Customer Service Specialist

The Office of Community Care (OCC) mission includes efficiently administering health care benefits for enrolled Veterans receiving medical care and services through the community care program. This is accomplished with an engaged workforce that focuses on results and leverages best practices. The OCC provides oversight, guidance and support to the VA in many different capacities; research, training, development, interpretation, and evaluation of existing health care policy and regulations.Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/02/2024.
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 this GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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.
You may qualify based on your experience and/or education s described below:
Specialized Experience (GS-7): You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-5) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
Specialized Experience include: One year of specialized experience that equipped the me with particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, the specialized experience must have been at the GS-05 grade level or higher, or an equivalent level of responsibility. Examples of creditable specialized experience includes:

• Demonstrates knowledge of administrative personnel concerning such matters as Knowledge of policies, standards, and procedures;
• Researches operational policies, procedures, and practices of VA;
• Reviews policies and identifies issues and suggests solutions;
• Communicates effectively orally and in writing with internal and external customers;
• Prepares oral and written reports;
• Researches, routes and responds to internal and external customer inquiries.

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 (Transcripts required).
OR,
Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Combination of specialized experience as described above, and 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree. (transcripts required).
Specialized Experience (GS-9): You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-7) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
Specialized Experience include: One year of specialized experience that equipped me with knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, the specialized experience must have been at the GS-07 grade level or higher, or an equivalent level of responsibility. Examples of creditable specialized experience includes:

• Solves complex problems associated with the day-to-day operations concerning Customer Service issues in a positive, goal-oriented way, including the ability to diffuse conflict management/resolution skills;
• Independently researches operational policies, procedures, and practices of VA, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VISN, operations and data sources;
• Reviews policies, identifies existing issues and potential issues and suggests solutions or alternative to existing procedures;
• Expert communication, written and oral, with internal and external customers;
• Prepares oral and written reports to provide information and consultation with appropriate staff.

OR,
Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify applicants must have successfully completed a 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 (Transcripts Required).
OR,
Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Combination of specialized experience as described above, and 1 year of graduate education in excess of 36 semester hours. (Transcripts Required).
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Administration and Management
• Customer Service
• Research

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: Work is mostly sedentary; however, standing during presentations or training, bending, and carrying light items is required. The work is performed in a typical office setting with adequate light, heat, and ventilation.
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/.Education: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.Employment Type: FULL_TIME