Clarification from the agency

This opportunity is open to current, permanent VA employees nationwide and those eligible under CTAP.

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

• Performs work related to the collection, organization and/or tracking of information in support of the Personnel Security Program. The Personnel Security Program includes the processes of initiating, reviewing, and approving background cases for release to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in compliance with policies relating to completion of suitability investigations for Federal employees and others requiring background investigations for non-sensitive and public trust positions.
• Review position risk sensitivity levels as full assistant to the Personnel Security Specialist. Assemble position descriptions and functional statements for the Personnel Security Specialist for review.
• For pre-employment processes, serves as the initial point of contact for new appointees including but not limited to paid or without compensation employees, volunteers, students, residents, and contractors.
• Initiates, reviews and releases appointees background investigations in the Office of Personnel Managements Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (eQIP) system or in conjunction with the VA- Adjudication Center (VA-AC).
• Regularly monitors the status of specific pending items, compiles data to produce reports, follows up to determine status and records results.- Maintains logs of current employees who are in public trust positions and ensures reinvestigations are initiated, reviewed and released using e-QIP within the required timeframe as per policy. Works closely with the VA-AC to monitor the progress of investigations when applicable.
• As needed, works with applicants who may be experiencing difficulties with completion of electronic forms related to the background screening process.
• Takes and transmits electronic fingerprints for appointees or when the FBI returns fingerprints unclassifiable for various reasons. Only in rare instances when there is machine malfunction, manually takes fingerprints for the purpose of background investigations from OPM.
• Enters appropriate data in required databases related to an appointee's suitability from a wide variety of sources, i.e., fingerprint/badge log, notification(s) of investigation(s) scheduled by OPM, requests by OPM for additional information, receipt/disposition of results of both Special Agreement Checks (SAC's) and National Agency Check with Inquiry (T1's) or higher.
• In conjunction with the Personnel Security Specialist and/or lead/supervisor, presents training/briefings for supervisors, managers, and employees related to various aspects of the Personnel Security Program.
• Requests information from various law enforcement agencies and courts. Assures that the approving official is kept informed of these actions.
• Reviews applicant's data ensuring that the submitted information matches the demographic data and that all required information has been provided.

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 - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. Subject to change based on the needs of the agency.
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Position Description/PD#: Security Assistant/PD99653S, PD99654S, and PD99952S

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 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/09/2026.

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-5 position, employees may be advanced without a time restriction if the position is no more than two grades above the lowest grade held in the preceding 52 weeks..
• For a GS-6 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5 grade level or above.
• For a GS-7 position, you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6 grade level or above.

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.

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

GS-05 Level

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performing office work and database maintenance; Performing standard and non-standard assignments involving different and unrelated processes or methods in varying sequence; Resolving non-recurring problems and meeting deadlines; Following guidelines in the form of instructions, manuals, and regulations. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed four (4) years of education above the high school level. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. One year of full-time undergraduate study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond 4 academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree. When education is used to meet specialized experience requirements at grade GS-5, the level of the course work must have been equivalent to at least the junior- and senior-year levels of a baccalaureate program.

GS-06 Level

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performing office work and database maintenance to include VA CABS; Registering and enrolling PIV Applicants by evaluating applicant eligibility and identity, taking and/or scanning applicant photo and fingerprints; Submitting fingerprints to FBI and/or submitting investigation forms to OPM; Verifying investigation results; Approving or denying PIV card requests.

GS-07 Level

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Initiating, reviewing, and approving background cases for release; Review position risk sensitivity levels; Reviews information submitted by the requesting office to validate level of background required; Enters appointee information into a local data base tracking system and refers appointee for fingerprinting; Maintains logs of current employees who are in public trust positions and ensures reinvestigations are initiated; Reviewed and released using e-QIP within the required timeframe as per policy; Takes and transmits electronic fingerprints; Enters appropriate data in required databases related to an appointee's suitability from a wide variety of sources.

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

• Technical Competence
• Communication
• Personnel Security/Safety
• Information Management

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.

Note: 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.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items such as papers and books. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

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.

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 contact for 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.

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.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

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.

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

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

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

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

Resume Requirement: Your resume must include the following information: Job title, description of duties, beginning and ending date (month/year) of employment, and average hours worked per week.

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
• Performance Appraisal
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• 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.

Veterans' Preference: Veterans' Preference does not apply to internal merit promotion announcements.

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