Veterans Service Representative (Authorizer

The incumbent will serve as a Veterans Service Representative (Authorizer) at a VA Regional Office. The VSR explains benefit programs and entitlement criteria, analyzes claims materials, identifies issues, gathers relevant evidence, conducts interviews, adjudicates claims, and inputs data necessary to generate the award and notification letter to the veteran describing the decision and the reason for it.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:08/06/2026.

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. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service.

• For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-10.

• 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- 11 (or higher) and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-11.

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.

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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below.

Specialized

Experience:

You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-10 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes but is not limited to:

• Experience that demonstrates competence in adjudicating and authorizing veteran' claims.
• Experience in the development, examination, investigation, adjudication, and authorization of claims for disability compensation, disability pension, death compensation, death pension benefits, life insurance benefits etc.
• Comprehensive experience applying federal, state, and local laws regarding benefit programs.

Note: Specialized experience is typically gained in positions that have involved experience in the development, examination, investigation, adjudication, and authorization of claims for disability compensation, disability pension, death compensation, death pension benefits, life insurance benefits, etc. Experience is to be substantive and relevant and may have been gained in the practice of law or working with a Federal or state agency, insurance company, retirement disability, or insurance program.

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.

OR

Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education you must have:

• a 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 to the competencies.

Note: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Combination GS 11
:
Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-10.

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. The applicant's first 2 years of graduate study are not…