Financial Administrative Specialist

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/22/2024. 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-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, 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. OR If you are a current VBA employee requesting a reassignment or change to a lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the grade level (or higher) of the posted announcement, and your current position has a promotional potential as high as (or higher) than the posted announcement. AND MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-07 Level: Specialized Experience: To qualify for GS-07, Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. This experience can also be garnered as a civilian working for a private company. Specialized experience is defined as reviewing vouchers submitted for payment on behalf of the office and researching a variety of financial data, reports, or resources. OR Applicants may substitute education for experience at grade GS-07: Applicants may Qualify with Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) for grade GS-7. If you have been awarded a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent undergraduate degree) in a curriculum that is qualifying for this position from an accredited college or university, AND that degree meets one of the following superior academic achievement provisions, you may qualify exclusively based on education: a. Ranked in the upper 1/3 of your college class or major subdivision at the time you apply; b. Earned election to a national scholastic honor society that meets the requirements of the Association of College Honor Societies other than freshman honor societies; c. Earned a grade point average (GPA) of 2.95 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses or all undergraduate classes completed during the final two years (the final 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours); d. earned a GPA of 3.45 or higher on a 4.0 scale based on all completed undergraduate courses in your major, or all undergraduate courses in your major completed during the final two years. Regarding the superior academic achievement provisions, if more than 10% of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail or similar basis, you can qualify only on the basis of your class standing or membership in an honor society .If an applicant is claiming to qualify based on superior academic achievement, it is the applicant’s responsibility to submit all documentation with their application that is appropriate in relationship to providing proof that the SAA criteria is met (i.e., ALL unofficial or official college transcripts that include GPA, proof of honor society membership, proof of class standing). OR Applicants may substitute Graduate Education to qualify for grade GS-07. Applicants may substitute education for experience with at least one full academic year (18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours) of graduate level education from an accredited college or university in a field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. If you are claiming to qualify based on your education, your application must include an official or unofficial copy of graduate level transcripts that demonstrate this information. OR Applicants may combine education and experience to qualify for grade GS-07. Applicants may substitute a combination of graduate education and specialized experience to qualify for the position at the GS 7 grade level. If you have some, but not all, of the graduate education described above AND less than one full year of the specialized experience described above, you may qualify by combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do have. To calculate, first identify the percentage of qualifying education you have as a percentage of one year of study. Next, identify the percentage of specialized experience you have as a percentage of 12 months. Then, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% for you to qualify for the position at the grade GS-7 level. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate education (i.e., 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of acceptable specialized experience (i.e., 50% of the experience required) would satisfy the qualification requirements for the position. If you are claiming to qualify based on your education, your application must include an official or unofficial copy of college transcripts that demonstrate this information. GS-09 Level: Specialized Experience: In addition to the specialized experience required at the GS-07 level of this position applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. This experience can also be garnered as a civilian working for a private company. Specialized experience is defined as using accounting and auditing policies, procedures, and principles sufficient to identify financial problems, discrepancies, overpayments, underpayments, or erroneous data and using computer applications to work with accounts payable and receivables. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed a Masters Degree or equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B or J.D., if related. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond combination of specialized experiences described and education as described and when combined equal 100% of the total requirement. 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. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily of a sedentary nature. 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/.
This position is located in the Support Services Division (SSD) at a VA Regional Office (RO). The Division provides accounting and financial reporting on behalf of the Regional Office. The Division also implements VA accounting policy, performs financial management system and general ledger operations, prepares financial statements and other financial reports.