Program Specialist

Veterans Benefits Administration; Columbia (SC); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

The Veterans Benefits Administration Regional Office, Fiduciary Hub, seeks a quality review and training coordinator responsible for analyzing data from national program reviews, work in progress reviews, and STAR reviews, and for conducting local QA and training.

The ideal candidate will have experience in adjudicating/claims and in developing training strategies to improve accuracy and efficiency within benefit programs.

Qualifications

• Specialized experience in adjudicating and authorizing veterans' claims.
• Experience in development, examination, investigation, adjudication, and authorization of benefits.
• Training/mentoring in investigation, adjudication, and authorization of claims.

Responsibilities

• Serve as quality review and training coordinator for the division.
• Analyze data for national program reviews, WIP reviews and STAR reviews.
• Conduct local QA and training to improve accuracy and efficiency.

Skills

Quality review

Training coordination

Data analysis

VA benefits knowledge

Education

Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

3 years of graduate education

Job description

This position is in the Veterans Benefit Administration Regional Office, Fiduciary Hub. The employee serves as the quality review and training coordinator for the division. Responsible for analyzing data associated with national program reviews, work in progress (WIP) reviews and statistical and technical accuracy (STAR) reviews. Also conducts local quality assurance (QA) and training.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:09/11/2026.

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. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 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 REQUIREMENTS

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-11 Grade Level Specialized Experience - You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience that demonstrates competence in adjudicating and authorizing veterans' 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. Experience in explaining VA benefits and eligibility requirements to a variety of customers. Training/Mentoring in investigation, adjudication, and authorization of claims for benefits or compensation. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level 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. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. Equivalent combinations of (1) specialized experience and (2) PH.D graduate education. To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond one year by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify. (The applicant's first 2 years of graduate study are not qualifying for GS-11.)

GS-12 Grade Level: Specialized Experience

Applicant must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level. In addition to the specialized experience needed at the GS-11 level, specialized experience is defined: Conducting focused evaluations and reviews to determine quality and accuracy; Providing advisory services to management via preparation and presentation of quality trend information; Developing training strategies and materials to address deficiencies and/or conducting training activities; Analyzing performance deficiencies and quality trends to identify knowledge/skill gaps; ??????Providing quality-review services, feedback, and guidance to staff to correct unsatisfactory performance. There is no education substitution for the GS-12 level. 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

Work is primarily sedentary but may require walking and standing during training sessions. For more information on