Program Specialist (Transcription)

Other

Duties

The Transcription Program Specialist (TPS) works within the Support Services Division of the San Diego VBA Regional Office and is responsible for supporting Management and the Supervisory Office Assistant. Specific duties include: Responsible for the overall management control and execution of the office programs within the National Transcription Center (NTC). Provides advice and guidance to managers, staff and Veteran Service Organizations (VSO). Conducts quality assurance reviews of final transcripts produced by NTC. Analyzes reports regarding production, quality, and timeliness goals/standards offering suggestions to management for improvements. Prepares and conducts formal training sessions for newly hired personnel, refresher training and training required due to changes in procedures or standards. Dual responsibility with the NTC Supervisor for suspense and control action of all approved recurring reports or other scheduled reports; i.e. OT reports, follow-up correspondence to staff members as required, transferring of transcripts to Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS), and logs. The incumbent transcribes the most difficult voice recordings of complex testimony, to include a wide-range of topics and specialized and complex medical and legal terms. Serves as the equipment and technological subject matter expert, ensuring that equipment used by OA Assistants and 50+ regional offices is up-to-date and in working order. Work Schedule: Full-Time. Monday through Friday, 7:00AM to 3:30PM. Compressed/Flexible: Not Available. Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Specialist (Transcription) / 38200A, 38201A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/24/2026. If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS- 7/9 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS- 9. And, 1. TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" showing that you are in the competitive service and the highest grade or promotion potential held. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess (1) year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates (1) year time-in-grade. General Adjustment and Award SF-50's cannot be used for time-in-grade verification purposes. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 2. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: In addition to the Time In Grade Requirement, all applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirements as described below: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-7: Specialized experience is defined as experience in a wide range of medical or legal transcriptions. This experience should document experience researching legal and/or medical terminology, and experience drafting documents with proper grammar, punctuation, spelling and the proper format for different types of hearings being transcribed. GS-9: In addition to the skills for the GS-07 level, specialized experience for the GS-09 must document experience in the performance of program analysis and evaluation to meet goals, and experience conducting quality assurance reviews. OR, Education: For GS-07, you must have at least 1 full year of graduate level education, or have earned superior academic achievement in your bachelor's degree. For GS-09, you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. 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 graduate level. 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. 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/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Other Information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information. VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. 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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about 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/. 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. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.