Staff Assistant

Veterans Benefits Administration; Jackson (MS); On-site; USD 48,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Veterans Benefits Administration is seeking a Staff Assistant to support the Director's Office. The role involves a broad range of administrative tasks tied to VBA’s benefits programs and regional internal controls.

Applicants must meet time-in-grade requirements and may substitute education for experience. Full-time position with potential for combined education/experience to meet the GS-9 level; volunteer work is recognized in the evaluation process.

Qualifications

• One year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-07.
• Education substitutions are allowed to qualify at GS-9.
• Combination of education and experience can total 100% of the requirement.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative, management, liaison and coordination support as Staff Assistant to the Director's Office.
• Support VBA's business line programs and regional office responsibilities for internal controls and program administration.

Skills

Specialized experience

Education

Master's degree or related graduate degree

LL.B. or J.D.

Job description

This position serves as a member of the Director's staff and provides administrative, management, liaison, and coordination support as the Staff Assistant to the Director's Office. The position provides a wide variety of administrative tasks associated with the administration of VBA's various business line programs of benefits and services as well as the Regional Office responsibilities for internal controls and program administration.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:09/08/2026. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7 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- 9 or higher, and the promotion potential of your current position must be at least GS-9. 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 educationas described below: GS-9 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level. In addition to the experience required at the GS-7 grade level, Specialized experience for the GS-9 is defined as completing projects using automated data processing and information management programs and recommending changes in administrative policies/procedures to facilitate the flow of paperwork. OR Education Substitution: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required to qualify at the GS-9 grade level. Master's or equivalent graduate degree, if related (You must provide transcripts); OR Two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B. or J.D., if related (You must provide transcripts). OR Combination of Education and Experience: Combination of specialized experience as described in "1" and GRADUATE education as described in "2" which totals at least one year. [To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100% to qualify.] 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. Click here for more information.

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: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. 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/.