement plan, service computation date, work schedule, etc.
• Will review personnel actions to ensure position data is accurately captured, e.g. position type, FLSA eligibility, appropriation code, bargaining unit status, duty station, etc. Incumbent will review grade, step, and salary on personnel actions to ensure all pay setting laws and regulations are adhered to for a variety of Title 5, Title 38, and Title 38 Hybrid positions.
• Develops reporting procedures, trending analysis, and measurements at various points in
  processes to identify problem areas or inherent weaknesses in work processes, procedures, and information systems. Communicates observations and findings to leadership, the Quality SSU, and the Training & Development SSU to aid in the competency development and overall compliance of the Network.

Preferred Experience: Experience with mentoring/leading individuals. Experience on Technical Review team, or at minimum very strong Recruitment and Placement experience along with strong HR Smart Processing experience

Conditions of employment

• 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
• 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 dentification 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 may be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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 or trial 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, 03/23/2026.

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. 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.

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: : technical/quality review of personnel actions, utilizes reports to ensure data accuracy, performs employee record audits, resolves issues through DCIPS and REMEDY, processes corrections and cancellations, processes complex record reviews/corrections, and conducts research through VA Handbooks, laws and regulations to ensure proper processing of personnel actions and data accuracy.
~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: Technical/quality review of personnel actions, utilizes reports to ensure data accuracy, performs employee record audits, resolves issues through DCIPS and REMEDY, processes corrections and cancellations, processes complex record reviews/corrections, and conducts research through VA Handbooks, laws and regulations to ensure proper processing of personnel actions and data accuracy.

How you will be evaluated

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

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

• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Developing Others
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Organizational Stewardship

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.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

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

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

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
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Other (1)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• 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.

Next steps