Veterans Service Representative (Authorization Quality Review Specialist)

Summary

This position is located in a Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Office (VARO) Veterans Service Center and BEST. The Authorization Quality Review Specialist (AQRS) is an integral part of the Veterans Service Center (VSC) and Benefit Eligibility Support Team (BEST) quality assurance program, and is a key technical adviser to the Veterans Service Representatives (VSRs) in the Regional Office.

Duties

• The purpose of this position is to measure individual performance quality as well as identify training needs through the review and assessment of completed compensation and pension claims. Duties include, but are not limited to: Performs individual quality reviews to determine the authorization quality level of individual VSRs for purposes of individual performance standards in accordance with an established monthly schedule. Conducts focused "in-process reviews" for cases to determine the accuracy of claims action taken. (Such reviews are for station-level feedback and improvement only, not used for individual performance standard purposes.) Responsible for sharing authorization quality trend information with management on an ongoing basis and with the VSRs during training sessions. Reviews products or activities for quality of performance and enters the results into the on-line STAR checklists. Evaluates and identifies deficiencies of all elements of a claim from evidence development, income and dependency issues, to award processing and authorization. Provides an explanation of errors and includes comments where attention is warranted. Prepares STAR data reports and provides to personnel in the regional office who are authorized to request and receive such reports. Develops various quality assurance processes with emphasis on work procedures and techniques that address unique work conditions and practices. Ensures all program requirements imposed by Compensation Service and/or the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims are met or implemented. 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. The grade progression for this position is GS-11, GS-12 Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday. Hours to be determined by hiring office. Compressed/Flexible: May be available as determined by the hiring office. Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Veterans Service Representative (Authorization Quality Review Specialist), PD41680A and PD37136A 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:07/30/2026. 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. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level. 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. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-11 Grade Level: To qualify for Veterans Service Representative (Authorization Quality Review Specialist) GS-0996-11 position, you must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least (GS-09). Specialized experience is defined as work that involves functioning in a capacity performing training, analysis, or information systems duties related to a claims management process. The experience must be substantive and relevant, and may have been gained in the federal, military, or private sectors. Examples include but are not limited to: Assisting in the development or implementation of training for claims management software; Supporting analysis of claims data to identify process improvements; Participating in information system user testing or modification for claims management; Providing technical advice on claim processing rules or procedures under supervision. -OR- Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. -OR- Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond 2 years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-12: To qualify for Veterans Service Representative (Authorization Quality Review Specialist), GS-0996-12 position, you must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11). Specialized experience is defined as work that involves independently leading, designing, or managing training, analytical, or information systems initiatives within a complex claims management process. The experience must demonstrate a high level of responsibility and expertise, including program oversight, process improvement, or policy implementation, and may have been gained in the federal, military, or private sector. Examples include but are not limited to: Independently developing and delivering advanced training modules or curricula for claims management personnel; Leading comprehensive analysis of claims management practices to identify system-wide improvements or resolve complex issues; Managing the design, testing, or deployment of information systems upgrades impacting multiple aspects of claims management; Serving as primary technical advisor or subject matter expert for claims policies, systems, or analytical processes; Directing project teams or coordinating with cross-functional stakeholders to implement new claims management protocols or technologies. Education: There is no education substitution Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information. 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 normally involves mental rather than physical exertion. The work is mostly sedentary. However, there may be some walking, standing, and carrying of light items such as papers, books, claims folders, and files from one desk to another or for returning to storage. Carts are utilized to carry large number of claims folders. This will require the incumbent to push or pull the cart from one area to another. 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/.

Requirements

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 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. 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 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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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): Attention to Detail Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Research Technical Competence Training Oral Communication 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.

Education

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package to include the documents detailed below. Resumes may not exceed two pages and must be legible for review of eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume and supporting documentation will be verified. Failure to submit the documents as specified may result in loss of consideration for this job announcement. Resume: Contact Information: Name and how best to contact you, including email address and phone number Relevant Work Experience: For each relevant work experience, make sure you include: Job Title and Employer (including series and grade for any Federal positions) Start and end dates with month/year (e.g., 05/2019 - 08/2022) The number of hours you worked per week Ensure work experience descriptions are aligned with the job announcement and address all required qualifications. Brief descriptions should demonstrate your ability to perform the tasks at the required level as stated in the job announcement Education/Certification/ Licensure: When relevant or required for the position, include your possession of education/ certification/license and provide any required documentation such as transcripts, and/or details (type and date) of certifications and/or licenses Education information should include: Name of school/institution Completion date Degree type Cumulative Grade point average (GPA) Optional Details: When relevant, include: Current Security Clearance Job-related training Language skills Organizations and affiliations Professional publications Eligibility for special programs (e.g., military spouses, individuals with disabilities, etc.) Current Federal Employees: Your most recent APPOINTMENT SF-50. The most recent 1XX or 5XX SF-50 proving status. This SF-50 should identify your appointing legal authority, position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). Your SF-50 reflecting when you entered your highest grade and step (e.g., Within Grade Increase, Promotion, Appointment, etc.) in order to verify time-in-grade requirements. Additional Documents accepted: Most recent Performance Appraisal (VA Form 0750) Award SF-50s CTAP documentation - RIF notice, SF-50 showing VA employee, and performance appraisal Please use this checklist to make sure you have included all documents required for your application. You will not be contacted for additional information.

How To Apply

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. 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. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merithiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

Security Clearance

Other

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 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/. 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. 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. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/28980686389652-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)