Supervisory Legal Administrative Specialist (Coach)

Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open ONLY to current, permanent Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) employees and current/former Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees who are CTAP eligible.

Specific duties include:

• Performs the administrative and personnel management functions relative to staff supervised. Establish guidelines and performance expectations for staff, which are clearly communicated through the formal employee performance management system. Observes workers' performance; demonstrates and conducts work performance critiques. Develops work improvement plans for the team, recommending personnel actions as necessary.
• Provides advice and counsel to employees related to work and administrative matters. Affects disciplinary measures as appropriate to the authority delegated. Reviews and approves or disapproves leave requests to maintain appropriate staffing levels for the division. Assures that subordinates are trained and fully comply with the provisions of all safety regulations. Hears and resolves complaints from employees engaging in ADR/mediation as needed.
• Builds and manages the workforce based on organizational goals, budget considerations and staffing needs. Recruits, selects, appraises and rewards staff; acts to address performance problems. The incumbent ensures performance plans for all assigned employees are properly created and utilized. Utilizes the division's employee recognition and award program.
• Mentors team employees, addresses individual learning needs and effectively offers feedback to identify and correct deficient areas. Provides or arranges technical training necessary for the accomplishment of individual and team tasks.
• Resolves personnel complaints or disciplinary problems with assistance from NCCM and human resources technical experts.
• Responds to calls transferred to the supervisory escalation queue or the Public Contact Representative (PCR) needs assistance in providing a response. Resolves calls received at this level by either answering the call immediately or by taking responsibility for "call back."
• Inspires, motivates, and guides others toward goal accomplishment, coaches, mentors, and challenges subordinates; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations; models high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness, and respect for the individual by applying these values to daily behaviors.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Legal Administrative Specialist (Coach); PD38638A
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Bargaining Unit: No
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may 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.

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 supervisory 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 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: Applicants who are current/former Federal employees must also meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements.

• For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 level.

The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. A Standard Form 50 (SF-50) that shows your TIG eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

Applicants must submit their most recent Notification of Personnel Action, SF-50:

• Official SF-50 that shows you held the grade (or higher) for the full performance level of the position you are applying for, or
• Official SF-50 that shows 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 which show TIG requirements have been met include:

• Within grade increases (WGI) at the highest grade held; or
• Promotions with an effective date that occurred more than one year from the closing date of the job opportunity announcement; or
• Most recent appointment

NOTE: Do not submit Award or General Adjustment SF-50s, as they do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying TIG.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade GS-11.

Specialized Experience is defined as experience counseling Veterans, their dependents, and their representatives, both orally and in writing, regarding the full array of benefits available through the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as state, federal and local benefit programs concerned with veterans.
Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Preparing reports and maintaining records of work accomplishments and coordinating the preparation, presentation and communication of contact center information.
• Providing technical guidance and direction to subordinates and clerical staff assigned to, or in support of, the team on matters of policy and personnel management issues.
• Counseling employees regarding minor disciplinary matters and provides warnings and admonishments as appropriate.

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. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; etc. 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 http://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. 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):

• Accountability
• Customer Service
• Decisiveness
• Flexibility
• Interpersonal Skills
• Problem Solving
• Resilience

• Technical Knowledge: Understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to VBA programs and other Federal (or similar) benefits programs.
• Planning and Evaluating: Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes.
• Written Communication: Writes in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.
• Oral Communication: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, considering the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
• Analysis and Problem Solving: Applies the process of discovery that involves the diagnosis of a problem or issue, identification and gathering of relevant information, formulation and evaluation of alternative solutions or courses of action, and selection or recommendation of the preferred solution or course of action.
• Self-management: Sets well-defined and realistic personal goals; displays a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment towards completing assignments in a timely manner; works with minimal supervision; is motivated to achieve; demonstrates responsible behavior.

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/13004865

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.

The following documents are required for all applicants:

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete application package to include the documents detailed below. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified; errors, omissions, or failure to submit the documents as specified will affect your rating or result in loss of consideration for employment.

Resume (limited to 2 pages): Applicants must provide a resume detailing their specialized experience and competencies relevant to the position.

• Your resume may be submitted in any format, however we strongly recommend using USA Jobs resume builder as it contains all of the information required on federal resumes.
• 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.
• If you submit more than one copy of your resume, only the most recent version will be reviewed. The latest timestamp will be used to determine which version of your resume is "most recent." It is your responsibility to check the status and timestamp of all documents you submit as part of your application.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.

Current/Former Federal Employees:

• If you are applying using your status as a current federal employee you must submit your most recent appointment SF-50. This SF-50 should identify your appointing legal authority, position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
• To verify you meet TIG requirements, also submit an SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade held (e.g. Within Grade Increase, Promotion, Appointment, etc.). Some applicants may have to submit more than one SF-50 in order to demonstrate their eligibility.
• If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit an SF-50 showing that grade.

Applicants claiming CTAP eligibility must also submit:

• Certification of expected separation, reduction-in-force separation notice, and your most recent performance evaluation; and an SF-50 demonstrating your separation or the position you will be separated from.

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.

In addition to the information listed above, please use this checklist to ensure you have included other documents required for your application.

Next steps