Financial Management Specialist

Summary

These positions are located within the Financial Operations Service, Customer Engagement Division at the VA Financial Services Center (FSC) in Austin, TX. The mission of the Financial Customer Support Section is to provide exceptional customer service to our Vender and VA Station customers. We provide accurate and timely information on commercial invoices, payments for medical providers and caregivers and non-CHAMPVA Explanation of Benefits using various Federal systems.

Duties

Major Duties: Determines causes for processing delays and takes appropriate action to ensure payment. Provides timely and useful customer service to over 500 VA facilities and administrative offices including, but not limited to, Office of Budget, National Cemetery Administration, Office of Finance, and Office of Community Care. Provides assistance in the form of training to internal customers, external customers and new team members for multiple systems currently used and those which may be developed in the future to support the commercial payment process. Examines complex problems and formulates solutions for a full range of inquiries, including the unusually complex cases or those of a delicate nature involving emerging issues. Recommends and implements solutions or workarounds and documents all communicative efforts and resolutions in the incident record/service request. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. Compressed/Flexible: Available with supervisory approval. Telework: Ad hoc telework (situational telework) available as determined by the agency policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: PD20812A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/03/2026. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. 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. 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience for GS-09: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Ability to Lead, Guide, Train and Mentor employees to provide customer service to external and internal customers while utilizing multiple financial systems. OR, Education for GS-9: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this 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 for GS-9: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 full year of graduate level education. 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analysis and Problem Solving Customer Service Financial Systems Organizational Awareness Note: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list the grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 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 normally involves mental rather than physical exertion. The work is mostly sedentary. 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/. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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 for this vacancy. To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications: 1. Independent Financial Problem Resolution: Demonstrated ability to independently analyze, research, troubleshoot, and resolve complex financial transactions and system issues involving payments, invoices, payroll, travel, or other financial management functions, applying applicable regulations, policies, and procedures with minimal supervisory guidance. 2. Financial Systems Expertise: Demonstrated expertise in navigating multiple financial management systems to identify discrepancies, diagnose application errors, reconcile financial data, determine root causes, and implement corrective actions that improve transaction accuracy and timeliness. 3. Advanced Technical Guidance and Training: Demonstrated ability to serve as a technical resource and subject matter expert by developing and delivering specialized training, providing authoritative guidance on financial processes and system functionality, and mentoring employees in resolving complex customer inquiries and financial discrepancies. 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/. Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Austin, TX. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 8000 Metropolis Drive, Suite B, Austin TX, 78744.

Education

Education for GS-09: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. master's or equivalent graduate degree or2 full years of progressivel