Program Specialist (Human Resources Liaison)

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to those covered by the indicated hiring paths (status candidates) who live within the local commuting area of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Veterans eligible under the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) and current permanent VBA employees at the GS-09 grade or higher, whose positions have promotion potential to at least GS-12 and who are seeking non-competitive reassignment or change to lower grade, do not need to reside in the local commuting area to be considered.

The incumbent serves as a member of the HR Liaison team and is responsible for providing advice and assistance in the following areas: Staffing/Recruitment, Employee Development, Employee Benefits/Relations, Labor Relations, Awards and Recognition, and administrative functions related to these areas.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Assists the staff and managers to develop and implement policies, procedures, and guidelines which institute processes for work to run as effectively and efficiently as possible.
• Tracks any lag time with recruitment or classification actions. Provides solutions to management on how to improve processing times for recruitment actions.
• Provides technical advice and assistance and disseminates human resource information to organization. Review's classification standards, guides, to assist and coordinate classification assignments.
• Coordinates new hire pre-employment functions, separations, and retirements.
• Assists in the development of initiatives to improve management processes and systems using the most efficient utilization of human resources.
• Reviews and provides solutions to issues and topics where local factors contradict established policy or procedures.
• Provides advice and assistance in the areas of discipline, adverse actions, grievances, performance management and recognition, employee counseling, and related functions.
• Reviews, analyzes, and advises managers and employees on performance, awards, and recognition.
• Completes technical review, analysis and collaboration among internal and external stakeholders to ensure accurate processing and distribution of workers' compensation claims and reasonable accommodation requests.

This position and assignments are developmental to the GS-0301-12 Level. At the GS-09 level, the incumbent will have greater supervision and guidance. The work will be less complex and have limited scope and effect. The employee will work under the guidance of a higher-level specialist.

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, GS-12.

Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm.
Compressed/Flexible: Not available
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position. This is not a Remote position.
Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist (Human Resources Liaison); PD39565A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Conditions of employment

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 or trial 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/20/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: As a current Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

• For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level.
• If you are a current VBA employee outside of the commuting area seeking 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-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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GS-09 Grade Level:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of qualifying specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to:

1. Experience that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.
2. Knowledge of state and federal employment laws, regulations, guidelines, and legal precedents related to hiring practices, equal employment opportunity, and wage and hour restrictions.
3. Experience in a Human Resources (HR) office applying basic HR regulations to complete duties.

Education Substitution: You may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education you must have:

• A master's or equivalent graduate degree in an accredited or pre-accredited college or university; or
• 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or possession of a LL.B. or J.D degree, if related. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position

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. Click here for more information.

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 sedentary. Some work may require walking in offices and similar areas for meetings and to conduct HR work. Work may also require walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and attendance at meetings and conferences away from the worksite. The work does not require any special physical effort.

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/.

What is a local commuting area? Local commuting area means the geographic area that usually constitutes one area for employment purposes. It includes any population center (or two or more neighboring ones) and the surrounding localities in which people live and can reasonably be expected to travel back and forth daily to their usual employment.). This definition is from OPM's Reduction In Force (RIF) regulation at 5 CFR 351.203

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
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork

Additional Competencies to be assessed:

• Software Applications
• Personnel and Human Resources
• Customer Service
• Communication
• Written Communication
• Ability to manage projects from beginning to conclusion

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.To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13001612


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.

Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. (https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/28980686389652-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete application package to include the documents detailed below. Failure to submit the required documents may result in your application being considered incomplete and you being deemed ineligible. It is your responsibility to ensure your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. We will not request additional documentation or accept late or missing documents after the announcement has closed.

• 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 must also indicate the grade level. Resumes containing a general summary of all positions held, not specifying start/end dates, and/or not including Federal grade level(s) are insufficient to determine basic qualifications.
• Transcript: if you are using education to qualify
• Veterans: Member-4 DD-214 and disability rating letter (if applicable)
  • If you are currently on active duty to be released within 120 days, you may submit an armed forces certification in lieu of a Member-4 DD-214.
• Current Federal Employees: A copy of your most recent NON-AWARD SF-50. The SF-50 must indicate proof of status (for example, you are a career or career-conditional employee) and should identify your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
  • To verify you meet Time-in-Grade requirements, also submit a SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade held (e.g. Promotion, Appointment, etc.).
• Current VBA Employees: If you are outside the commuting area and seeking a reassignment/change to lower grade, you must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (non-award) AND the SF-50 placing you into your current position.
• Military Spouse of Active-Duty Military Member: A copy of your marriage license AND your spouse's active duty orders
• Military Spouse of Separated Veteran: A copy of your marriage license, Member-4 DD-214 AND either your spouse's 1) 100% disability rating, or 2) documentation of death during active duty.
• Other Status Candidates: Evidence of eligibility to apply (e.g. Peace Corps verification letter, Schedule A letter, PS-50, etc.).

Please use this checklist to 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.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.

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx.

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