As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness & whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/23/2026.
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.
- For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level.
- For a GS-12 position you must have served 50 weeks at the GS-11 level.
- If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-09 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-11.
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. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
GS-11 Grade Level:
Specialized Experience GS-11: Applicants must have one year of Specialized Experience which is equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-9 level) in the normal line of progression for the position. The applicant must show knowledge of specialized experience to include, but is not limited to, (1) Conducting analyses of reports and processes; (2) Gathering information and consolidating into reports; and (3) Making recommendations to management for improvement on processes and procedures based on analytical results; Additionally, applicants should have at least 6 months of contracting experience or COR certification.
OR,
Education GS-11: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or successful completion of three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or a LL.M., if related, and obtained in an accredited college or university. One year of full-time graduate education is the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered as satisfying the one (1) year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. Note: Transcripts Required.
OR,
Combination GS-11: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education more than the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-11. (When crediting education that requires specific course work, prorate the number of hours of related courses required as a proportion of the total education to be used.) Your transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
GS-12 Grade Level:
Specialized Experience GS-12: Specialized experience is defined as: (1) basic qualitative and quantitative techniques to analyze, evaluate, and measure the effectiveness and efficiency of organizational operations. Specialized experience also includes: (2) skill in applying communication techniques sufficient to present plans and proposals convincingly.
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.
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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 work is primarily sedentary although some slight physical effort may be required.
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/.