Supervisory Veterans Claims Examiner

Summary

The Supervisory Veterans Claims Examiner (Military Exposures Operations Manager (MEOM)) leads subordinates under the Military Exposures Team within the Policy Staff. Team members are responsible for the development, review, recommendation, and update of all Gulf War Military Exposures (GWME) and environmental exposures policy development related to claims promulgation and adjudication for individuals and units who may have been exposed to hazardous materials during recent military operations.

Duties

Specific duties include: Supervises the Military Exposures Policy Team who are responsible for applying Veterans' benefits laws and regulations that pertain to CS benefit programs. Responsible for planning, programming, coordinating, and directing, and reviewing all activities for assigned areas of responsibilities. Monitors programs and activities related to disability benefits and services provided to Veterans, their dependents, or beneficiaries. Works in close cooperation with other elements of VBA in relation to Veterans' benefits. Plans work to be accomplished by subordinates, sets and adjusts short-term priorities, and prepares schedules for completion of work; assigns work to subordinates based on priorities, evaluates work performance of subordinates; gives advice, counsels, or instructions to employees on both work and administrative matters; interviews candidates for positions in the unit; recommend appointments, promotions, or reassignments; hears and resolves complaints and grievances from employees. Recommend awards or bonuses for subordinate staff employees. Effects disciplinary measures for minor infractions, such as warnings and reprimands, and recommend other actions in more serious cases. Recommends the use of overtime, training and travel for attendance at meetings. Ensures adherence to EEO, labor-management, physical security and safety and other regulations. The incumbent coaches and counsels assigned division employees. Finds and implements ways to eliminate or reduce bottlenecks and barriers to productivity. Fosters good team-building practices. Serves as an advisor to the direct and senior leadership on issues regarding technical, regulatory, procedural, and operational aspects of the CS programs for Military Exposures. Formulates and recommends instructions, directives, guidelines, policies, plans or procedures to administer or carry out functions, which support delivery of benefits and services to Veterans. Studies program operations, new legislation, automated systems, management initiatives, and the operation of interacting programs and organizations to assist in the development of new and modified policies. Manages multiple projects or programs concurrently where effort involves coordination among multiple resources, other divisions, or agents outside of the organization. Undertakes long and short-term research. Reviews, monitors, and oversees, the completion of additional assignments, to include but not limited to, special projects and preparation of recommendations for procedural or regulatory change. Deals with issues of both sensitive and high-profile nature (e.g., Agent Orange, Gulf War, etc.) and advises leadership on the national and local impact of changes in process, protocol, or legal statutes, which may impact or shape the future direction of the organization. Assists with information distribution to internal and external stakeholders. Trains others on application of regulations and processes of rulemaking. Reviews the work products of the Military Exposures Policy Staff for quality and consistency. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with individuals and groups interested in or affected by the program. Ability to respond to challenges or criticisms from workgroup members and stakeholders in a manner that promotes collaboration. Acts as the Assistant Director for Policy, when asked to do so. Prepares and provides oral presentations to various audiences within CS, VBA senior leadership, department level executives, and outside agencies on Military Exposures. Develops PowerPoint presentations covering highlights of new material and providing practical applications and examples. Oversees work product from the Military Exposures Policy Staff to ensure delivery of accurate, clear, and comprehensible documents and emails, to include but not limited to white paper (options papers, position papers, etc.). Provides timely responses, in writing, to internal and external stakeholder inquiries in a comprehensive, accurate, clear, and comprehensible manner, while adhering to accepted standards of formatting and style, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Prepares all necessary administrative materials, correspondence, and justifications detailing reasons for decisions. Performs other duties, as assigned. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 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 a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Veterans Claims Examiner; PD39895-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:10/19/2026. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: As a current Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14 level. If you are a current VBA employee requesting reassignment or change to lower grade via this vacancy announcement, you must currently hold the GS-15 or higher and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-15. 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. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-15 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: is experience that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform the duties of the GS-0996-15 Supervisory Veterans Claims Examiner and is typically acquired through work directly related to veterans' benefits administration. Applicants should demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of complex laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and Federal legislation governing the full range of VA benefits programs, as well as the ability to interpret and apply these authorities to resolve complex issues, provide authoritative technical guidance, and ensure consistent implementation of program requirements. Applicants should also possess extensive knowledge of Federal, state, and local benefits programs and demonstrate the ability to communicate complex benefits information effectively, both orally and in writing, to diverse audiences. Qualifying experience should also include supervising or leading a staff responsible for implementing veterans' benefits programs by planning and assigning work, providing technical direction and oversight, evaluating employee performance, ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and quality standards, resolving complex operational issues, and promoting the timely, accurate, and consistent administration of veter