Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist

Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Phoenix, Arizona

Salary Range: $52260 - $83101 Per Year

Job Summary: The Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist with Social Work Service's Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) is located within the Phoenix VA Healthcare System.

Major Duties:

• Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Duties, knowledge, skills and abilities include, but are not limited to: Will be responsible for promoting a culture of safety and will fully cooperate in efforts, as applicable, to improve patient safety and eradicate potential events including the reporting of events resulting in actual or potential injury to a patient Demonstrates knowledge of the reporting procedures involving safety issues relating to patients Provide the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures Handles conflicts and problems associated with customers constructively and appropriately Provides employment services to Homeless Veterans works directly with patients who have been referred for employment to the continuum of homeless programs from a variety of sources Provides therapeutic employment services (skills training and development services, employment support services, and job development and placement services) to Homeless Veterans in need of rehabilitation for mental health disorders, including serious mental illness, PTSD, and substance use disorders; and Veterans with co-occurring physical disorders, such as Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Polytrauma, and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Works closely with members of the interdisciplinary team including Physicians, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors, Therapists, Social Workers, HUDNASH VA Case Managers, Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) outreach workers, Grant and Per Diem Liaisons, and other care providers within the VA facility and community based service providers including Grant and Per Diem recipients, HCHV contract bed programs, Homeless Veterans Reintegration Providers (HVRP), and HUD grantees Works directly with community agencies, and community employers with the goal of assisting Veterans in obtaining and maintaining suitable employment Will be required to adapt the best practices of supported employment to meet the needs of Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness Is responsible for interviewing potential Veterans referred to the CWT program (via medical orders and SF 513 consult with appropriate clearance to work in the community), and for developing a vocational assessment to identify individuals strengths and areas of vocational interests Utilize Motivational Interviewing techniques to ensure the highest level of services The VRS utilizes gathered information to assist the Veteran in identifying occupational areas in which they would like to target their job search activities For most types of cases stablished training facilities and institutions previously approved for use in the program are available and adequate Provide assistance with job seeking skills and strategies as needed Will be responsible for assisting veterans in understanding financial benefits entitlement programs and housing eligibility requirements and the effects of working on their entitlement Will monitor the Veteran's progress, provide feedback and provide any assistance in the job seeking process Will utilize job development techniques such as job carving to assist the Veteran in obtaining community employment Provide onsite support or training to the Veteran Supervision of the individual while in training and/or during adjustment to the job involves responsibility for counseling and otherwise helping the veteran resolve his/her personal problems Will assist the Veteran in making any changes that may be helpful in becoming engaged in suitable employment Responsible to document all interactions with the Veteran within the electronic medical records system CPRS and capture workload for DSS Responsible for entering initial assessments data, Individualized Service Delivery Plans, and discharge summaries into the electronic medical record and NEPEC CWT program evaluation forms PLEASE NOTE: The position requires that the incumbent possess a valid state driver's license. Additionally, The incumbent is required to pass a driver's medical examination. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00AM - 4:30PM Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: Available on an Ad-Hoc basis Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist/PD10673A and PD93183A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/02/2025. 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. 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 former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Individual Occupational Requirements: Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- vocational rehabilitation, vocational or educational counseling, or other fields related to the position. OR, Specialized Experience: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Work that required obtaining and applying occupational information for people with disabilities, knowledge of the interrelationships of the involved professional and specialist services, and skill in employing the methodology and techniques of counseling to motivate and encourage individuals served by the program. Experience that demonstrated knowledge of the vocational rehabilitation problems characteristic of the disabled, including familiarity with available resources and skill in identifying, evaluating, and making effective use of such resources to serve individuals with disabilities; or of the disadvantaged, including knowledge of adjustment problems of the educationally or culturally disadvantaged, familiarity with available adult education and training resources, and ability to recognize problem areas needing special attention. Experience in vocational guidance or teaching in a recognized vocational rehabilitation program or school, developmental or supervisory work in programs of vocational rehabilitation or training programs for the disadvantaged, or personnel or employment placement work that provided extensive knowledge of the training and adjustment requirements necessary to place persons having disabilities or social adjustment problems. Qualification Requirement for GS-07 Grade Level: 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-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Work required providing information, pre-employment assessment and workforce re-entry planning services, linkage and coordination for VA and non-VA service, and community based follow-up serviced to integrate Veterans into the community through competitive employment. Ability to establish effective relationships with Veterans and with the clinical and administrative staff from a range of institutions and agencies, including community employers. Working with individuals or veterans with serious mental illness and especially with psychotic disorders. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement. 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 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree. Qualification Requirement for GS-09 Grade Level: 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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: work that required providing information, pre-employment assessment and workforce re-entry planning services, linkage and coordination for VA and non-VA service, and community based follow-up serviced to integrate Veterans into the community through competitive employment. Ability to establish effective relationships with Veterans and with the clinical and administrative staff from a range of institutions and agencies, including community employers. Experience providing guidance and training to all homeless programs and staff across the organization on resources that enhance and result in competitive employment outcomes for Veterans, in particular those who are homeless or have other barriers to employment. Working with individuals or veterans with serious mental illness and especially with psychotic disorders. Experience working with local staff in developing templates for concise, individualized Veteran-centered assessments to determine the needed intensity level of employment services and supports for homeless Veterans. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 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 an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 full year of graduate level education. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Data Management Human Factors Interpersonal Skills 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 sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required including walking throughout the building. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 12/02/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12840015. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. 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 well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. 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/. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Application Deadline: 2025-12-02