Program Specialist

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/11/2024. 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 9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 7. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: GS-09: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Specialized experience is defined as knowledge of benefits and services available to veterans AND experience assisting case managers by addressing and resolving issues presented by customers in addition to the duties described above, to qualify for the GS-09 grade level, the applicant must possess the knowledge of benefits and services available to assist program participants understanding and completing program requirements. OR, Education (Applicants may substitute education for the required experience): To qualify at the GS 9 grade level, you must have a master’s or equivalent graduate degree or 2 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 a combination of specialized experience and education. You must have some specialized experience as described, but less than one year; and you have more than one year but less than two years of directly related graduate education. You have computed the percentage of the requirements, and the total is at least 100%. (To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. (You must provide supporting transcripts.) 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 mostly sedentary, however, there may be some physical effort such as standing, walking, bending, and/or carrying of light items such as files, books, and supplies. The work requires no special physical demand. The work is performed in an office setting requiring normal safety precautions against everyday risks or discomforts. 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/.
These positions are located at the Louisville, KY, Fort Knox, KY outbased office and Huntington, WV Regional Office, where the incumbent is assigned to the Vocational Readiness & Employment (VR&E) Division under the VR&E Officer, Assistant VR&E Officer and Supervisor VR&E. He/She is responsible for identifying training, education, processing and data quality needs of VR&E employees and coordinating the development of a formal program to meet those needs.