Clarification from the agency

ALL US CITIZENS. DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.

Major duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• Participating in reviews/ requests and providing guidance to field staff
• Conducting training and drafting correspondence related to projects
• Creating and conducting presentations to leadership, both verbally and in writing
• Traveling to project sites
• Producing high-quality, accurate, and timely work while using resources responsibly to support program goals
• Setting clear objectives, tracking progress, and adjusting priorities as needed while following required controls, documentation standards, and compliance procedures
• Taking ownership of results by identifying and resolving issues early, learning from mistakes, and promoting integrity, transparency, and accountability within the project team
• Planning and managing multiple projects so deliverables meet scope, schedule, and budget, and providing timely feedback on technical submissions
• Monitoring project cost and schedule performance, identifying variances, managing risks, and ensuring all required procurement steps are completed and well documented
• Coordinating with internal and external stakeholders to maintain consistent communication, accurate data in required systems, and timely updates for leadership on project status and risks
• Serving as a subject-matter expert for complex lease projects, including major medical or large-scale leased facilities
• Developing, interpreting, and applying policies, regulations, and operational decisions to ensure real estate projects meet required standards
• Guiding project teams in preparing complete and accurate lease proposal packages that meet all real estate policy and regulatory requirements
• Planning, negotiating, and executing complex long-term real estate transactions while ensuring full compliance with laws, regulations, and policy
• Providing expert contracting guidance by interpreting acquisition regulations, resolving complex contract issues, and advising teams on appropriate real property acquisition strategies
• Leading or participating in negotiations with property owners, developers, and other partners to secure terms that meet mission, cost, and schedule needs, and document decisions to withstand oversight

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: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Compressed/Flexible: Authorized
Telework: Position is eligible for Ad Hoc telework (situational telework) as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Location is negotiable among VA-approved staff offices, subject to space availability and management approval. Applicants without an existing assigned VA staff office must be located within 50 miles of a CFM regional office to be considered. This is not a remote position.
Position Description Title/PD#: Realty Specialist/PD1604717 and PD1604716
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; including Resume, Transcripts, etc. is required
• 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.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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.

GS-13 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to:

• Prospectus-level leasing, land acquisition and disposition, land use, special real property projects
• Implementing policies and procedures for those programs
• Participating in reviews and requests
• Provides guidance to field staff and conducting training
• Drafting correspondence related to projects.
• Creating and conducting presentations to leadership, both verbally and in writing

There is no educational substitution for the GS-13 level.

GS-14 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to:

• Managing numerous projects within one or more of ORP's programs
• Leading a cross-functional project team, establishing project plans and schedules, achieving milestones and communicating effectively with internal and external stakeholders
• Ensuring that Departmental policy, regulations, and operational decisions are continually reflected in ORP's programs as they relate to the managed projects
• Monitoring project performance, client comments and concerns, operational considerations
• Conducting studies, chairing working groups, and developing new approaches, alternatives, and recommendations for improvement
• Communicating effectively with the project team to ensure that environmental, historic, community, legal
• Working directly with a variety of contractors for project support
• Representing the office in meetings with officials from VA Central Office, Medical Centers, National Cemeteries, state and local government officials, and other stakeholders

There is no educational substitution for the GS-14 level.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary with regular and recurring travel to proposed and ongoing construction sites. Site visits require the ability to walk over rough terrain, climb ladders and crawl in often tight spaces.

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

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 Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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:

• At least 3 years of real property leasing experience
• Mastery of the advanced principles and available tools for project management, evidenced by a project/program management certification, Lease Certification Program (LCP) Level I certification, or other applicable credential
• Demonstrated experience in coordinating and interacting with high-ranking officials from the private sector (land owners, realty personnel, attorneys) and managing progress through attaining project milestones
• Directing administrative, technical, acquisition, and management activities to manage real property portfolios through leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, and/or reuse

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 Washington DC, Gurnee, IL, Vallejo, CA, or another approved Department of Veterans Affairs staff offices (including CFM regional offices and other approved VA staff office locations). This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20420; Construction & Facilities Management Regional Office - Central, 1425 Tri-State Parkway, Suite 140, Gurnee, IL 60031; or Construction & Facilities Management Regional Office - West, 400 Mare Island Way, Suite 100, Vallejo, CA 94590. Location Negotiable: Location is negotiable among VA-approved staff offices, subject to space availability and management approval. Applicants without an existing assigned VA staff office must be located within 50 miles of the CFM regional office locations listed above to be considered. This is not a remote position.

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. Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.

Job Knowledge Test: A portion of your assessment is a Job Knowledge Test that will occur during the application.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) and the responses you provide on the application questionnaire. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Accountability
• Contracting/Procurement
• Project Management
• Real Estate

The application questionnaire includes a passing score based on the minimum level of required proficiency across these critical competencies. You must meet or exceed the passing score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the passing score.

During the application process, you will 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.

Documents Accepted:

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Lease Certification Program (LCP) Level I certification
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Documents Required:

• Resume

IF APPLYING AS A CTAP/ICTAP ELIGIBLE:You must submit the following documentation demonstrating eligibility for CTAP/ICTAP:

• 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)

Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).You will not be contacted for additional information. Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.

Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply. Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.

Applications are accepted online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.

Next steps