Legal Administrative Specialist (Contact Representation)

Veterans Benefits Administration; Providence (RI); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Veterans Benefits Administration seeks a Legal Administrative Specialist (LAS) to join the Public Contact Team within the Veterans Service Center. The LAS provides in-depth information and comprehensive assistance to veterans, dependents, and beneficiaries on VA benefits and related non-VA benefits.

The role requires meeting time-in-grade and educational requirements by the posted closing date. The position involves serving as a self-reliant decision-maker, conducting research on relevant laws

Qualifications

• Specialized experience in VA benefits counseling and claims processing.
• Education substitution allows two and a half years of graduate education toward a doctoral degree ( transcripts required ).
• Combining education and experience can total 100% of requirement when one area is short.

Skills

Specialized experience

Education

Higher-level graduate education to Ph.D. level

Tools

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Job description

The Legal Administrative Specialist (LAS) serves as a member of the Public Contact Team, located in the Veterans Service Center. The LAS provides in-depth information and comprehensive assistance to veterans their dependents and beneficiaries concerning any matter within the scope of VA benefits and related non-VA benefits.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:11/03/2026.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT

As a current or former Federal, GS employee you must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

• For a GS-10 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level.

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 and/or education as described below:

GS-10 Grade Level

• Specialized Experience: (1) Experience that has demonstrated the capability of being a self-reliant decision-maker and possessing the ability to work independently when providing customer service benefits counseling and claims processing. (2) The individual must possess in-depth knowledge of researching relevant subject matter. (3) The experience should be significantly and directly derived from federal, military, or the private sector. An example of specialized experience include but is not limited to:
  • Orating to persons from a wide variety of backgrounds regarding VA benefits programs; performing research of local, state, and Federal laws and regulations to determine Veterans' eligibility for benefits programs.

OR

• Education Substitution: Must possess two and a half years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. (Must submit transcripts.)

Combining Education & Experience

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.

Volunteer Experience

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.

Full vs. Part-Time Employment

Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week.

Physical Requirements

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/.