Employment Specialist

This Employment Specialist position is with Veterans Benefits Administration (Department of Veterans Affairs) in Phoenix, AZ. The incumbent will serve as a triage team member to help disabled Veterans make an informed choice regarding the appropriate employment track that best meets their needs with the understanding that Veterans can move between tracks. The employment coordinator will also coordinate and/or perform the evaluation/assessment of rapid access to employment - employment needs (Pre-employment Job Readiness Evaluation). Key duties: • Specific duties include but are not limited to: - Markets to employers based on vocational goals of the job-ready disabled Veterans; - Markets and provides special employer incentives such as on-the-job training, non-paid work experience, special employer incentives, and available tax information; - Coordinates employment readiness classes for Veterans ready to go to work but lacking important traits in employment readiness; - Maintains and promotes a positive image of the VR&E program through active networking and ongoing contacts with employers; - Offers direction to employers regarding reasonable accommodation and rehabilitation technology accommodations; - Disseminates labor market information to assist counselors and Veterans with "informed choice." Provides Employment Services Performance Data for local office; - Maintains and continually updates a database of job-ready disabled Veterans (incorporate Corporate WINRS tracking system); - Assists Veterans with job networking, development, and placement; - Develops partnerships with employers and other agencies to assist Veterans with employment services (e.g. - the Department of Labor, Small Business Administration, local and state agencies, and private sector businesses and employment services); - Assists counselors with employment follow-up according to regulatory requirements; - Coordinates efforts to develop job clubs, job labs, or job readiness resource rooms for use by Veterans in job readiness preparation and self-directed job search; - Maintains records of employment activities through case notes in Corporate WINRS; - Markets to and becomes initial "point of contact" for employers who need assistance with return-to-work cases of disabled Veterans whose job is affected by disability. 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-09, GS-11, GS-12. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am -4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available 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#: Employment Specialist; 31623-A, 11623A, 01623A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Bargaining Unit: Yes Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:09/04/2026. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level. 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. 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. Awards, General Pay Adjustments, etc. do not provide sufficient information and cannot be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade. Please submit a Step Increase or Promotion SF-50 or some other SF-50 that is dated more than one year ago. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-09 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience involving job networking, development and/or placement and employment assistance to various groups of individuals. The experience may have been gained in the federal, military, or private sector. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Recruiting for/placing candidates for a hiring firm or large corporation; Employment assistance duties for a non-profit or community organizations; Human Resources experience in staffing, employee relations or reemployment assistance. OR Education Substitution: Masters or equivalent degree OR two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B. or J.D., if related. (TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED TO BE SUBMITTED WITH YOUR APPLICATION) OR Combination: A combination of specialized experience and education as described above. GS-11 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at least the next lower grade level (GS-09) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as experience working with individuals with disabilities and providing individuals with work experiences, internships, or volunteer experiences related to overall employment goal. The experience may have been gained in the federal, military, or private sector. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Employment assistance duties for state or federal vocational rehabilitation offices; Account management/liaison for staffing or employment firms in the public or private sector; Federal Human Resources experience in staffing, employee relations or reemployment assistance. OR Education Substitution: One year of post-master's degree professional vocational rehabilitation counseling experience or successful completion of 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education or have a PH.D or equivalent doctoral degree in rehabilitation counseling or counseling psychology. (TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED TO BE SUBMITTED WITH YOUR APPLICATION) OR Combination: A combination of specialized experience and education as described above. GS-12 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience which was at the (GS-11) level and must have been held in the Federal Government. Specialized experience is defined as experience involving coordination of federal, private and public hiring authorities, working with Veterans with disabilities to access Veteran's employment goals and aligning them to the employment track that best meets their needs. Direct delivery of vocational rehabilitation services to adults with disabilities in rehabilitation programs, other than those in correctional facilities is required. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Human Resources experience in the Department of Veterans Affairs or Veterans Service Organization that involves staffing and/or employment law; Employment coordination duties for private, public or government entities that involve coordinating targeted outreach at various career fairs, jobs clubs, and/or job labs. Education Substitution: There is no education substitution for this grade level. 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 is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be 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/. View the full announcement and apply on USAJOBS.gov.