Supervisory Accountant

Clarification from the agency

This position is open to current, permanent Department of Veterans Affairs employees of Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management, Office of Benefits, Finance and Business Transformation. This does not include temporary, term, or intermittent appointments and CTAP eligibles.

Major Duties:

• Lead Enterprise Fiscal/Financial Systems Operations and Modernization
• Direct Requirements Development, Technical Design & SDLC/Agile Leadership
• Manage Enterprise Testing & System Readiness
• Ensure Regulatory, Audit, and Financial Compliance
• Lead Modernization Initiatives (Cloud, RPA, Architecture Modernization)
• Supervise Senior Technical Staff
• Provide Executive-Level Advisory and Cross-Agency Coordination

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: Yes
Telework: Ad-hoc telework (situational telework) available as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: PD415340
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary but involves use of a personal computer, so a degree of manual dexterity and visual acuity are required to utilize these tools. Some slight physical effort is required to lift and carry reference books, working papers, and similar items to and from meetings. No special physical demands are 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/.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced 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:

• Experience leading and overseeing nationwide fiscal and financial systems and operations to ensure general ledger integrity, regulatory compliance, and audit readiness.
• Applies expert knowledge of federal accounting standards, USSGL, GAAP, internal controls, and governing policy, independently executing complex technical, analytical, and supervisory responsibilities.
• Experience leading complex federal financial system operations, requirements development, testing, modernization, and audit readiness activities while ensuring compliance with applicable federal accounting and financial management requirements.
• Consistently resolves high-impact issues requiring advanced analytical judgment and develops innovative accounting and reporting solutions to meet mission-critical needs.
• Communicates at the superior level through clear, logical, and authoritative engagement with senior leaders, technical staff, and external federal partners, shaping decisions and securing agreement on complex fiscal system activities.
• Demonstrates superior project-management capability by coordinating major modernization initiatives, managing risks, and ensuring timely delivery of system outcomes in alignment with organizational priorities.
• Supervises senior staff, ensuring effective workload management, performance evaluation, staff development, and compliance with EEO and organizational policy.
• Collectively reflects mastery of all critical knowledge, skills, and abilities identified in the Crediting Plan and fully satisfies the criteria for the highest quality level.

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. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 810 Vermont Avenue, Washington, DC 20420.

The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Jacksonville, FL. This includes all locations that fall within a 50 mile driving distance from 605 W. Beaver St., Jacksonville, FL 32202.

The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Hines, IL. This includes all locations that fall within a 50 mile driving distance from 1st Avenue North of 22nd Street, Building 215, Room 200S, Hines, IL 60141.

The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from San Diego, CA. This includes all locations that fall within a 50 mile driving distance from 8620 Spectrum Center Blvd, San Diego, CA 92123.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary 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 (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 may be required to serve a one year probationary period or two 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 one year probationary period or two year 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, 09/17/2026.

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-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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 some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade.

Individual Occupational Requirements: This position includes an Individual Occupation Requirement. Individual Occupational Requirements are requirements e.g., experience or education, for particular occupational series or positions within a series and are used in conjunction with a group coverage (generic) standard. Applicants who do not meet the Individual Occupational Requirements are ineligible for further consideration. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

• Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.")

OR

• Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicant's background must also include one of the following:
  • Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law;
  • A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; OR
  • Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

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

Specialized Experience GS-14:You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Developing system requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and functional specifications using Agile, SAFe, and SDLC methodologies; and directing comprehensive testing activities such as functional, integration, regression, and user acceptance testing (UAT).
• Ensuring compliance with federal financial laws, regulations, and audit requirements including GAO, OMB, Treasury, FFMIA, FMFIA, and FASAB; and safeguarding financial data integrity, accuracy, security, and proper transaction processing.
• Managing production operations, change control, incident response, continuity of operations (COOP) readiness, and overall system operational stability for mission-critical federal financial systems. Executing modernization initiatives involving cloud migration, automation, digital transformation, and enterprise architecture improvements.
• Interpreting federal financial laws and regulations; preparing enterprise-wide policies, technical guidance, and authoritative interpretations; and advising senior leadership on fiscal systems, financial data integrity, and payment architecture.
• Coordinating with federal oversight and partner agencies such as Treasury, GAO, OMB, DoD, and others on system dependencies, audit requirements, and nationwide financial data exchanges.
• Supervising senior technical staff, including conducting performance evaluations, managing workload priorities, overseeing technical deliverables, and ensuring staff development.

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: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list series and grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 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.

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 for this position:

• Accountability
• Accounting
• Analytical Thinking
• Communications
• Customer Service
• Decisiveness
• Flexibility
• Internal Controls/Integrity
• Interpersonal Skills
• Problem Solving
• Project Management
• Resilience
• Systems Life Cycle
• Technical Competence

The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

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.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be contacted 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.

Area of Consideration: Eligible applicants will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

• All current, permanent VA Employees in the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management, VBA OFM BUS & FIN TRANS

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.

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

• Resume

*FOR CURRENT OR FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: Please view the 'Current and Former Federal Employees: Validating Time-in-Grade and Eligibility' section below to ensure you are submitting the proper SF-50/s Notification of Personnel Actions.

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
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Other (1)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Proof of Marriage Status
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Failure to submit any of the above required documents applicable to your submission may result in loss of consideration and a rating of ineligible due to an incomplete application package. It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that their application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. We will not contact applicants for additional documentation, nor will we accept late or missing documents after the close of the announcement.

Current and Former Federal Employees: Validating Time-in-Grade and Eligibility

Required document to demonstrate eligibility:

• Most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which for current employees, must be effective the first pay period (01/11/2026 or later) of the current calendar year. The SF-50 should note your current position or most recently held position, tenure, type of position occupied (i.e., Excepted or Competitive), grade level and duty location. (Text version SF-50s or Request for Personnel Action SF-52s are not acceptable.) Non-GS employees (including Federal Wage System and pay band employees) who do not receive annual pay adjustments in January, must submit a SF-50 dated within one year of the closing date of this announcement.

Required document/s to demonstrate Time-in-Grade (TIG):
TIG requirements apply to applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks, some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, and current employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
Applicants who must meet TIG, in addition to their most recent SF-50, must submit:

• Official SF-50 that shows you hold or held the grade (or a higher grade) for the position you are applying for, or
• Official SF-50/s that show you held the next lower grade for at least one year for the position you are applying for. (Multiple SF-50s may need to be submitted to show this.)

Examples of appropriate SF-50s to include (in addition to your most recent SF-50) to meet TIG requirements include:
- Within grade increases (WGI) at the highest grade held; or
- Promotions to the highest grade held with an effective date that occurred more than one year from the closing date of the JOA; or
- SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date that occurred more than 1 year from the closing date of the JOA.
NOTE: Do not submit Award SF-50s (or other SF-50s that do not provide sufficient information to verify time-in-grade.)

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.

IF APPLYING AS A CTAP 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)

Next steps